Burlington Blizzards. Second exhibition game against them in two weeks; the Eagles had won the first one 5-2, but the Blizzards were hungry for revenge. Good, fast, aggressive, skilled. Exactly the kind of team that required complete focus.
Which was perfect because focusing on hockey meant not thinking about whether Rachel would forgive him or not.
Mac intercepted a pass at center ice, drove toward the net with speed, deked around the defender, and fired a wrist shot top shelf.
Goal.
The crowd erupted. The team swarmed him for celebratory taps.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Jamie shouted, slamming into Mac's shoulder. "Keep that up and we'll destroy them!"
Mac skated back to the bench, his chest still hollow despite the goal.
Scoring didn't fix anything. It just delayed thinking about Rachel for another few minutes.
"MacKenzie, you okay?" Coach Davies asked during the line change.
"Fine, Coach."
"You don't look fine. You look like you're trying to kill something out there."
"Just playing hard."
"Playing angry is different than playing hard. Channel it better or you'll get a penalty."
Mac nodded and went back out for his next shift.
The game was brutal, hard hits, aggressive play, both teams fighting for dominance. Mac took a hit that sent him into theboards hard enough to rattle his teeth. He got back up and kept playing.
Pain was good. Pain meant he was feeling something other than the gaping hole in his chest.
By the end of the first period, the Eagles were up 2-1. Mac had scored once, assisted on another.
The scouts were taking notes. The crowd was loving it.
Mac felt nothing. He couldn’t allow himself. What if Rachel would break up with him? Had he blown it?
Rachel
Rachel sat in her car in the parking lot, her hands gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white.
She could hear the crowd roaring inside. Could see the glow of the lights through the windows. Could imagine Mac on the ice, playing his heart out.
And she was too terrified to go inside.
Sophie appeared at her car window, knocking insistently.
Rachel rolled down the window.
"What are you doing out here?" Sophie demanded. "The game started twenty minutes ago!"
"I can't do this. Sophie, I can't go in there."
"Yes, you can. We planned this. We have everything ready. You just need to be brave for ten more minutes."
Rachel took a shaky breath. "Okay. Okay. I can do this."
"You can do this. Now come on. Intermission is in ten minutes."
