“Love?” she mouthed, when I risked a glance her way.
I shrugged. What else could this impossibly warm and all-consuming feeling in my chest be?
I turned back to our coach. “If you’re going to kick her off the team, you’ll have to kick me off, too.”
“Yeah,” Owen added. “Mackenzie is one of us.”
The other guys were nodding.
“She’s better than Ford anyway,” Cullen added, before the other players all joined in.
“Waybetter.”
“And she’s improving every game.”
“She’s brave too.”
“She might be a girl, but she’sourgirl!”
Seeing the guys stand up for Mackenzie meant more than anything.
“Coach, we don’t care if her and Parker like to swap spit,” Seth said. “That doesn’t make her any less of a player or any less of a teammate.”
“Enough!” Coach Foster barked. The room seemed to tremble as everyone fell silent. “This isn’t the kind of behavior I expect on my team.”
I knew I was totally screwed. I couldn’t bring myself to regret speaking up though. Or regret kissing Mackenzie. I’d dealt with the consequences of kissing her once before, and I was willing to do it again. I just wished I hadn’t gotten her in trouble.
Coach Foster went to speak, and I braced myself for him to confirm that Mackenzie was out, and Ford was in.
“I expect everyone to support their teammates,” he began. “To have their backs at all times.” But then he turned to Elliot. “I don’t expect them to use blackmail to get their way. If you think any player in this room will trust you on the ice after this, Ford, you’re mistaken. I want to see you in my office first thing Monday morning. We can discuss your reintegration with the team on a… probationary basis.”
Elliot was still panting from the exhilaration of his dramatic reveal, but Coach Foster’s words slowly began to sink in. “What?”
“You heard me, Ford.Leave. We have a game to win, and right now you’re the one distracting the team.”
Everyone was staring at Elliot, mouths open in shock. He was just as stunned into silence as everyone else. He stood for a moment, as though he was trying to think of one final argument to fight back with. Then he dropped his head and slowly turnedfor the exit. The team watched him walk out, but my eyes were only on Mackenzie. She stood strong and purposeful, her eyes glistening with emotion. There was a time when I would have loved nothing more than to see her struggling. But now, her unshed tears felt like they were gutting me.
Coach Foster slowly turned to Mackenzie, and I could see why he had been so hard on her all this time: because he cared about her deeply.
He stepped toward his daughter. “Mackenzie, I’m sorry I stopped you playing hockey. I wasn’t protecting you; I was protecting myself. But I’m not going to hold onto the past anymore. I know your mom didn’t want you to go through what she did, but if she could see you right now, she would be so proud.”
Coach Foster took in a slow breath before continuing. “You have already proven to me that you deserve your place on this team, and it looks like you’ve proven it to everyone else here as well.”
“But my probation doesn’t end until after today,” she said softly.
“I never should have put you on probation in the first place,” her dad replied. “It’s clear that you are exactly where you belong—you’re a permanent member of this team.”
The room erupted in cheers, and a few of the guys close to Mackenzie patted her on the back.
Her forehead creased, and she opened her mouth as though her instinct was to argue back, but then her shoulders relaxed and she started to smile, her eyes lighting with pride. She’d done it. She’d actually done it. My own smile was so big it feltas though I’d just won the state championship game.
“And that’s not all,” Coach Foster shouted over the sound of our celebrating teammates. “I have another announcement to make.”
Shouts and cheers turned to low whispering as Foster faced me. “Despite the information recently brought to my attention, I want to acknowledge the efforts over the last few weeks of one individual who helped bring this team together. It has made us stronger during a challenging time, and I’m confident we will only get better if he continues to show such selfless leadership this season. I’m pleased to introduce your new captain, Parker Darling.”
The room exploded once again as my teammates mobbed me. Still, it took a moment for Foster’s words to land. Captain? He’d really made me captain of the team? After what he’d just learned about Mackenzie and me? Was he nuts?
Not that I objected. This was everything I’d ever wanted. Then I thought—glancing at Mackenzie and seeing the smile brightening her face—perhaps it wasn’teverything.
