It’s okay.What’s bothering you?One of the many things Viktor is good at is sleeping.He always falls asleep quickly and deeply.So if his sleep has been restless, there must be a reason.
He turns onto his back.I can’t stop thinking about the pointlessness of it all.That beautiful country.And now: so much damage, so many lives disrupted, so many people dead.
That’s the nature of war.All that money and human capital expended over what?A piece of ground, or a leader’s ego.You know that aphorism about not learning from history?Sometimes I think wearedoomed to repeat mistakes over and over.I sigh.
To my surprise, Viktor starts to laugh.I squint at him in the dim light.What is it?
He kisses me on the forehead.You wake up ready for a debate on the nature of war.Only you, Evie.
I groan.That’s because I’m the nerdiest girl at Monarch.
No, I like it.You’re multi-dimensional.Smart, challenging, well-read…His voice trails off as his hand moves up my thigh, pushing the T-shirt out of the way.His warm fingers still make my skin sizzle like the first time he touched me.Beautiful, sexy, and so hot.
He kisses me while caressing my hip, and I sigh with anticipation.I am about to be the luckiest girl at Monarch.
EPILOGUE
VIKTOR
March
ISIT IN THE DRESSING ROOM, CENTRED AND FOCUSED.MY LAST GAME AS AMONARCHMUSTANG,and it’s the biggest one ever.Tonight is the MIAC championship.We’re the underdogs, playing in the arena of the St.Clare University Saints.These guys eliminated us last season, so winning would mean both redemption and a championship.
It was a battle to get here, and there’s been attrition.We’re missing Ethan Unger and Logan Pederson, and everyone else is banged up.Because we wouldn’t be here without leaving everything on the ice every single night.
Mats pulls off his shirt beside me, and there’s a huge mottled bruise across his left shoulder.
Ouch,I say.
He shrugs.Not that I’d expect him to complain.I hope he’ll be captain next year; he’s smart and tough enough.
I feel remarkably calm.When Marko was missing, hockey was my escape but it also became…just a game.Important, yes, but not as important as people.Because of my brother, I also learned that acting like a strong and faultless captain wasn’t what our team needed.Once I admitted I needed help, the guys united to support me.Grecs confessed that he’d resented how perfect I seemed to be, even as I’d been hiding my pain and insecurities.And our team bonded by raising funds for a cause that was bigger than our everyday problems.
Marko is here tonight, along with my parents.It’s only been two months, but he looks a lot better.He’s been going for counselling as well as working with a physiotherapist to regain the strength he lost in prison.
Our separation brought us closer as brothers.Last night, Marko confided that his physiotherapist is really hot, so he’s definitely getting back to normal.And he’s got a direction now.He wants to train as a prosthetist so he can return to Ukraine and work with injured soldiers who have lost limbs.Rehabilitation is where we want to focus with the Zelenko Brothers Fund.Once I start earning money, I’ll donate a big portion of my salary to the fund too.Sid’s going to send video of my playoff performances to the interested teams to get me an invite to their prospect camps.
But now is not the time to think about the future.As I tie up my skates, I visualize how tonight’s game will go: winning face-offs, making crisp passes, shooting…scoring.
Gentlemen,Coach Norman calls out, and we all sit up and pay attention.He’s the smartest coach I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve never regretted the move to Monarch to play for him.He got here only a year before me, but since then he’s improved the team every year through good recruiting, coaching changes, and better preparation.This year, thanks to Marjorie Schultz’s donation, our training is the best it’s ever been.We’re ready.
One night.One game.It all comes down to this, guys.You’ve worked your asses off to get to this championship game.Dig down deep and give me the big game I know that each of you has inside.Win each shift and we’ll win the game.
Usually, he does some Xs and Os talk about the opposition, but not tonight.We’ve already done the full pre-scout on the St.Clare Saints: Marc Dufresne is their hotshot goalie, Kit Cooper is their big sniper, and their power play is deadly.The Saints have sailed through the playoffs and see us as a speed bump on their championship drive.I like being the underdog though.The harder we’ve battled to get here, the tougher we’ve become.
Coach Norman looks my way.Anything to add, Captain?
There’s so much I want to say.How close I feel to these guys and how I’ll remember this season my entire life.How much I’m going to miss this team.But there’s a time for sentiment and a time to get pumped.
Let’s fucking go, boys,I yell.And then we put our hands in.Mustangs on three.One.Two.Three.
Mustangs!we scream for the last time.
THE GAME COULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN OFF TO A WORSE START.WE’RE DOWN3–0HALFWAY THROUGH.And it’s not from a lack of trying.We’re outshooting them, but fucking Dufresne is in the zone and stopping everything.It’s so frustrating, and I’m reliving all the scoring opportunities I’ve missed.
I shake my head.No negative self-talk.I look up into the crowd, knowing exactly where Evie is sitting.Her smiling face shines out under a halo of dark hair and her purple knit toque.Just seeing her calms me.Of course she wants me to win, but the result doesn’t matter.Evie cares about me as a person, not a hockey captain or a rich kid or a campus stud.Just me, flawed in all the ways I hate admitting.
I exhale and concentrate on the game.
