Page 145 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

He jumps back over the boards. Coach watches him skate away. "You always know what they need to hear."

I smile faintly. "No."

"What then?" "I know what I would've needed."

Coach doesn't answer. He simply smiles.

Late in the third period Liam flies down the wing. This time Toby breaks through the middle with his stick on the ice.

I grin. "Come on..."

For one split second Liam glances toward the bench. Toward me. Then...instead of forcing the impossible play, he slides the puck across.

Toby buries it. The goal horn shakes the building. The arena explodes. Liam points toward Toby. Then toward our bench.

Then gives the smallest shrug in history. As if to say, I listened.

I laugh. Coach leans closer. "Looks like somebody finally made the easy pass."

"He made the right one."

The final horn sounds. Blizzards win. Players pour onto the ice around Caleb. I stay where I am. Watching. Smiling. Coach removes his headset.

"So..."

I look over. "So."

"You looked comfortable." I glance toward the celebration. "I felt useful."

A knowing smile crosses his face. "I wasn't talking about hockey." The words stop me cold. Because he's right. For two hours I never wished I was on the ice. Instead, I found myself exactly where the team needed me.

Maybe that was the point all along. Coach claps my shoulder. "Ready to head home, Captain?" I smile. For the first time since my injury the title doesn't feel heavy. It feels like home.

Chapter eighteen

Jamie

Home Again

The drive back to Briar Cove is quieter than usual.

Colby keeps one hand resting lightly on the steering wheel while the tires hum across the snow-covered highway. The radio plays softly in the background, neither of us paying much attention to the song.

For a while we simply watch the winter landscape slip past.

Dark pines.

Frozen fields.

The occasional farmhouse with warm yellow lights glowing against the snow.

Finally, Colby glances over. "You looked good tonight."

I smile. "I wasn't the one playing."

"No." He keeps his eyes on the road. "But you were exactly where you belonged."

The words settle somewhere inside me. "I wasn't sure I would."