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“Welcome to the River Kings.”
~ 49 ~
ARIANA
The look of shock on Zane’s face as he skated off the ice was absolutely priceless. I wanted to save it forever. Print it out and pin it up on the wall, so the rest of us could always enjoy it.
“What the hell…”
He looked exhausted, but exhilarated. Tired and excited and surprised to see us, all at the same time.
“You looked great out there,” Axel smiled, punching him square on the shoulder-pads.
“Yeah,” Tyler laughed. “Why can’t you play that way for us?”
Zane’s look of shock and surprise faded almost entirely at once. He looked suddenly guilty.
“Oh stop it,” said Axel. “He’s only kidding and you know it. We’re proud of you, man. You kicked ass out there.
“Yeah?” Zane said wearily. “But we didn’t win.”
“You lost because of that asshat who threw his mask,” said Tyler. “But otherwise…”
The three of them exchanged knowing glances, and for a few seconds there was only silence between them. Nothing really needed to be said.
Zane eventually shrugged.
“I— I just didn’t want you to—“
“Know you were moonlighting for one of the best teams around here?” asked Tyler.
A few of his teammates skated past him, patting him on his head on the way to the locker room. A few of them had their gloves still on.
“Was that Jaime Gassaway?” asked Axel.
Zane didn’t say anything.
“You’re playing with him?”
“He’s playing with me,” Zane corrected him with a smirk. He hopped off the ice and stood upright again. “And yeah. I sure as fuck am.”
His gaze found mine, and relief flooded through me. Instead of being angry at me for telling the others — and even bringing them here unannounced — Zane was silently beaming at me.
“Well this explains it then,” said Tyler. “Why you’ve been missing in action lately.”
“I know,” Zane said quickly. “And I’m sorry, I really am. I would’ve told you. I mean, I should’ve told you, but—”
“At first we just thought it was more stuff with your mom,” said Axel.
Holding his lucky mask tucked under one arm, Zane shook his head.
“Nah,” he said. “Mom’s good. Better than good, actually.”
“Oh?”
“She’s finally going to move in with aunt Janet,” he explained. “My siblings and I convinced her a few days ago. We have a real estate agent listing the house this week. Lillian and Jackson are even flying down to help pack shit up.”
“Dude, that’s fucking awesome,” Axel swore.
