Page 150 of Power Play
I glance behind us. “You sure you don’t want to go back out and finish her off? Could grab a stick.”
Sophie grins. “Nah. She’ll be trying to crawl off that ice for another twenty minutes. Let the crowd enjoy it.”
We walk the tunnel together, the distant roar of the arena fading behind us. Someone wolf-whistles as we pass. Ollie again. I can tell by the awkward follow-up, “Sorry! It was supportive!”
I glance at Sophie. “You realise you’ve just become a local legend?”
She shrugs. “What’s one more title?”
Outside, the night’s sharp with cold, but Sophie doesn’t let go of my arm. We take the long way around to the parking lot, looping past the loading dock and down an empty side street. It’s quiet for once, no chants, no cameras, just the sound of our boots on pavement and the low hum of traffic beyond.
“I meant what I said,” I tell her, breaking the silence. “Up there. On the ice.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t expect you to forgive me tonight.”
She stops walking and turns to face me.
“I haven’t. Not yet,” she says. “But I saw you try. Really try. That meant something.”
I nod. “It wasn’t just for show.”
“I know that too.”
Her gaze flicks toward the ground, then back up to me. “You looked terrified.”
“I was. Still am.”
“Good,” she says, and then her smile softens. “Means it matters.”
We reach her car, parked under one of the flickering street lamps. Neither of us makes a move to leave yet.
“I’m still angry,” she says. “Still not sure what this means.”
“That’s okay.”
“But I’m here,” she adds. “And I don’t regret it.”
I breathe out a laugh. “You really high-fived me after bodying a woman across the ice.”
She smirks. “You deserved the high-five.”
“I deserved to be drop-kicked too, at one point.”
“I considered it,” she says, “but you’d already been emotionally flattened enough.”
I reach for her hand. “I’ll keep proving you were right to come back tonight.”
Her fingers curl into mine. “You’d better.”
A few fans walk by in the distance, whispering and trying not to stare. One of them calls out, “Oi! Murphy! That was epic!”
Sophie rolls her eyes. “You’re going to be unbearable now, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
We part after a long look and a quick, hesitant kiss that leaves us both smiling like idiots. It’s not a fix. It’s not a finish line. But it’s a start.
