He showed up because he wanted to.
And the more I think about it, the more I realize something that makes my heart beat a little faster.
Maybe Gabriel Shelly didn’t come to rescue me.
Maybe he came because he wants me to know...he really wants me.
Chapter fourteen
Gabriel
Steam fogs the glass along the boards as practice winds down.
Pucks thud. Sticks clap. The last drill ends with Dex firing one more unnecessary slap shot that clangs off the post just to hear the sound.
Coach blows the whistle. "That’s it. Hit the showers."
Gear scrapes across the floor as we skate toward the tunnel. The locker room smells like sweat, wet equipment, and the sharp bite of fresh stick tape.
Normal day.
Until it isn’t.
I pull off my helmet and drop onto the bench, rolling my shoulders while I untie my skates.
"Good practice," Gregory says, already halfway undressed.
"For you maybe," Dex says. "Some of us were clearly being targeted by hostile defensemen."
"You tripped over the blue line," Bobby says.
"That blue line came out of nowhere," Dex replies.
Laughter ripples through the room.
I finish unlacing my skates and look up.
That’s when I see it.
The big whiteboard at the front of the locker room.
Dex is standing in front of it like a security guard outside a nightclub.
Which means he’s definitely up to something.
Huge black letters.
No missing them.
WHEN WILL SHELLY ADMIT HE LOVES HIS WIFE?
I stare at it.
Then I stand.
"What the hell is that?"
Dex, who is halfway through pulling his jersey over his head, freezes like a raccoon caught in a flashlight beam.
