Page 11 of Puck You
“That’s not why I laughed,” I assured her.“She’d rather hit me than hitonme.”
Somehow, Kate looked even more interested at this bit of information.“What did you do?”
“Why do you assume it’s something I did?”
“Because, Sebastian Evans, you’re a shit-starter.”
I shrugged.“It’s nothing, I promise you.”
Kate finally relented, pulling me back to the heat of her body.“Let’s get dinner tomorrow night.Something fancy.I’d like to dress up.”
“Tomorrow won’t work.I have a ton of homework, so I’ll probably post up at the library.”
Her lips formed an all-too-familiar pout.“Come on, we haven’t had a proper date since the hockey season started.It’s already October.”
“You know my schedule, babe.Sundays are homework days.”
“You seriously can’t make an exception this one Sunday?”
“I need to pass my classes, Kate.They almost didn’t let me back in this semester, and you know that.”
Three times.We’d had this talkthreetimes, once before the school year started and twice since.I’d been very honest with Kate.This year, more than ever, I was going to be busy.I had to keep up my grades if I wanted to play on the team, and my only chance to sign an NHL contract at the end of the year was to prove myself on the ice.I had to be better in every respect, which left little time to plan extravagant dates.
“Seb, please.I feel like you always choose hockey over me.”
And I always would, but she already knew that.
“Is this really how you want to spend the night?Fighting about how I don’t make enough time for you?”
She scoffed.“Well, when you say it like that—”
“Pointing out the obvious, babe.”
“You’re being an asshole!”
“Because all you want to do when wearetogether is complain about how we don’t spend enough time together!”Anger and frustration had my voice rising.“If you want to fight, findsomeone else to do it with.”
I shrugged off her touch and made a hasty retreat through the back door in the kitchen.The stragglers outside grew quiet as I thumped down the stairs and collapsed into a lawn chair.With one stony glance, I sent everyone around me scrambling back into the house.At least some people were back to treating me with the respect I deserved.Letting out a long sigh, I let my head fall against the back of the chair to look at the sky.The scent of woodsmoke and burning leaves permeated the air.It was a major upgrade from the stench of alcohol and sweat from inside the house, one that helped ease some of the tension in my shoulders.Fall was my favorite time of the year.The familiar smells, the shift in weather, the darkening days—they were all changes I looked forward to because they signified the start of the regular hockey season.When the heat of summer began to fade, I could sense the shift within me; it was as if my body knew what was coming.
Tonight, despite every single person who’d doubted me, I’d proved myself an asset.No one had expected me to make such a successful comeback, not after my performance in the spring.The entire hockey world had written me off.But any uncertainty about my return to the team was squashed the second my skates hit the ice tonight.And instead of congratulating me, or even acknowledging my success, Kate complained about how little time we spent together.She knew that my dream was to play professional hockey.She knew how important it was for me to honor my father’s memory.But it was never enough for her.I was starting to doubt she’d ever understand.
Later in the evening, after the party had died down to a few drunkards, Kate found me out back.Without a word, she sat down in the chair beside me and settled into the silence.
“Today was an important day for me,” I explained, twisting my head to the side.“Everyone expected me to fail, but I didn’t.And rather than congratulate me on the win, on all the hard work we’vebothput into my recovery, you picked a fight.I don’t have the energy to fight, Kate.I’m exhausted.I’m exhausted, and I still chose to spend time with you at this party rather than catch up on sleep.”
She studied me with careful eyes, her expression unreadable.But after a long moment, Kate nodded her head and reached for my face.Her hands were a shock of warmth against my chilled skin.
“I’m sorry.I should have congratulated you.”
I swallowed down a painful lump in the back of my throat.Are we destined to repeat this same fight time and time again?
“You were amazing out there.I even watched the whole game, I swear.”Her voice grew softer as she dragged her fingers through the ends of my hair.
I was caught off guard by her confession.Kate didn’t like to watch me play, not since the injury.I liked to pretend it was because she didn’t want to see me get hurt, but it was more complicated than that.At first, I’d blamed her for the accident.She was the reason I’d been so distracted on the ice that night: we’d had a massive fight right before the game.I wouldn’t have been scrambling in the final seconds of the game if my head had been in it from the moment the clock started.At the time, I’d wanted to find fault in anyone other than myself.It had only taken a few days for me to come to my senses and apologize, but by then, it was too late.The damage was done.Even though she’d forgiven me, there was an underlying tension that had everything to do with my dedication to the sport and my needto get back on the ice.Maybe a part of her longed for me to quit, like she’d finally realized exactly how much of my life I was willing to sacrifice for hockey.
“Why don’t we go back to my place where it’s quiet and watch a movie?”she suggested.
I didn’t have the energy to walk back to campus, even if it was only a few blocks.My body was sore from the game.I’d taken my fair share of hard hits.
