Page 85 of Slapshot
“We’ll miss you around here.”
“Oh, here.” I take the crystal he gave me from the desk and try to hand it to him.
“You keep it.” He backs out of the room. “Good luck, Kaitlyn. If you ever need anything, I’m here.”
I blow out a long breath and drop into the chair, clutching the crystal in my palm. I’m deciding between going ahead and crying or forcing myself to get up and get busy when there’s a knock on the door. Paxton steps in and lifts the elbow pad in his hand. “Hey, Kaitlyn. Sorry to bug you. Do we have an extra one of these?”
“Uh, yeah.” I shove the crystal in my pocket, grab a backup pad, and we swap. He lingers awkwardly. “Anything else?”
He takes a step back. “Nope. All set. It’s good to see you.”
No sooner than he’s gone, the other Graham brother appears. “Yo, Kait.”
“Hey, Patrick. Need something?”
“Do you have…” His eyes scan the room like he’s looking for something. “Cups?”
“Cups?” I turn to the stack of them on the wall. Usually, the guys come in and grab them as needed. It’s the one piece of equipment they don’t usually ask me to fetch. “Sure. Take what you need.”
He hesitates, but then grabs one and salutes me with it on the way out. “Miss you around here.”
Weird.
But not as weird as Jonah entering after he’s gone. He looks uncomfortable and nervous. My confused glare probably isn’t helping. “Can I help you?”
He’s holding his skates and lifts them. “Could you sharpen these?”
“Now?”
“Yeah. If you have time. I like how you always fix the laces and spray them before you return them.”
Amused, I take them. “Sure, I’ll do it before I leave.”
Which would happen faster if he left the room, but he stands there staring at me.
“It’ll be a little while,” I say, in case he’s waiting for me. “I’ll leave them in your stall.”
“Okay, yeah. Thanks. I really appreciate it. You’re a good manager. We miss you.”
When Jonah gives me his back, I stand there to see who’s next. Are they afraid they’re going to be without a manager forever?
Tate fills the doorway and I wave him to the side. He sidesteps so I can get by him and sure enough, there’s a line of guys waiting for their turn.
“What is this?”
I glance at a shy freshman whose gaze darts to the ground. Ash smirks but doesn’t speak.
“Anyone want to fill me in?” I ask. “Or should we just continue whatever madness is going on here?”
“It’s our way of asking you to stay.” Lex steps out from the end of the line. His long legs eat the space between us. “We’re a team. That includes you. We need you, Dalager.”
“I don’t know what to say.” My heart races.
“Say you’ll stay. Fight with us. BU is going to be tough. We need all our best players.”
“That includes you,” someone says.
“Thank you, guys, but you won’t be without a manager forever. You’ll find someone and they’ll be so excited to work with you. They’ll be nicer, too.”
