I laugh and turn my attention to Lo as Avianna asks. “All right, Laurent. Who’s it going to be?”
“I’m going to have to go with Gibbon.”
“Ooooo,” Avianna comments. “The big man who doesn’t remember he’s a goalie and shoots his shots. All right.”
Lamar winks as he heads for the net, pulling his helmet down as he does. Not for the first time, I think I’m glad I’m not a goalie. Lo works through the first five, making one. He gets the first two-point, true to form, in the upper corner.
But Lamar knows his moves and Lo’s forced to change it up. He scores another two by moving it around Lamar as Lamar gets down to block and swings it around the side. I grin when it goes through. The last puck is a wild card for Lo and I know he’s taking a chance as he attempts to shoot it right between Lamar’s split legs.
He makes it and Lo ends with seven points. I laugh. Lo meets my eyes as soon as he turns around, giving me a smirk as he skates by.
I tune out most of Niklas’ and Link’s turns as I concentrate on mentally getting prepared for my turn. It comes quicker than I think I’m ready for and before long, Avianna is next to me.
“Two choices, Caulder. Who’s it going to be?”
It’s between Azure and Davies. I just have to beat three points to advance. Who do I have a better chance at scoring on? Probably Davies so I’m not sure why I say, “Azure.”
“Not what I anticipated. Why Azure?”
I meet Azure’s eyes. There’s no smile there. Nothing to suggest he heard me choose him at all. Shrugging, I say, “He’s a tough player. I’ve never had an opportunity to face him one-on-one.”
“Risky time to try here, but I like that reason. Good luck.” She claps my arm.
That seems to be Azure’s cue. As I face him at the ready, I decide half the reason Azure is such an avoided opponent is because he has a very cold, closed expression. It’s devoid of emotion. Looking in his eyes has a way of throwing off a player’s game. So I avoid doing so.
I think the other reason might be because he’s unusual by staying almost stationary as he waits for the puck to come at him. He moves at the last minute, almost anticipating half a second before we shoot how it’s going to go.
The whistle sounds and I head in. Azure blocks all five of the first attempts, even as I shoot around the net, trying to find a weakness. I manage to sink two of the two-point pucks. It’s luck more than skill. One gets in as it bounces back from Azure’s shoulder, not because I had a clean shot. The other was simply fucking luck. Straight up. Off his right skate. There was no talent there.
Somehow, I get to the final round by the skin of my teeth. I drop onto the bench between Mattias and Lo. Max is up next and he ties for second most shots.
“Max killing it,” Mattias says, tsking. “He leave no chance for us.”
I chuckle as he gets to his feet. Definitely no disagreement there. He’s one of two eliminated this round, the second being Jirí. Waving him off, I promise to see him after the game. Whatever we do after, I’ll definitely catch up with him.
Lo knocks his shoulder into mine and we silently watch the peeps on the ice change up the event. We remain quiet in companionable silence and I think now he’s finally managing to get his head in the game. Focusing and channeling his attention on this event.
Again, we begin at the bottom of the stack, Ivanovich first. He heads through the obstacle course strong through the bridges, but has a little trip up where his skates hit each other. He ends with 49.365 seconds.
Then it’s Lo’s turn and I stare, leaning closer to the half wall to watch him. Keeping my eyes on him. Silently, I’m chanting,“Come on, Lo. Come on.”He stumbles a little at the three nets beyond the bar, but makes it up by long-shot shooting at the end, hitting the target and signaling the buzzer.
Lo takes a breath, letting his head drop back. He’s currently leading the line up with 43.435 seconds. He’s now the man to beat! My grin is huge when he climbs the wall and knocks my glove with his. “Nice, Lo.”
He smiles.
We sit in silence watching Link and Niklas take their turns. Link ends up going through more than a dozen pucks at the three nets and ends with over a minute and a quarter. He lets his head fall back as he glides toward the bench.
“No speak,” he grumbles when he steps into the box. “I did shit.”
There’s no word for encouragement here. I get it.
Then it’s my turn. Lo claps my arm on the way by but I’m already focused on the task at hand. With the puck at the ready, right in front of my stick, I look up and wait for the signal. It sounds and I take off, pushing it forward and swinging around the back of the net. The first set of obstacles are a dozen small bridges, all lit and set up like a cricket field. Five are lit green, the others blue. They’re at different angles and facing variousdirections. Our task is to get through them, placing the puck only through the green ones.
I stumble a little as I slide to the far right, nearly missing one. A second, my stick gets stuck and I end up flinging the bridge off. But I make it through without many more hiccups. The one I’m most dreading is right in front of me now.
There’s a short barrier, maybe two inches high. A gaggle of pucks behind it. Beyond are the three small, short nets. Two of which are three times wider than the thin one.
I slow down and concentrate. Yes, I’m timed, but I could stand here like Link and just shoot until I miss what feels like a hundred shots. Or I can take the extra breaths and focus. Knowing this is probably my Achilles heel, I choose to focus.
