We snapped a selfie with my phone, blew each other kisses, and he skated off with a wink.
The first period went by in a blur, his first shift on the ice lasting a mere thirty seconds. I knew that was somewhat normal for the beginning of a game, and mentally applauded myself for how much I’d learned about the sport because of Guy. Maybe I did deserve to be a WAG.
Mel’s boyfriend, Branson, was in Guy’s line, part of the reason they were such good friends. A couple of times, Mel gripped myhand when they were in. Normally, I’d be weirded out by someone trying to bond so fast, but there was something so sweet and pure about her friendship. Mel was a classic Midwesterner, open, kind, and easy to talk to.
Toward the end of the first, Guy took a high stick to the face from one of Vancouver’s players. I gasped, my stomach sinking as I looked to see if his face was bleeding.
“Shit, I know what you mean about losing it when anything happens,” I said to Mel.
She chuckled. “It never gets easier. Looks like he’s not hurt too bad.”
And he wasn’t. When he lined up for a faceoff in front of us, he gave me a wink. He must have known I was freaking out.
During the second period, he got to drive the puck down the ice toward Vancouver’s goal. He popped it to one of his waiting teammates like it was second nature, who sliced it right back to Guy. And just like that, Guy shot it into the upper part of the net.
The crowd erupted, me along with them. I frankly felt like I could piss myself. Tears pricked my eyes as Guy pointed to the sky, for Maman, and then in my direction. One of his older teammates took the puck out of the net as the rest of his line joined him for the celly.
Guy had done something rare and special. He got a goal in his first NHL appearance, a rookie for everyone to get excited about. And he was mine. All frickin’ mine.
Chapter 25
Guy
“Hey,ma puce. Sorry I missed you again. I just landed in St. Louis. Call me back when you can. Love you always.”
It was the third time Kitty and I had played phone tag in twenty-four hours. It had been a week since we’d even had the time and privacy for phone sex.
“Sucks, bro,” Branson said as I hung up. “How’s all that going?”
I sighed. “Not great. We can’t seem to sync up our schedules. How did you and Melanie do it?”
Branson had plans to ask his girlfriend to marry him over Christmas. I was going with him to pick out the ring when he got back to Seattle.
“I got her to move out here as soon as I could. Just have her quit school and wife her up, man.” I knew he was half joking, but even the thought was outrageous.
“She’s only nineteen. She’d kill me if I tried to stop her from her dreams.”
“I thought the same about Melanie, but when push comes to shove, if they want to be with you, they’ll do anything.”
I sucked my teeth. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s right for Kitty, though. We always both had big dreams. She’s working really hard to make it all work. I can’t take that away from her.”
“But you could give her a pretty cushy life,” Branson countered.
“I mean, yeah, I’d love to have her waiting for me after games and road trips. She’s so fucking loud at games, too. It’s fun having her there. But she’s worked too hard to throw her career away just to cheer for me,” I said, thinking out loud. “No offense to Mel, of course. You know I think the world of her.”
“I know, man. But have you thought about giving her that option?”
* * *
It took some convincing with Mark and Heather, but Kitty was going to come stay with me during my short Christmas break.The two months between our visits were pretty brutal. Kitty and I just kept missing each other, and it frustrated both of us. We wanted to be there for each other, but it was getting harder all the time. Then when we finally did talk, we’d be happy for a few minutes, then return to our frustration. I still loved Kitty so much, but there was no denying that things were really, really hard.
Kitty had given me shit for not beingthatincognito when I picked her up from the airport in October, so I stepped up my game for our Christmas rendezvous. She doubled over laughing when she caught sight of me. I’d put on my hockey jersey, clearly with my name on it, a fedora, and those glasses with a mustache and a big nose attached to them.
She stopped and took a picture when she was a few feet away from me. I grabbed for her and pulled her into a hard kiss. She had on her strawberry lip balm, so little bits of the cheap mustache stuck to her lips. She cackled, breathless with tears streaming down her face as she picked off the bristly hairs.
“You are my very favorite, Guy Nicolas Stelle,” Kitty cooed, her face still red from laughing. She stopped someone passing by to take our picture. A few other people stopped to take pictures with me. I made Kitty stand in with me, knowing those pictures would be on the internet before long. I wanted everyone to know that I was taken. It got old having my DMs fill up with ludicrous offers. I was half tempted to turn them off, but I was always afraid I’d miss some endorsement opportunity.
“You are so unrecognizable,” she said as I swept her up into my arms, taking in her warmth and familiar scent.
