Charity: Black Mountain Academy/Fortuity
Page 5
“There’s an easy fix for that.” Sarah snapped her fingers together. “One of us will drive, so you won’t need Edwin to give you a ride.”
If I had my driver’s license, then I could have driven myself, but my mom had this weird thing about waiting until I was eighteen to have my own car. I hadn’t bothered to take my test yet since it wouldn’t have done me any good, so I only had my permit. But Sarah and Emily had both gotten cars for their sixteenth birthdays and had given me rides enough times that my mom wouldn’t think anything unusual was going on. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t ask any questions. “She’ll still want to know what we did when I get home tomorrow.”
“For a parent who’s never really around, your mom really does have a sense for exactly the wrong time to stick her nose into your business,” Sarah complained.
Emily circled back to her original suggestion. “Your mom doesn’t need to know what you’re up to this evening if we have a sleepover at my place. We can all have dinner together at my place before we head to the rink, and then we’ll be on our best behavior while you get your flirt on.”
Sarah made me doubt how possible that promise was when she wagged her brows. “Another upside to this plan is that you’ll be free to hang out with him after the game if you want.”
“Of course, I do, but it isn’t up to me,” I reminded them, shaking my head. “We don’t know that he wants to spend time with me.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Emily sing-songed.
“And if he’s too dumb to see what an awesome catch you are, then you’re better off without him,” Sarah muttered with a gleam in her eyes that made her look as though she was ready to kick Corby’s butt if he rejected me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to put myself out there with Corby, but I was going to find out because there was no going back now that they knew everything. At least I would be doing it with my best friends at my side.
6
Corby
The night of my first game as a Cougar had finally arrived, and I was looking forward to proving to everyone that I’d earned the spot on the first line that Coach Clark had given me. I’d kicked ass during the weeks I’d played on the club team and since we’d started practice, but my performance during the actual season was what really mattered. These games were what the scouts would pay attention to. The stats that I racked up over the next months were going to be the deciding factor for the path I would take for the rest of my life. If I played well enough, scholarship offers would pour in and I would have a good chance of being drafted. Then I would have the chance to get a college degree for free and achieve my dream of playing professional hockey. But if this season was fantastic, there was a chance the team who drafted me would sign me right away instead of having me do college hockey first so I could develop more as a player.
My mind was wholly focused on being ready for that first puck drop during the three minutes we got to warm up before the game. I was shooting pucks at the net from the blue line about halfway through the time when Chuck skated over and tapped my shin pads with his stick. “Heads-up, dude.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. “What?”
He jerked his chin toward the penalty box. “There’s someone in the stands I’m willing to bet came just to watch you play.”
I glanced up, expecting to see one of the college recruiters, and I almost tripped over my own skates when I spotted Emmeline sitting in the row directly behind the box. That would’ve been embarrassing, but I was so happy to see her there that I didn't care. “Holy shit, I didn’t think she was going to show.”
“She did better than that. She brought you a little cheering section.” He tapped my shin guards again and grinned.
I had been so fixated on Emmeline that I hadn’t noticed her two friends sitting on either side of her. The three girls were all dressed in red Black Mountain Academy sweatshirts, and Emmeline had her dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail with a matching red hair band. One of her friends pointed in my direction, and Emmeline looked so fucking cute as she gave me a little wave.
“Judging by that shit-eating grin on your face, I guess I don’t need to wait and see anymore.”
I tore my gaze away from Emmeline to look at Chuck, confused by what he meant. “Huh?”
“That day in the cafeteria, you said I’d have to wait and see what happened.” He gestured to where Emmeline sat as the buzzer went off. “And there you go. She showed up to watch you when she’s never been to one of our games before. For a girl like Emmeline, that’s a pretty bold move. The next one is yours, man.”
“Damn straight,” I agreed as we skated toward the bench to listen to what Coach Carter had to say before we lined up for the puck drop. I’d waited almost a full month without acting on my attraction. All that time had used up my patience, and something had become clear—my interest in Emmeline wasn’t going anywhere. It had only grown stronger, and not doing anything about my growing feelings for her had to be just as distracting as trying for a relationship. I was going to take her showing up at my game as the green light to finally take action.
“You should score a goal in the first minute,” he suggested. “That would be a great way to impress her, and it would make a big statement to the Vikings.”
I’d faced our opponents several times before, so they were already familiar with my game play. Odds were good their defense would be all over me, so scoring right off the bat would fuck with their heads. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
“What does?” Dean asked.
Since Chuck wasn’t on the first line with me, he stepped into our bench area as he answered, “Corby is going to drill the puck into the back of their net in the first minute of the game.”
“That totally works for me,” Scott chimed in as he finished stretching and got up off the ice to stand next to me. “The more you have the puck down there, the less often the Vikings will be able to send it flying in my direction.”
