Page 28 of Must Love Hockey
Castro doesn’t even hesitate. He fires a shot so fast I barely see his arm move. A millisecond later, the lamp lights.
“Yes!” screams the entire stadium.
The whole bench jumps to their feet, including Wilson, and I almost fall ingloriously to the floor from the sudden disruption. But I shoot a hand out and catch the plexi behind me, instead.
“JIMBO!” O’Doul hollers, skating past us. “You saved the game, man!”
Stunned, I hop down from the bench, and the whole team converges on my body. Wilson wraps his arms around my waist and hoists me into the air, while the rest of them surge into a very tight, very sweaty group hug.
“Uh, guys,” I gasp. “No padding, here.”
Laughing, Wilson sets me down. “Christ, I can’t wait to see the video. Musta been less than one second between you handin’ off that stick and the goal.”
“We’ll clock it,” someone says. “There’s an app on my phone for that.”
I just laugh. It’s only dawning on me that the video will, indeed, be awesome. I get about thirty fist bumps in thirty seconds, which is a lot, seeing as there’s only twenty guys dressed for the game. And the DJ is blasting Satriani’s “Crowd Chant” to rile up the fans.
Then the announcer calls the play. “Goal by Jason Castro. Assist goes to James Carozza.”
Wait. Maybe I need my ears cleaned out, because it sounded like he said my name.
The bench erupts into cheers again.
I can’t believe that just happened.
Did that really just happen?
Either way, I’m wearing a smile so big you could keep a hockey bag in there. And it occurs to me that Emily might be watching. Slowly, I turn around.
She’s on her feet, staring right at me, one hand pressed to her mouth, the other gripping Delilah’s arm. They’re both jumping up and down like two little girls at a birthday party.
Emily stops jumping when she sees me watching. She drops her hand and gives me a shy smile.
This is my big chance. A man can sense these things. So I lift my hand, and I blow her a kiss.
Then I say a silent prayer as I turn around again.Send me a sign, girl. Love me or leave me.
And please let it be that first thing.
NINE
I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED
Emily
I can’t believe that just happened. James made that goal possible. They even said so over the stadium airwaves.
It’s a hockey miracle, and I witnessed it. I’m so happy for him I could spit.
Okay, forget spitting. I pull my wallet out of my pocket and open it up. The backstage pass is still there, between my metro card and my student ID. I’ve kept it there since the day Delilah handed it to me.
“They don’t expire,” James had said. But that’s only partly true. Opportunities don’t last. People move on.
James just had a big night—a career-making night. If I don’t see him face to face—and thank him for letting me be a part of that—then I can’t really accept any more tickets from him. It just wouldn’t be fair of me. I won’t want to string along a great guy just because I’m kind of a mess.
Breaking up with Charles last weekend was a really difficult thing to do. It was a long time coming. But I am not in love with him anymore. We want different things.
That doesn’t mean I’m ready to date another guy, though.
