“Everything okay?” I ask as I set the plate down and take the stool to his right.
“My emails and texts are blowing up.”
I press my lips together, so my grin isn’t too bright when he looks up. “About the scrimmage?”
“Yeah. Apparently, Ruth got some really good video. A couple of players from the Grays who follow me saw the tag, checked it out, and shared it.”
My stomach flips with excitement, but I still tamp it down. Then I frown. I don’t want to tamp down my excitement about things with Alex. “That’s so great,” I say with enthusiasm.
He lifts a brow. “Tonight was a mess.”
I shake my head. “Tonight was a fantastic first effort. Are there things to smooth out? Sure. But then not being smooth and polished is part of the fun.”
He sighs, then opens his mouth, but before he can respond, I say, “I know you don’t agree with that. But everyone loved seeing you out there, Alex.”
“Because I looked like an idiot?”
“You didn’t.”
“I’m a professional hockey player. I shouldn’t be tripping and missing shots with wiffle balls.” He shakes his head. “I shouldn’t betakingshots withwiffle balls.”
“Everyone knows that you are an incredible hockey player. That’s not what this is about. They loved seeing you doing something different. They loved seeing you be goofy and have fun.”
“I didn’t have fun.”
“Liar.”
“I don’t like it when I don’t know what to expect.”
“I thought you said you were getting used to that around here.”
“Getting used to it and liking it are two different things.”
I prop my elbow on the table and lean my chin onto my hand. “You know, just because you’ve always done hockey, and love it more than anything, and think it’s all you’re good at, doesn’t mean that that can’t change and you can’t be good at something else.”
“So you admit that wasn’t hockey we were playing tonight.”
I grin, even though I know it’s going to irritate him further. “What you were doing tonight was making a bunch of people happy and entertaining them.”
He studies me for a long moment. A very long moment. “It made you happy,” he finally says.
I nod. “Very.”
“I’m sorry,” Alex says.
“For what?”
“I was a bad sport tonight.”
“You really don’t understand, do you?”
“Understand what?”
“How great it is to see someone like you do something like tonight. You’re a famous, rich, incredibly talented hockey player, Alex. There is nothing you can’t do in a pair of ice skates with a hockey stick. It’s fun to see someone like you be able to let go of that polished persona and have fun. Do some things that are definitely outside of your comfort zone. Let yourself not be perfect. It gives other people permission to let go of the idea that they have to be perfect and can never just enjoy the things they are most dedicated to.” I shrug. “Everyone has goals and dreams. Everyone’s working for something. And everyone wants to be great at something. But you can’t just work and drive all the time.”
“You can,” he says.
“But then, when something out of your control happens, like a natural disaster, a financial hardship, or, I don’t know, a major injury that changes what you’re able to do—”, I say, giving him a pointed look. “Then it’s harder to pivot. Because it was work. It was something you did because youhad to. It’s important to alsolovewhat you’re working for, to laugh and have fun with it, too. That makes it easier to remember why it matters when things are tough.”
