Page 54 of Trick Play

Normally, my brain would go a hundred miles an hour trying to come up with possible explanations, but I was too burnt out for that.

“No, what happened?”

“The school announced they’re starting a women’s hockey team.”

I wiped a bead of sweat from my nose. “Really? Why now?”

“They want to be a part of the ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ campaign,” he explained.

“It’s been in the works for a few years,” Benjamin interrupted, “but everything fell into place, and they decided rather than putting it off until next year to start it next semester. It’s a bit late, but the committee is making their schedule work with the other schools.”

Of course our captain was in the know.

“Wow. That’s cool.”

Hunter huffed.

“What?” I asked while stretching my shoulders.

“We’re going to have to share the arena. The ice. The locker room.”

I laughed at how disappointed he looked.

“They won’t practice or have games at the same time as us. We won’t see them,” Benjamin placated.

“But what if they want to make changes?” he argued.

I looked to the sky. “Then they make changes. Who cares if they paint the walls or retile the showers? If anything, the changes will benefit us too.”

He shrugged and folded over, reaching for his toes.

“It’s only a few months. We’ll be out of here soon,” Benjamin said with finality in his tone. End of conversation.

We moved around each other in silence until Hunter broke it. “How are things going with Kennedy?”

I closed my eyes and heard Benjamin suck in a breath.

It was an innocent question. He was interested and couldn’t have known how terrible things had gotten.

“Complicated,” I replied as I changed positions, working on loosening my chest.

“Well, that’s an improvement.” He chuckled to himself.

Benjamin let out a chuckle he feebly attempted to cover with a cough.

“You’re not wrong. I don’t think she completely hates me anymore, but I doubt she’s singing my praises to anyone either.” Especially not Whit. Man, he looked like he wanted to push me down the stairs. He would know how to get away with it too. He was one of those inexplicably connected types.

Seeing him after all these years was like a punch to the gut. He’d been my role model for so long. I looked up to him and admired him in every way. He was everything I wanted to be. Confident, polished, smart. He seemed to skate through life with an easy smile and knowing look.

I’d never admit it aloud, but there were several times over the past three years I longed to pick up my phone and call him.

Not Kennedy.

Whit.

Back in high school, he was like a brother to me. Full of wisdom and sage advice even though he was only a few years older. He let me know he was always one call away whenever I needed him. Which was often, even back then.

He would have known exactly how to handle the situation with my parents. How to be there for Haley when she needed me most. What tricks and classes to take to get my grades up. How to get scouts to come to me in droves.