Page 18 of Off the Stick
The potential thought-spiral is interrupted when I hear my name being called.My head snaps in the direction of Wyatt, my line’s left winger, who pushes the puck toward the zone and is looking for me to get positioned for a hand-off.
I deke the Florida defensive player, stealing past him to arc around the boards behind the net.Wyatt then dekes his opponent and slaps the puck toward me as I round the left of the goalie.Schmittie, a D-man, blocks the Florida guy, and with a flick of my wrist, I backhand the puck, sending it sailing past the goalie’s outstretched leg and into the net.
Fuck yeah.
The buzzer horn blows to indicate the goal: my first goal of the game to go with my two assists from earlier.It brings us ahead by one, with under a minute of play remaining in regulation.I pump my fist in the air as my line surrounds me in a circle of celebration.Thumps of appreciation from the boys bump the top of my helmet.
The crowd is on their feet and going wild, the cheers and excitement filling the arena with a deafening noise.I shove my stick in the air over my head and take a celebratory lap, reveling in the smiles of the fans who beat on the glass as I pass them.
Just as I near the bench, I notice two blond pigtails with blue and orange ribbons—our team colors—swinging back and forth and bobbing up and down.I look more closely and see they belong to Lenni, who is being hoisted in the air by her grandfather.
In a spur-of-the-moment decision, I whip off one of my gloves and glide to a stop in front of the glass.I tap on it and point and wave at her.Lenni smiles shyly and waves, dropping her eyes to Clint for assurance.He smiles and nods at me, then my gaze travels to Halle, who stands next to him and is wearing a Vikings jersey and clapping along in celebration.
Our eyes meet for less than two seconds.
But in those two seconds of time, my breath is stolen from my lungs, and my heart skips a beat.
It doesn’t matter that the entire arena screamsAx!Ax!Ax!
Or that my teammates are racing to join in my celebration.
All that matters in this moment is that I’m going to make a second chance to be with Halle happen.No matter what it takes.
There is a reason Halle is back in my life, and I will not waste one second of this opportunity.Logically, I know I have to find out about her relationship status.And even if she’s single, it’s impossible for us to go back to the beginning.But that doesn’t mean I can’t find a way to forge something new between us.
Before I skate back to my spot on the bench, I catch Halle’s eye and motion with my glove, pointing first to my eyes and then to her.
And then I wink.
10
Halle
With my dad zonked out and fast asleep on the living couch and Lenni asleep in her own bedroom, I have a quiet moment to call my best friend, Carmen, and tell her all that’s happened in the last week.Especially what transpired today in my office and at the arena tonight.
“Oh my God, Carmy.The way he looked at me, though… and that wink… I don’t know what that was about, but it was intense.”
Carmy snorts loudly and rolls her eyes at me.I swear, she always wants to video chat just so she can practice that obnoxious move.
“Girl, what I saw in thatSports Nightreplay clip was flat-out eye-fucking.Holy shit.The entire sports world got an eyeful of that, honey.”She fans herself with her notebook as she walks down the street toward her apartment in Edmonton.
Carmy is my oldest and closest friend.We have known each other since childhood, and she was there every step of the way when I learned I was pregnant with Lennon.The tough part is the huge distance we face now that I’m in BC and she’s attending law school at the University of Alberta.Carmy is the closest thing to an auntie that Lennon has had, and she misses her desperately.So do I.
Carmy is also well aware of my previous relationship with Dane since she was around that winter, and she understands the reasons I have chosen to withhold the information about Lenni’s paternity.
Although she initially pressed me to contact Dane to tell him about Lenni, she never judged me for deciding not to.
She didn’t agree with it, but she respected my right to protect my daughter.
Or was it myself that I had been protecting?
All the lines have become blurry now that Dane and I have run into each other and he’s met Lenni.
“I think he hates me.”I turn away from the screen and say the words in barely a whisper.
Carmen obviously heard it because she tilts her head to the side and gives me that judgey look of hers, her dark eyes glaring into the camera.
“Hate you?”she scoffs, squinting as if the sun’s too bright, even though she’s now inside.“Hal, I’m not sure what erroneous narrative you’re telling yourself, but my vast legal training tells me that that man has some very big unresolved feelings for you, and hate is definitely not one of them.”
