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I look down when my phone buzzes with a notification and see it’s a text from Harvey.
Can’t wait to see you tonight, sweetheart. We have to celebrate that our team made it to the Stanley Cup!
The butterflies start again and I smile as I text him back.
Congratulations! But are you sure you can cook?
He’s picking me up for dinner at his place and a movie. I like that he enjoys staying in when he’s back home and getting a break from his competitions.
My phone buzzes again.
It’s a take-and-bake pizza so I don’t think I can screw it up. You pick the movie!
Laughing to myself, I feel more certain than ever that Icando both – be in a relationship with Harvey and go after my acting career.
Chapter Twenty-Six
HARVEY
“So,you’renotgoingto retire this year?” Parker asks me, and I think that’s the trillionth time he has done so since those stupid rumors started.
We finally made peace after Elsa put him in his place and told him we are in a relationship, and we are finally talking again.
“Parker…” I take a sip of beer and lean back in my chair, while he’s left to the four-seater, where I normally sleep when I’m drunk.
“I’m not a spring chicken, I know I’m nearing the end of my days as a hockey player. But while my performance doesn’t get lower, why bother about it? I’m scoring the best I’ve been in my whole career…”
“Your best year was eight years ago, Harvey,” Parker tells me over his beer. “And the three following years were good too. But since your injury to the Achilles heel, your numbers have only been going lower and lower.”
“Then why am I still on the team?” I ask indignantly.
“You’re too stubborn to quit and the public likes you,” he shoots it straight to my face. “You’re also a safe bet for the coaches. And compared to the new crop of players, your numbers still do very well.”
I turn my attention to the sportscast on TV. We’re watching a very important game. It’s the game that will decide which team we’ll be playing in the Stanley Cup.
Parker and I got together to see as part of our truce and that is the reason why Parker is in my place instead of cowering in a corner.
Our team has made it through to the Stanley Cup and I’m especially interested in the outcome of this game because there is one team in particular that I want to win – The Los Angeles Vipers.
If they do, then we’ll be playing them in the Stanley Cup. Our team has been watching their gameplays and video playbacks like crazy and we feel confident we can beat them.
Currently the game is in overtime, and the forward of the team I want to win moves and collects the puck. I jump up, my eyes glued to the screen.
“Do you think he’ll pull it off?” I ask, nervous.
Parker is going to be involved with the sportscasting of the Stanley Cup. It’s a huge opportunity, but I know he’s nervous.
I know we can crush the California Vipers. Our team has been studying videos of their games and we know their players, performance, weaknesses, and strengths like the back of our hands.
Parker is as glued to the screen as I am.
We watch as the forward flies down the ice and then moves left and then right to stop the opposing defenseman from getting in his way. My eyes widen as he makes one final move and lifts the puck over the opposing goalie’s pad and into the top left corner of the net.
The red goal light flashes, and just like that, I erupt in cheers along with the fans.
“Congratulations, man!” Parker high-fives me and comes in for a hug, but I cut it short. “This might be your last Stanley Cup! I can’t wait to see you play against them and be a part of the coverage of it!”
His words cut me like a knife, but they ring true. Do I see myself playing next year when I’m thirty-nine?