“If you guys are done shooting the shit, I’d like to give you the actual game plan.” All the chatter stopped, and we gave Coach Carter our full attention. Then he grinned and pointed at me. “It’s going to sound awfully familiar since my strategy is similar to what you two apparently came up with during warmups. If you see an opening, take it. Their goalie won’t be prepared for the extra power you’ve developed behind your shot. I’d like to rattle him as early as possible.” He shifted his gaze toward Dean and Simon, the other two guys on the offensive line with me. “The second you see Corby gearing up to take a shot, crash the net. One of this guy’s biggest weaknesses is how long it takes him to cover the puck. Take advantage of his vulnerability and get those rebound shots.”
One of the linesmen blew the whistle, and Scott headed to our net. Dean, Simon, and I skated to center ice, and the two first line defenders, Kyle and Brodie, took their spots behind us. I faced off against the Vikings center, my legs bent at the knees and my stick on the ice while we waited for the ref to verify the goalies were ready to go. My body braced for action when he said, “Have a good game, gentlemen.”
When he blew the whistle and dropped the puck between our sticks, I didn’t give it a chance to hit the ice. Instead, I lifted my stick and sent the puck flying behind me toward Kyle. Then I darted around the Viking’s center and swiveled around to see who had possession of the puck. Kyle must’ve popped it over to Brodie because he was carrying it up the boards to my right. When our gazes met, he sent the puck up to me. Catching it on the blade of my stick, I raced into the Vikings’ side of the ice. Dean followed me over the blue line in a two-on-one against the Vikings defender. When he jabbed his stick at the puck, trying to poke check it away from me, I passed to Dean. Nothing was between him and the net except for the goalie, and he fired off a shot while I hustled around the defender.
Their goalie blocked the shot, but Coach Carter had been right about him not being quick when it came to covering the puck. I was close enough to reach out with my stick and scoop the puck bac
k toward me. Without giving the goalie a chance to get back onto his skates—or the defender right behind me to shove me out of the crease—I flicked the puck toward the net. Time seemed to go in slow motion as I watched it flip through the air, bounce off the goalie’s shoulder pads, and land in the net behind him.
“Fuck yeah,” I roared as Dean slapped me on the back. The rest of the guys on the ice, except for Scott, skated over to congratulate me on the goal. One of the Vikings made a pissy comment about me being a sellout, as though that was a fucking insult. Before I skated past him, I muttered, “It’s gonna suck to be you tonight, man. Because this sellout is going to drill the puck into the net over and over again until you start to wonder if you should quit your team and strap on a pair of figure skates instead.”
My grin was even bigger as I headed over to our bench. I was already riding high from my goal—and knowing that Emmeline showed up for me. Hockey players mouthed off to each other all the time to try to get into each other’s heads, but trash talk aimed my way tended to amp me up.
Chuck glided over to me, slapping me on the back. “I was fucking around about the whole score in the first minute thing, but damn if you didn’t take me seriously.”
A quick look at the scoreboard confirmed that only fifty-nine seconds had come off the game clock since the puck dropped. “Maybe you should try to put up another point in the next minute.”
“I’m no Corby King, but I’ll do my best.” He grinned at me as I stepped into the bench area. “But I don’t have the same motivation sitting in the stands. Can I borrow yours?”
I knew he was joking, but I still saw red. “Only if you want me to kick your ass.”
“Save it for the other team,” Coach Carter barked, clapping me on the back.
I grabbed a water bottle and gulped some of the cool liquid down. Glancing over my shoulder toward the stands behind the penalty box, I gestured toward the scoreboard before pointing at Emmeline. Her plump lips parted on a gasp, and her two friends bounced up and down in their seats with huge grins on their faces. Chuckling, I turned and watched the second and third lines do their thing until it was my turn to take the ice again. For all his big talk, Chuck didn’t manage to get the puck into the net during his shift, but the Vikings scored while he was sitting next to me on the bench.
The game stayed tied up through the rest of the first period and more than halfway into the second. The Vikings goalie had shaken off my goal at the start of play and made a fuck ton of great saves since then. He’d practically stood on his damn head to stop my last shot on net. But as I jumped off the bench and launched myself over the wall for my next shift, I had a hunch the tide was about to turn.
I skated hard toward the center of the ice, where one of the Vikings defenders had the puck. He must’ve missed me coming off the bench because he didn’t see me heading straight for him until I had already poked the puck away from him. The other defender had hung back in their zone, but I deked around him.
It was only me and the goalie again. He came out of the net into the crease a little, and it was exactly the opening I needed. Powering forward, I popped the puck to the left before quickly bringing it back to the right. It was too late for the goalie; he’d already committed to my first move. I was able to continue gliding to the right and dumped the puck into the net only inches behind his back.
I didn’t wait for the ref to call the goal before I pumped my fist in the air. Over the roar of my teammates' celebration, I heard a feminine voice call out, “Way to go, Corby!”
My head swiveled in the direction of the cheer, and I pointed at Emmeline to let her know I had scored that goal for her, too. Her smile was blinding, and it gave me an extra surge of adrenaline as I lined up at center ice for the puck drop. The Vikings center had seen my gesture and decided to mouth off about Emmeline. “Your girl is hot, man. I’ll be sure to find her after the game and give her a chance to trade up to a real man.”
