Soon I'd end up being the only one without my person.
If the news on the internet about Aurora and Felix being the new "It Couple" was correct, maybe I already was.
It had never bothered me before.
Why now?
Shaking it off, I focused on the music, looking out at the ice in front of me.
I spotted Tolliver immediately. He was a muscular guy anyway, but the pads made him look massive. Not only was he one of the biggest players out there, he was also one of the fastest. Hudson was flying beside him while Elle waited in the net, playing against her two brothers. As the two passed the puck back and forth, Hudson ended up taking the shot. Elle knocked it away with her stick. As he came in for a second attempt, she blocked that one too. But while she was celebrating, Tolliver regained possession and shot it right past her. Eli was cheering in the seat beside me as were other people in the crowd.
As I watched, Tolliver smiled, said something to Elle that I couldn't hear because of the music, and she flipped him off in return, making me smile.
Seeing him so happy made me glad.
I didn't think too hard about why.
String music flowed through my ears, and as play resumed, I couldn't take my eyes off the ice. The scrimmage was definitely more entertaining than I'd thought it would be—and surprisingly beautiful, like a dance. The players weaved with the notes. Even the crashes seemed to go with the music. I had a hard time looking away from Tolliver. His confidence, his natural talent for knowing where the other players would be, the way he effortlessly glided past and around them, how they seemed to follow his lead, it was clear from the look on his facehow much he loved this. Loved being out there. Hockey was like breathing for him.
Just like violin was for me.
As the music reached the final build, my favorite part, it made me a little sad. I missed playing music. It had always been my happy place. I moved my wrist experimentally, trying to recreate how I would play this section. For a moment, even though the piece was complex, my movements felt good, easy, as natural as inhaling and exhaling. But I'd forgotten I did my PT exercises before coming here. I made one wrong move, and pain shot through my wrist and up my arm. I winced, trying to rub the soreness away, as my eyes began to fill.
Before I could blink, Tolliver was there, reaching for me.
Looking up, I could see his mouth moving.
He gestured to my headphones, and as I nodded, he gently removed them.
"What are you doing?" I asked. "Is the scrimmage over already?"
Instead of answering, he said, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
He gave me a look.
"I'm good, Tolliver. Go back out there."
"Nah, Xavier needs the practice more than me anyway," he said.
"But—"
"We rotate out all the time in a game. Everyone's got to practice."
Tolliver gently took my wrist, touched my skin with care, but I sucked in a breath when he accidentally hit a tender spot.
"Seriously, it's fine," I said as his eyes lifted to meet mine. "Just sore because I did my PT exercises."
"Did you ice it afterward?" he asked.
"I...didn't. I came straight here."
"We have icepacks. I'll get you one."
"Aren't those for the players?"
The look Tolliver sent me was withering, so I shut up. When he came back with an ice pack in his hand and laid it softly on my wrist, I couldn't hold back a shiver.
