Page 6 of Puck You
His mouth smoothed into a firm line, and his eyebrows rose in an expression that seemed to say,That’s it?
“I should’ve let you know that I was going dark for a little bit, but it was easier to turn everything off and hide from the world.I’ve been trying my best to get my shit together since ...”Since I made an absolute fool of myself returning for a game I wasn’t remotely ready to play ...“It hasn’t been easy.”
Was it shitty to pull a disappearing act on my best friend?Absolutely.But the past eighteen months had really messed me up, and I was still working through a lot of stuff.Bryce knew that better than most.
“Are you okay?”he asked.
Truthfully, I was several hundred miles north of okay, but it would take severe inebriation for me to admit that out loud.“Never better.”
I knew that both of them could see through my lie, but rather than call me out, Bryce offered a genuine smile and said, “Good.We need you if we’re going to win another national title.”
Hearing those words from someone I could trust eased a bit of my apprehension, though it was only a drop in a bucket.We both knew I had an uphill battle on my hands.At this point in my hockey career, I was unlikely to be offered a contract.Most players skilled enough for the pros did one or two years in college before moving up to the NHL.If not for my injury, I would have been one of them.But I refused to let one accidenttake away from the fact that I was a first-round draft pick at eighteen.The Detroit Red Wings had my rights until my NCAA career was over, which meant I had eight months to prove that I was the same player who had led the Dallard University Ravens to a national title at age twenty.Some days, I couldn’t help but wonder if scoring that game winning-goal was worth the pain I’d endured over the last year, or the uncertainty it had cast over my future.
“Lunch?”Kate asked.
“I’ll join,” Bryce said.“I have to ensure our locker room isn’t defiled by the likes of you two.”
A chuckle escaped my lips as we headed out.I paused at the exit and peered over my shoulder, allowing myself one last appreciative glance of the arena.Despite my less than pleasant talk with Dean Adler and my run-in with little Miss Attitude hockey girl, I was finally starting to think that things were looking up.
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