I cross my arms proudly. “Damn straight. We’ll run the same drill I did with Grace this next week.” Again, she looks surprised by the promise of us running the drill together since I cancelled a few of our sessions this week. I just needed some space — some time to talk myself off the cliff.
With that, there’s only a few minutes left before the final period starts, and the team takes the ice once more. As the last twenty minutes tick down, the air gets stuck in my lungs numerous times as Westlake gets a few really good breakaway opportunities. But each and every time, Lennon shuts them down.
Her confidence has grown miles since the first game of the season, as well as her endurance. Westlake gets Maria on a high sticking call, earning a two minute penalty. Their special teams is good, but Lennon is better.
There’s a close call as a shot comes sailing from close to the blue line and is redirected by a player’s shoulder, but Lennon tracks it the entire way and is able to bat it away with her left arm pad. They get a rebound shot right after, going for the five-hole, but again, Lennon is fast as lightning, dropping down andblocking it again before she can cover it with her glove to stop the play.
The bench erupts when the power play runs out, the team successfully making it through without giving up any goals. Westlake tries to get something to stick, but as the clock runs down, they end up empty handed.
The girls rush Lennon as soon as the buzzer sounds, cheering and celebrating her first shut-out of the season. Alice is beaming as she claps me on the back. “Congratulations!”
I can’t help but smile back. “It’s all her,” I say proudly.
The teams shake hands and make their way back to the locker room. The girls are whooping and cheering the entire way, turning the locker room into one giant celebration that Alice isn’t even able to contain and finally just shouts, “Good game girls!” and leaves it at that for her post-game speech.
I try to catch Lennon’s eye before I leave the locker room, but she’s constantly surrounded by her teammates making it unsuccessful. I’ll congratulate her outside.
Already, my mind is racing, anticipating watching the film back with Lennon and instead of pointing out where she’s been going wrong, I get to point out everywhere her hard work is paying off.Ourhard work. Watching her progress is almost as satisfying as if it were my own.
Fuck, my heart is pounding and this feeling, this spark, it’s quickly becoming a burning inferno that I want to keep feeding with more and more pieces of her and this game.
Grabbing my jacket from my office, I shrug it on and head out to the atrium of the rink to find my family. They’ve been bugging me about coming to watch a game, and finally I gave them the greenlight tonight.
It’s pretty crowded, with lots of parents and students milling around. I wonder if Lennon’s parents are somewhere in the mix?She said she didn’t live far from campus, but that doesn’t mean that her parents make it to every game.
“Luke!” A deep voice pulls my attention, and I turn to find Sebastian, Sierra, and my dad huddled off to the side of the crowd. Sebastian waves at me, and I’m immediately pulled into a hug by my dad when I reach them.
“What a game,” he says. When he pulls back, I notice that he’s wearing a Huskies sweatshirt.
I tug on the hoodie string. “Where did you get this?”
“We had to stop at the campus store before the game,” Sierra says, gesturing to her own Huskies apparel. Sebastian is wearing one too, all of them decked out in the school’s signature powder blue and gray.
It hits me harder than it ever did seeing them in the red and blue of my own former team. I blink a few times, not sure what the hell is wrong with me.
“That’s great,” I say, swallowing thickly. “Glad you guys could make it. A good game for your first one.”
“Damn straight,” Sebastian says, clapping me on the back. “That goalie of yours was incredible. Can’t believe she’s able to deliver a performance like that with you as her coach.”
I flip him off as Sierra slaps his chest in reprimand.
“And how many games have your boys won this season?” I ask, knowing the answer is exactly two.
“Fuck you,” Sebastian mutters, looking wounded.
“Language,” Sierra chides while Dad chuckles. She turns her attention to me, and the iciness that she often regards me with since my divorce seems to have thawed slightly. “You seem to be doing good, Luke. Watching you behind the bench today reminded me a lot of this one.” She playfully bumps Seb’s shoulder. “You were more animated than I think I’ve seen you in years.”
“Sure surprised me,” Dad says. He spins his wedding ring, something he’s never taken off in the years since we lost my mom. “But it was nice to see, Son. Real nice.”
I pat his back in acknowledgment. That’s about as emotional as either of us are going to get with each other.
“Alice has done good by you.”
She has, but that’s not the one who’s made this whole coaching thing start to feel worthwhile. Speaking of…I look back toward the exit of the locker room to see if Lennon’s come out yet.
Seb says something to me, but it turns to static as the door swings open and Lennon comes striding through.
She looks beautiful with her flushed skin, damp hair, and that winning sparkle in her eyes. She practically skips as she comes out of the locker room with her bag slung over her shoulder, dressed in a Haulton tracksuit. The light blue material clings to her toned thighs and perfectly highlights the curve of her ass that I most definitely shouldn’t be looking at.
