I walk back out into the locker room and most of the team is already gone. Benson is at the door with his bag over one shoulder, waiting. Stanley is bouncing on the balls of his feet in the doorway like a man at the gate of a theme park ride he has been queueing for.
“Let’s go.”
“Let’s go.”
“Let’s fucking go.”
Chapter 15
Melly
Thepuckisinmy hand inside my coat pocket, and I have not let it go since he gave it to me.
I have switched hands twice. Once, when my right hand went numb during the second period, and once when my left hand went numb, and now I am back on my right hand, fingers curled around the cold rubber so tight my knuckles have a small permanent ridge on them. The puck is my body temperature.
Mila has my left arm linked through hers and is pulling me through the parking lot. Gianna is on her phone six feet ahead of us, walking backward at one point so she can yell something at Lucy about an Uber. Lucy is wrapping her scarf at her own pace.
The crowd around us is filtering out quietly because the Wolves lost. There’s a small father-and-son pair to my right talking about the fight that happened. There’s a college studentbehind me on the phone narrating the score to whoever is on the other end. The lot smells like exhaust.
Gianna stops walking ahead of us and looks up from her phone.
“Uber in two minutes.”
“Where to?”
“Hawthorne.”
I open my mouth. “I should go home.”
“No way in hell, Melly,” Mila says.
Lucy finally catches up to us and says, “We’re just hanging out for twenty minutes and leaving right after.”
Gianna leans in and whispers, “We have a plan.”
I look at her. “What plan?”
She grins. “You’ll see, and don’t worry, we’re going to make it fast.”
Mila and I look at each other, wondering what it’s about. We get in the Uber.
Once we’re inside, the car is quiet as we pull away and wait in traffic.
Mila leans in and whispers, “Are you freaking out?”
Gianna and Lucy turn to me.
I swallow. There’s no denying that I am, so I nod.
Gianna says, “I can’t believe he gave you a puck. I mean, Benson.” She waves her hand, rolling her eyes. “But Blue?”
My eyes dart out the window.
“In front of everyone?” Gianna gasps.
Mila says, “I know.” She nods, grabbing my arm. “This clearly isn’t high school anymore.”
I pull the puck out of my pocket and say, “I can’t stop holding it.”
