My parents headed to find their seats and Yvonne and I continued on our way to the players’ entrance.
“That was nice of your mother to invite me to dinner, but I don’t want to intrude on your family time.”
“Don’t bail on me, Volkova, my mother will kill me.That wasn’t a pro forma invite, she likes you.”
“She doesn’t know me,” Yvonne said in confusion.
“Mom doesn’t need to know you,” I explained.“She’s famous for making split decisions.She decided if she liked you before she even opened her mouth.The funny thing is, she’s never really wrong.”
“You seem close with your parents,” she noted.
“Super close, but not in a creepy way.I’m close to my brother too.He was supposed to be here too, but the doofus didn’t renew his passport in time.It’s a miracle he can run a large accounting company in New York City on his own, but he can’t manage simple tasks.”
For some reason, that made her look sad.Her expression was blank as ever, but I saw the sadness cross her eyes.
As we entered the stadium, I reached out and squeezed her hand.“Whatever you’re thinking, push it out of your brain.You’ve got one job right now and that’s to be the best damned hockey defender the U.S.of A.ever sent to the International Games.You keep those Serbians away from me, so I can score some goals.Got it?”
“Got it,” she said, giving me a snappy salute.
It made me feel a certain way.
“I like that.Maybe later you can call me ma’am,” I said in an exaggerated sexy voice.
Yvonne burst out laughing.“You’re a little crazy, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
Yvonne
TheSerbiansplayedharderthan I expected, but we were up for the challenge.
Mostly.
I winced as I saw a defender from the opposing team slam into Greta so hard she lost her balance, landing on her back with a thud.We’d all taken hits like that over the years, and they hurt like a bitch.I skated over, joining the rest of the team who circled her while we waited for the medics to get across the ice.
Greta started to sit up, but Toni stopped her with a hand to the shoulder.
“Wait for the medic, Heitz.You fell hard.”
After a brief check, she left under her own power, medics on either side, and another player rotated in to take her place.
Toni lined up across from the Serbian who’d hit her, and they must have had words, because the next thing I knew they were shoving each other.The referee blew the whistle, sending them both to the penalty box for five minutes.One of the assistant coaches went right over to chew her out as the rest of us continued playing, each team missing a player.
Returning my focus to the game, I flew across the ice, trying my best to keep the Serbians from scoring.By the time the penalty was over, and Toni and the Serbian returned to the ice, she was back to her calm self, giving us all a sunny smile and waving to the crowd like the fight never happened.
“That was a bad decision,” I told her as we walked through the tunnel after eking out a win during the last few seconds of the game.“You could get kicked off the team.”
Fights were a natural part of hockey, but our coaches for these games were stricter than most.
Toni threw her arm around my shoulder.“They won’t kick me off the team for defending myself.She started it, everyone saw that she pushed me first.Of course I dared her to and called her a filthy whore in Serbian, but it was still her choice to start a fight.”
I stopped walking.“What?Why would you do that?And how do you know Serbian?”
“I don’t,” she said.“But I’ve made it a point to learn how to cuss people out in multiple languages.It comes in handy in hockey.Fortunately, we have two Serbian girls on my team in Seattle who taught me some good insults.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.“You’re a weird one, you know that?”
“She hurt Greta,” Toni reminded me.“I take care of my own.”
