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“It’s a lot to think about,” she admitted, her voice going low. “A lot to process. Whatever happens, I just don’t want to fuck up what we’ve always had, you know?”
Setting the goalie mask down, I slid my arms around her and crushed her gently against my chest. I’d probably hugged her like this a thousand times. It just never felt this good before. This… right.
“That’s something we could never fuck up,” I said, kissing her softly on the forehead. “Not in million years.”
~ 38 ~
AXEL
THWACK!
The slapshot slammed into the boards so hard it made a dent, one of thousands exactly like it. The puck spun away in a weird sort of slow-motion, flipping end over end. Tiny paint chips fell like snow.
Just watching the whole thing made me feel a tiny bit better.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Again and I again I wound back and took shots, until the last in the line of pucks were gone. Not one of them had gone into the net. But I wasn’t aiming for the net.
Damn.
Nervousness. Frustration. These feelings were foreign to me. I’d led a generally charmed life, a happy existence. One that grew even happier as time went on, as I was surrounded by more friends, more fans, more people who loved and adored me.
But none as much as Ariana.
I exploded forward, launching myself down the ice as fast as my legs would take me. My knees came up, my thighs pumping hard as I soared down the right-hand boards, skated a tight ‘U’ behind the net, and slingshotted myself up the opposite side.
This place had always been my second home. Ever since that Saturday morning my stepfather had taken us as boys, I knew I was destined to spend the bulk of my time here. Back then, GreatSkates was still in its heyday. I was overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of everything that surrounded me, from the incredible food to the flashing arcade, to the laser-tag extension where I grew up zapping my stepbrothers with invisible beams of light.
Right now that extension was a pile of rubble shoved up against the side of the building, having collapsed when I was barely a teenager. Gone was the arcade, where we used to scrounge up quarters to play Street Fighter II. Likewise gone was the happy little food court, along with the rich, heady scent of popcorn and funnel cakes, having been converted into a locker room long ago.
My stepfather had paid for lessons, and those first few years with my stepbrothers were magical ones. Ryan, Jamie and I joined so many teams we barely left the ice. We’d be dropped off by my mother only to be picked up right around closing time, and each day was filled with fun, excitement, and what felt like limitless amounts of laughter.
But even that only lasted so long. My mother and stepfather eventually went their separate ways. My stepbrothers moved back east, never to return.
And I learned the hard lesson that nothing gold can stay.
As soul-crushing as the whole ordeal was, my mother was determined not to let me wallow in self-pity. She worked long hours at different jobs, always finding just enough money to keep me playing as much as before. I didn’t realize her level of sacrifice until I got older, but now I remember her wearing the same clothes all the time. Buying her makeup at the dollar store. We always had just enough to scrape by, just enough to eat. And throught it all, she never stopped smiling.
THWACK!
I slapped away one of the pucks that had stopped at center ice and skidded to an abrupt halt. As the snow from my blades finished billowing outward, an eerie silence fell over the place. I stood for a moment just leaning on my stick, soaking in the history of the ancient building. I sniffed the air, trying to conjure the familiar smells of the food court. I cocked an ear, listening for the machines from the arcade again, as they cycled through their—
“Hey, stud.”
I whirled, just in time to find someone stepping out of the darkness. I was so startled my heart skipped a beat, but now I could feel it working double time.
“Is that a stick in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?”
Ariana stepped out of the shadows and into the overhead lights. They were the only things on in the whole building.
“Holy shit, you scared the fuck out of me!”
I skated over, hopped the boards, and pulled her into a hug. She giggled and pulled back.
“Yuck. You’re all wet.”
“Yeah,” I huffed. “I guess I’ve been going pretty hard.” My eyes narrowed. “Wait. How’d you get in here?”
