Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I get to the rink and see the camera crew set up there to take pictures and videos of the guys arriving. I grab my phone and walk in, nodding to the crew before texting Sofia.
What time are you going to be here?
I don’t know if she is going to answer me. Fuck, I don’t even know if she is going to come. From the look on her face when she came out of her office before, I’m lucky I wasn’t struck down by lightning. Right before I put the phone down, I send her a picture of a flying pig.
I undress five seconds after arriving, which defeats the purpose of arriving in a suit, but rules are rules. I make a pit stop in the team kitchen, preparing a protein shake before I go into the gym and get on the bike. I start to pedal slowly, warming up my legs, and decide that I’m going to scroll Instagram. My fingers are already typing in her name. I see that she is private, and the little circle picture is of her with three other people, but I can’t see or zoom in. I press follow and send her a message.
Hi, friend.
I laugh at my joke, also knowing how mad she is going to get. I put the phone down as I watch the huge television screen in the room. I speed up my pace, pushing myself but not that hard. I slow my pace before getting up and joining some of the guys to warm up. When it’s time to go and suit up, I check Instagram to see if she accepted my follow, only to be shown that I have to request to follow her again. “Oh my God.” I chuckle. “She denied me.” I shake my head and go to the messages, seeing she saw the message and left me on unread.
My heart skips a beat because I know how good the chase is going to be, but better yet, I know how worth it it’s going to be when I make her mine. I put my phone down before undressing and getting into my gear. The music in the room is blaring as I close off my head, it’s time to work.
Grabbing my gloves and my stick, I skate out onto the ice. My skates glide over the shiny surface; there is nothing quite like skating on fresh ice—I mean, it comes after pond ice, which is the best thing I’ve ever skated on. During Christmas break we’ve started to rent houses up north where the family skates all day long. It’s the best.
My eyes scan the people standing around by the boards, fans holding up signs and banging on the window. I don’t see her. I stand on the side, waiting for someone to pass me the puck before I skate to the goalie and take a shot. I’m skating back to the side when I look up to the seats she has tickets for, and then I see her. Standing there wearing black pants and a black leather jacket with a scarf around her neck, she has her hair loose and looks ahead with a beer in her hand. The one thing she is missing is the jersey with my name on it. All in due time, I tell myself as I wait for her to find me on the ice. When she does, my face goes into the biggest smile I think I’ve ever had. So big my cheeks hurt. I give her a chin up and then smirk at her.
In true Sofia fashion, she holds one hand up and flips me the bird. I throw my head back and laugh at the top of my lungs before she turns to talk to the woman beside her. The same woman I saw this afternoon when I showed up. “Could be worse, she could have come with a guy,” I tell myself as I skate off the ice for us to get it ready for the game.
I skate to the middle of the ice, the sounds of the crowd cheering for us. I hold my stick in both hands as I wait for the referee to come over with the puck. Cole, my center man, stands there ready to go. I am on his right and Nick is on his left. “Let’s play a clean game,” the referee says to both teams. I put my stick on the ice and wait for the puck to drop.
The second the puck touches the ice, the music shuts off. Cole loses the face-off, giving Toronto the puck. The defenseman skates the puck into the neutral zone and then passes it across the ice to the right side. My stick comes out, trying to block it, but it is too short. They bring the puck in the zone, setting up their play. The guy takes a shot on the net and it bounces off the goalie’s pad and goes toward the right side. The defenseman coming into the zone grabs the puck, turns, and passes it to the middle of the ice, but Cole intercepts it. I’m already out of the zone with him as the defenseman follows us. He speeds up in the neutral zone as he passes me the puck. I take it over the blue line, passing it back over to Cole who is closer to the goalie. Instead of taking a shot on the goalie, he quickly passes it back to me and I put it in the back of the net. The red light in back goes on at the same time the fans jump to their feet. Those around the glass slap it to celebrate with us. I put my leg up before I skate over to Cole, jumping on him. The crowd goes wild as I look up at Sofia and give her another chin up. She just shakes her head and she claps her hands. Football, my ass, I think to myself as I head over to the bench and skate down the line, high-fiving everyone.