Talking shit about the girl I was into was the worst decision he could’ve made. It made me more determined than ever to pound the Vikings into the ice. “You wouldn’t know a real man if he came up and punched you in the face, which I’m sure has happened often enough to kill off a shit ton of brain cells already since you’re a dumb fuck.”
“That’s enough, boys,” the ref warned before popping the whistle in his mouth and blowing. The puck dropped between us, and I beat my opponent to it yet again. This time, I knocked the puck between his legs with a light tap and crashed my hip into his side as I went around him to take back possession of the puck before one of his teammates got there. I pushed hard toward their side of the ice with Dean keeping pace to my left. Both Vikings defenders came at me, leaving him wide open. With a hard flick of my wrist, I passed to Dean. He lifted his stick and took a slapshot that sent the puck flying over the goalie's shoulder and into the back of the net.
Dean’s goal turned the tide of the game. The third line scored before the end of the second period, and then Chuck got the puck in the net about halfway through the third period. We were up by four with less than a minute on the clock when Brodie sent the puck flying up the boards in our zone. It popped over the Vikings defender’s stick and into the neutral zone, and I charged forward to snag the puck, pushing it ahead of me as I broke away from the pack. With only fifteen seconds remaining, I swung toward the left while simultaneously thrusting my stick out to the right, throwing the goalie off and giving me an opening just big enough to get the puck past him.
My teammates and the people in the stands went wild. I pointed my stick at Emmeline as I headed for the bench, bumping gloves with everyone as I skated past before stepping off the ice. As I sat down and grabbed my water bottle, Coach Carter came behind me and tapped the top of my helmet. “A hat trick is a great way to start the season, King. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”
As the buzzer signaled the end of the game, I looked up into the stands to where Emmeline sat. I’d been worried she’d distract me from hockey, but I was wrong—she’d ended up being the motivation I needed to play one of my best games ever.
7
Emmeline
The other spectators around us were still screaming when Sarah flung her arm over my shoulder and yelled into my ear. “He is so into you.”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I bit back a grin. It was difficult to deny that Corby was feeling something for me after he’d singled me out in the stands after each of his goals. My cheeks filled with heat as I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe about it.” She pointed at the center of the ice where the teams lined up to shake hands. “That boy got a hat trick and pointed at you after each goal. No way would he do that unless he liked you a lot.”
I tilted my head to the side, feeling a little confused by the unfamiliar term. “What’s a hat trick?”
“That’s what they call it when a player scores three goals in one game.” It had been great to have Sarah sitting next to me in the stands. In addition to providing moral support, she’d also schooled Emily and me on hockey throughout the game. She had played soccer growing up, and apparently, many of the rules were the same. “Hat tricks don’t happen often, so it’s a big deal that Corby got one during his first game as a Cougar.”
I turned toward the ice and found Corby standing at the end of the bench area, staring at me through the glass that separated the players from the people in the stands. My blush intensified, but I resisted ducking my head and gave him a little wave instead. He grinned and mouthed, “Wait for me.”
I tried to keep my cool, but it was hard to do with Emily squealing behind me and Sarah nudging my side. But it was worth being embarrassed by how they were acting when Corby grinned even before I nodded. Once he got the answer he’d been waiting for, he turned around and stepped back onto the ice. I watched him skate across the rink and walk through the door, not looking away until he disappeared into the locker room.
The people who’d been sitting around us quick
ly left the stands. Emily and Sarah waited until we were almost alone to start jumping up and down. “I’d say we definitely confirmed that he wants to hang out with you.”
“Heck yeah, we did,” Sarah cried, doing a little dance that made me giggle.
My gaze darted around us as I hissed, “Chill out, you guys.”
“No can do, I’m already chilly enough,” Sarah teased.
“For some reason, I didn’t think the rink would be this cold.” Emily ran her hands up and down her arms and shivered. “I know they have to keep the temperature low enough for the ice and all, but since we’re indoors, I thought it would be a little warmer.”
I hadn’t really noticed the cold, probably because I’d been too focused on Corby to pay attention to how frozen my toes were until Emily mentioned it. “Maybe we should head down to the lobby, too.”
“Good call,” Sarah agreed with a nod as she started to scoot down the row toward the stairs. I followed her with Emily right behind me.
It wasn’t much warmer in the lobby area, and I felt bad that my friends were stuck waiting inside with me. Looking at Sarah, I asked, “Do you have any idea how long it takes to get changed after a game?”
She shrugged and shook her head. “My guess is that it won’t be quick. We might be cold, but I’d be willing to bet that the players still worked up a sweat.”
“Yeah, no way will Corby want to come out here all stinky with you waiting for him,” Emily added, wrinkling her nose.
Maybe I was a weirdo, but the possibility of him skipping a shower to get out to me faster didn’t bother me at all. Not after I’d spent so much time ogling him when he was sweaty from running. Plus, it would be flattering to know he was in a rush to see me. “If it’s going to be a while, do you want to wait for me in Emily’s car? It’ll probably be much warmer with the heater running than it is in here.”