Page 13 of Puck with Karma
Riley, the friend in the group who can always tell when one of us is feeling off, jumps to my rescue before Hannah gets a chance to interrogate me more.
“You should probably go to bed, Abby. It’s been a crazy day, right?”
“Yes, I need to go,” I rush to agree.
“Get your phone fixed and call us tomorrow as soon as you’re out of there,” Hannah yells just as we are about to disconnect the call.
“I will make sure to have a full report for you two,” I promise.
I close the lid of my laptop and stare at the wall ahead of me. The apartment feels way too quiet now. It’s strange only because this is my first night sleeping here.
Looking back at the small kitchen area, I am tempted to finish putting my dishes away. But then I realize that it’s just me here. I am the boss, and if I want to put the dishes away tomorrow, no one will care one way or another.
“Screw the dishes,” I whisper to myself, almost giddy with a liberating feeling.
I decide that same goes for my clothes, but then realize that it’ll all get wrinkled and I’m not quite sure how to use an iron. I don’t even know if I have one in the apartment.
Unpacking my large suitcase doesn’t take anywhere near as long as I thought. I rush to take a quick shower and brush my teeth before dropping on the bed with a big sigh.
“Hm, I should look at all the players one more time.” Talking to myself helps me sometimes.
I grab my electronic tablet from the nightstand where I put it earlier when I was unpacking. With a happy grin on my face, I find the website for the Minnesota Cats, then tap on the tab that shows each player and their biography. My focus has always been on the New York Sliders, since that’s where Brandon is.Now I need to learn more about the team I am actually working for.
Instead of focusing on what I’m doing, my mind is spinning into a million directions. The building manager, who I met earlier, was so tall, with wide shoulders, dark hair and piercing green eyes. He had the kind of eyes that just follow you. And a very dirty face, I laugh to myself. Full of dirty smudges from the hairline to his chin.
The way he smirked and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling when the cops showed up is now making me giggle. He was so unaffected by the entire thing, like it was a common occurrence.
I’m not sure what he told them because a police officer pulled me to the side to ask me questions, but by the time they were done interrogating me, everyone was laughing on the other side of the room.
With thoughts of him in mind, I scroll mindlessly over all the pictures available on the team website. My breath hitches in the back of my throat when I stare at one picture in particular.
My finger hovers over the link with his name on it. Xander Hamilton. Minnesota Cats defenseman and co-captain of the team.
I’m not quite sure what it is about him, but he looks so incredibly familiar, not just from me watching hockey, but like I’ve actually met him in person. And I know for a fact that I haven’t.
With a sigh, I switch to social media. I type in Minnesota Cats in the search bar and wait. My heart stops when the first thing I see is a picture of my brother. He is on the ice, in full gear, and in what seems to be a fist fight. His head is thrown to the side, blood spurting from his nose and mouth. I zoom in on a spot, and I swear I see a tooth flying out.
“Jesus, Bran,” I whisper and continue scrolling through a bunch of the pictures posted. I pause when I find a commentary to go with the graphics.
Brandon Karlsberg, defenseman for the New York Sliders, has responded to accusations from the league about his fight on ice with Xander Hamilton, defenseman for the Minnesota Cats. Karlsberg was quoted to say,I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I burst into laughter, unsure of what is even happening between these two players. But despite not seeing my brother in so long, I love him, and I am fascinated by everything he says or does.
My eyes fall again to the screen of my tablet. They focus on Brandon’s last name. That is not our family name. But when my brother left home, he decided to cut ties with everything that would connect him with our parents. That’s how he changed his last name to Karlsberg, which is our mother’s maiden name. I guess, deep down, he must’ve felt something toward our parents if he kept that small of a reminder that we all exist, no matter how hard he’s been trying to pretend over the years that we don’t.
With that last thought in mind, I shut everything off and make myself comfortable to fall asleep. Tomorrow is my first day working for the Minnesota Cats. It will be hard, but so worth it.
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.
Chapter 6
Xander
I run into the boards so hard, the glass shakes from the force. My goal was to push one of the rookies into it, but I somehow missed. I shake my head in disappointment. My heart’s not into it today, and it is all my father’s fault.
For someone who claims to care about my career, he sure likes to fuck with me at every corner. This morning, I woke up to a message from him to remind me that he is driving into the city so we can meet and discuss contracts.
I left him onReadand took a few minutes to mull things over. Thoughts of my little sister flooded my brain. I can see so clearly how she’s always gotten pushed to the side so that I could have all the opportunities to play. And now that we’re adults, I am trying to form a relationship with her, but our father is still doing his best to sabotage it.
