“She’s hiding.” Almardon grins. “I saw her face this morning. Girl looked like she was about to have a panic attack.”
She’s actually did look like that.
“She’s just nervous,” I say, finishing with my skates. “She’s not used to dating someone in the public eye.”
“You’re not that public,” Dex says.
“I’m public enough.”
Almardon’s eyebrows go up. “On TikTok maybe.”
“Yeah, those tween girls really love him.” Brody laughs.
Barrett’s whistle echoes through the locker room. “On the ice in five! Let’s go!”
We file out. I can feel the ice before I even step on it, the cold air, the slight give under my blades, the way everything else falls away. This is home. This is where I make sense.
But today I keep glancing at the stands, looking for her.
Practice starts with standard drills.Skating lines, passing sequences, the kind of work that doesn’t require much thought. Which is good because my brain keeps wandering to Juliette in Marnie’s office, probably being interrogated.
“Rodriguez!” Barrett’s voice cuts through. “You planning on joining us today or are you going to keep staring at the empty stands?”
“Sorry, Coach.”
“Save the distraction for game day. Right now I need you focused.”
I force myself to pay attention, run the drills properly, hit my marks.
But I can’t stop thinking about her. About the way she looked this morning in my t-shirt. About the fact that she showed up at my apartment last night because she couldn’t sleep without me.
About how I’m falling for her so hard I can’t see straight.
“Line drill!” Barrett calls. “Rodriguez, you’re with Dex and Brody. Let’s see some chemistry.”
We line up. The puck drops.
Muscle memory takes over as I take the pass from Dex, skating up the boards just as Brody breaks toward the net. I should pass. That’s the smart play.
Instead I shoot. Top shelf. Past Luca’s glove.
The puck hits the back of the net and I immediately know I fucked up.
“RODRIGUEZ!” Barrett’s voice echoes. “What the hell was that?”
“Sorry, Coach.”
“You had Brody wide open! Why are you shooting?”
Because I’m distracted. Because my girlfriend is somewhere in this building and I want to impress her even though she’s not watching.
“My bad. Won’t happen again.”
“It better not.” Barrett glares. “Run it again. And this time use your brain.”
We reset, run it again. This time I make the pass. Brody scores. Barrett nods.
I glance at the stands again. Still empty.
