She’s the girl from the porch. The girl from Halloween. The one who disappeared the next morning, leaving no way for me to contact her.
Lee Shaw.
My left wing. My teammate. The person I’ve been passing the puck to for weeks.
LeeandNora.
I stare at her. She stares back. Neither of us moves.
Then I hear myself say it.
“Leonora. Holy shit.”
She flinches.
“Lee and Nora.” I hear the edge creeping into my voice. “I get it. Very clever. Funny.”
“It wasn’t meant to be funny.” Her voice is quiet, cracked. “Zane-”
“You-” I step back. Run a hand through my hair. And then I laugh - not because anything about this is funny, but because it’s so completely insane that laughing is the only thing that comes out.
“You’re - all this time -”
“I can explain.”
“Explain?” The word comes out louder than I meant it to. “You slept with me. You let me-”
I stop.
Something shifts in my chest. A piece of the puzzle sliding into place that I didn’t want to see.
That night. Halloween. The way she looked at me. The way she kissed me. The way she left before I woke up.
“You knew.” My voice is different now. Quieter. “That night. You knew exactly what you were doing.”
She holds my gaze and I step back.
“So, what - this was a game?” I can hear the disbelief in my own voice. The hurt creeping in underneath the anger. “You wanted to see if you could - what? Seduce your teammate? See how far you could take it? Have a laugh that I didn’t recognize you?”
“No.” She shakes her head, quick and desperate. “God, no.”
She shifts on the table like she’s going to stand, to come closer - and I step back again.
I don’t want her near me right now. I don’t know what I want.
She stops. Stays where she is.
“Zane, I didn’t plan that. I didn’t plan any of this.” Her voice is breaking. “I just - I wanted one night where I wasn’t hiding. Where I was just - someone you wanted. Not Lee. Not the rookie. Just… me.”
Someone you wanted.
I’ve been looking for her for weeks.
Scanning the coffee shop and dining hall.
And she’s been right here on my team. Standing beside me on the ice like nothing had happened.
“I’ve been looking for you,” I say.
