In the third period, I logged nearly ten minutes, including the final two when we were protecting a one-goal lead. I didn’t give their forwards an inch.
We won 3-2. The crowd exploded as the final buzzer sounded.
In the locker room afterward, the energy was exactly what a season opener should be. Players celebrating, music too loud, and everyone riding the high of a win that actually mattered.
Jim came through, offering praise to players who’d done their jobs well. When he reached me, he gripped my shoulder. “Career night, Tolrek. That’s the defenseman I knew we were getting.”
“Thank you, Coach.”
“We need to talk soon. I want to understand what clicked.” His expression was open, no suspicion in it. “You’re playing like a completely different player than the one who showed up to training camp.”
My chest tightened. “Just settling into the system.”
“It’s more than that.” He studied me for a moment. “But we’ll talk tomorrow. Breakfast?”
“Of course.”
His smile widened. “Good. Six thirty.” He named a diner nearby. “Enjoy tonight. You’ve earned it.” He moved on to the next player.
I sat at my stall and tried to remember how to breathe normally.
I entered the diner the next morning, promptly at six thirty. Jim lifted his arm from where he sat at one of the booths, and I joined him.
“Thanks for making time, Tolrek,” he said.
I slid into the booth across from him. “Happy to.”
We both studied our menus, ordering when the server came by. Jim chose black coffee, toast, and eggs. I ordered the same, though I wasn’t hungry.
“Hell of a game last night,” Jim said once the server had left. “The press is already running pieces about the trade. How we got a steal. That your old organization didn’t see what they had.”
“I saw those.”
“They’re not wrong.” He leaned back, studying me with the attention he gave game tape. “But I’ve been doing this long enough to know when something changes for a player. And something changed for you.”
I took a drink of water to buy time. “The system fits my style. The defensive pairings are solid. I’m learning to trust my reads again. The line-up is fantastic.”
“That’s all true, but it doesn’t explain the confidence. You’re playing like someone who figured it out.”
The server returned with our coffee and meals. I focused on adding cream to my coffee.
Jim noticed. “You take your coffee black.”
“I’m trying something new.”
His eyebrow went up, but he didn’t say anything more.
“I watched a lot of tape,” I said, which was true. “Your video analysts put together packages that help me see patterns I’ve been missing.”
“Haley’s good at her job.”
“She is.”
“She’s been different lately too.” Jim said it casually, as if he was mulling it over rather than probing. “She’s happier, I think. Less isolated. I’ve been telling her for years to make a life outside this building, and it looks like she finally has.”
My hand tightened on the coffee mug.
The ceramic heated my palm. I focused on that instead of the fact that Jim’s words were carving me open. He wanted to see her settled and taken care of. He was sitting across from me talking about his hopes for his daughter’s future while I was the secret she was keeping from him.
