Page 184 of Slap Shot
“Like, here here?” he asks.
“Like found her in the stands and talked to her here.”
“Shit. Is she okay? Are you okay?”
“I’m seconds away from committing a homicide.” I close my eyes and try to practice centering myself like my therapist taught me. I try to shove away all the external conflicts and distractions, but I come up short. “How the fuck am I supposed to focus on hitting a goddamn puck when the man who divorced the woman I fucking love sits in the stands without getting a piece of my fucking mind? He left them because his daughter is deaf. Do you know how horrible he is?”
“The woman you?—”
“Obviously,” I practically yell. “How can I not fucking love her? She’s perfect.” I sit in my down and throw off my helmet. I yank off my gloves, pressing the heels of my palms into my eyes and groaning. “I love her and her daughter, and while I’m mad as hell she ever had to go through any of that pain, I’m glad she did because now I get to have her, and I’m never fucking letting her go.”
“Who the fuck is this bastard?” Grant asks. “I’ll go take care of him right now.”
“Sit your ass down, Everett,” Maverick orders, but Grant’s offer makes me smile. “What do you need, Hud?”
“I never thought I could hate someone I’ve never met, but I fuckingdespisethis dude.” I move my hands away and look at my best friend. “I don’t need anything. The venting helped.”
“Yeah?” He smirks. “Are you going to track her down and yell at her how much you love her?”
“Not sure she’s ready for that. Not yet.” I roll my shoulders and tilt my neck to the side. “I want to finish this game then get the fuck out of here. So if we could hurry up, I’d be really fucking grateful.”
The second period passes in a blur, and it’s like I slip into a trance. It’s the same thing that happened when I played while Mom was sick. I know I’m here. I know I’m getting slammed into the boards and assisting Ethan on a goal, but it doesn’t really feel like I’mhere.
Each time-out my mind wanders, and I want to know what he said to her to make her so upset. When I collect a rebound off a missed shot by our opponent and take it down the ice to score during a power play, the celebration doesn’t mean shit because Madeline and Lucy aren’t there to see it.
We make it to the third with a 4-2 lead. I check my phone, and there’s no word from her. Knowing she’s okay gives little solace, and that’s only thanks to Piper, who stopped me in the tunnel on our way to intermission to tell me she checked on Madeline and she was doing better.
I barely pay attention the last two minutes of the game. I play good defense. I support my teammates. I do what I’m asked to do, but when the buzzer sounds, I’m heading off the ice.
I feel like a dick for not showing any sportsmanship to our opponent, but I’m hoping Maverick can come up with an excuse for my quick departure.
“Where is she?” I ask Piper, and she gestures down the hall.
“Still in the media room,” she tells me, and I grab a pair of skate guards from our equipment manager.
I cover the distance in what feels like five steps, and when I swing the door open, Madeline looks up at me. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are puffy, and there’s mascara near her nose.
“Sweetheart,” I say. She stands and charges toward me, not stopping until she throws her arms around my neck and buries her face in my jersey. Her shoulders shake and I stroke her back, but I stop when I hear her laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“This jersey smells like the pits of hell.” Madeline pulls away from me, and I’m glad to see she’s smiling. “My god, Hayes. This is from sixty minutes of playing?”
“My socks smell even worse.”
“Don’t even try to get your feet close to me.”
I smile and cup her cheek. “What happened?” I ask. “Did he come here looking for you?”
“No. Nothing like that.” Madeline shakes her head. “He’s here on a business trip and saw me in the stands. He came up and tried to talk to me, but I shut it down right away. I got out of there as fast as I could.”
“Did Lucy see all of this happen?”
“Yeah. He asked if that was her. He tried to call herhisdaughter, and that’s when I snapped. I didn’t want to cause a scene. I was so caught off guard by seeing him. I didn’t know what else to do.” She sighs and unbuckles my helmet. “I’m sorry I missed your game. I heard you scored a goal.”
“It’s not important. What can I do to help you, Mads?”
“I want to go home,” she says, and I love that’s what she calls the condo. I love that she feels like the place is hers, because it is. “Please.”
“Let’s go. I need to change, then we’ll head out. Lucy is with Piper. She’s doing okay. Liam even stole her away for a minute, and I think he might’ve been smiling,” I say, and that gets a laugh out of her. “Hell is freezing over.”
