The arena is buzzing, but I suppose that being undefeated so far will do that. Our team has played exceptionally well for the first part of the season, and it feels good. I feel a level of respect here that I didn’t feel at my old school. And aside from Margo, I love my entire team.
“Where do you think Coach is?” Summer questions next to me. “She’s never late.”
I glance at the clock. “Well, technically, she isn’t late. She’s got one minute left.”
“For Coach, that is late,” a voice says from behind us.
Instantly, Summer and I share a look before turning slightly toward the woman who rarely speaks to me.
Margo and I may be on the same team, and sure, we have to gel together on the ice, but I think since the whole thing at the restaurant that night, we’ve maybe shared a total of ten words. And all of those were when we had to talk during practice.
She doesn’t look at either of us, just stands uneasily before she sighs. “Look, Hardy, I’m not good at apologies.” With each word, I can tell she wants to climb out of her skin because she’s so uncomfortable. “I made an assumption that you only got to be our goalie because of the name on your back. That wasn’t fair to you.” She chews the inside of her cheek, fidgeting with her stick. “You were the right choice. I know that now.”
For a second—or maybe a full-on moment, I’m not sure—I’m just dumbfounded. I don’t know why, but I never expected Margo to apologize to me. And even though she didn’t actually say the wordsI’m sorry, she might as well have. And with Margo, I think that’s the best I can ask for.
Summer stands there, clearly uncomfortable, before turning around and leaving me and Margo to this conversation. But still, I know Summer, and I know she’s still going to be listening. Luckily, Eden skates over toward her, and the two of them begin to chat.
“Thanks,” I finally say. “That, uh … means a lot.”
“A lot coming from me, you mean?” She almost laughs. “Because I’m the biggest bitch on the ice.”
“What?” I almost choke out. “N-no. That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Nah, it’s the truth.” She sighs. “I know you and Hendrix have gotten close, so I’m sure he’s told you why I am the way that I am.”
Her words shock me because I didn’t even know she and Hendrix were that close that he would know something so deep about her.
Thanks for the heads-up, babe.
“Um, no,” I utter with a slight shake of my head. “He didn’t say anything to me.”
She seems surprised, smiling lightly. “Don’t worry; I’m not after your man or anything. But with both of us being BrodyO’Brien’s charity cases, we just sort of get each other, I guess.” She shrugs. “I let my insecurities get in the way of being a good teammate. But it won’t happen again.” Her eyes move to the opposite end of the ice. “Looks like Coach finally made it.”
She leaves it at that, not saying another word before she skates off. That was all I needed to hear to know that we can finally put our differences aside and just play hockey. I guess I could pull the girlfriend card and get angry that Hendrix didn’t tell me that they know each other on a sort of deeper level, but I find it kind of charming that even when she was being a bitch to me, he didn’t pour out her secrets and explain why she was being so bitter. He could have, but he didn’t because those weren’t his secrets to tell.
For that, I respect him more.
“Well, that was interesting,” Summer mutters, turning back toward me.
Eden smiles, watching as Margo skates up to another group of players. “You know what the word on the street is, right?”
“No. What?” I shrug, having no idea what she’s going to say.
“I heard that Cash Hale has a thing for her.” She sighs, leaning on her hockey stick. “Cash Hale. I can’t even imagine if a dude like that was into me.”
I don’t say anything, just simply smile inwardly. While everyone else might have thought that Hendrix bid on Margo, it was actually Cash’s money that did, and they just were helping each other out. I know he’s got a thing for her. Before, I was kind of bummed because Cash was such a stand-up guy. But now, maybe Margo isn’t as bad as I thought she was.
Our conversation, diving into Cash and Margo’s business—which we shouldn’t be doing anyway—is cut short when Eden scowls, looking past me. “What the hell?”
Turning slowly, I watch as the men’s hockey team files out onto the ice. The second Hendrix’s eyes meet mine, he grins.
“Well, this is weird,” I whisper as they get closer to us. “I thought we had the ice?”
Within seconds, Hendrix is next to me.
“What’s this about anyway?” I say, a little nervous.
“I have no idea,” he says, and I can tell right away that he has no clue either. “Coach told us to gear up and come out here instead of watching game tape.” He winks. “And then I saw my hot girlfriend out here, looking all sexy in her uniform.”
