Page 80 of Trick Play

“It’s the best news.”

“Merry Christmas.” He winked, and I laughed.

“Happy Hanukkah, Coach.”

I left feeling like I was floating. I didn’t remember the walk back to my dorm or how I ended up on my bed.

This was all too good to be real.

“Hey, man,” Reid called, bringing me back down to earth.

I lifted my head enough to see him and Haley in the doorway. “Hey.”

Things had been tense between us when I first found out what they did, but that was all in the past. They’d done it out of love and concern, and I couldn’t hold a grudge against them for that.

“What did Coach want?” Reid asked once they were both sitting on his bed across from me.

I couldn’t hide my smile. “Three scouts have been by, and they all want to meet with me.”

“No way!” Haley cheered and slid off the bed to hug me. “That’s amazing.”

“It really is,” Reid agreed. “What teams?”

“Nashville, Calgary, and Pittsburgh.”

Haley’s eyes widened. “No way.”

I nodded. She knew. She was the only other person. I never even told her, she just knew. Maybe I gave myself away at one point. Or my sister watched me more than I thought.

Reid was shaking his head. “Man. Those are all great teams.”

“I know. I can’t believe it. Has Coach mentioned anything to you?”

He shrugged. “New York, Seattle, and Utah have shown interested.”

Haley’s head switched back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. “Can we pause and relish this moment?” Her smile was contagious. “I know this is what you guys have worked for all your lives and we all hoped and prayed it would come, but listen to what you guys are saying! You have NHL teams interested in you. Plural! You have scouts that have come to watch you play and want to meet. It’s happening. This is really happening.”

Reid and I locked eyes as her words sunk in. She was right. This was all we ever wanted. All the blood and broken bones and bruises. The normal kid things we missed out on. Everything we sacrificed led to this.

We were months away from having our worlds change forever.

This was the first step.

We were further than most guys ever get. Closer than most could dream of.

“This is surreal,” he finally said.

“We need to celebrate! What about Hunter and Benjamin? Have they had any scouts come?”

I was a bit embarrassed to admit I didn’t know. I’d been too focused on myself to ask. Then again, I wasn’t even aware there were any scouts interested in me, so how could I have known about the others?

“There has been a handful around recently, but I never asked Coach to tell me who they were or who they were there to see.”

“Well, call them. They’ll be around, right? They didn’t leave yet,” Haley asked.

“No, I think most of the guys were going to head out in the morning,” I said, fairly confident that’s what I heard.

“I’ll call them,” Reid said, and I lay back with my arm draped over my face. Was this really happening?