“I’m sorry. I just need to call Brody quickly, and then I can call you right back.”
“Call me back in two minutes. Oh, and Dakota. There must be something wrong with your phone. Your location wasn’t showing up on my app. Did you turn it off?”
Dammit. Yes. I’ve turned it off nearly every day I go to work, not wanting Aaron to know where McKenna lives.
“No, of course not,” I lie, thankful that he can’t see my face. Aaron is like a human lie detector.
“Hmm. We will have to go get a new phone then.”
Panicking, I try to reassure him. “No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure I just need to do an update or something.”
“Don’t be so careless, Dakota. Having your phone up to date and your location services on could be a matter of life or death. What happens if you were to get in a car accident and I didn’t know where to look for you? That car of yours is an impending death trap.”
“You’re right,” I placate. “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to update my phone right after I get home from dinner.”
“You be sure to do that. Call your brother. I would hate for him to be as worried as I was about you.”
Unease slithers its way down my spine at the switch of his tone. There’s a lilt to his voice I haven’t heard since this summer. I just hope he cools down by the time dinner with my brother is over. If not, I’ll likely be in for a long night.
3
October
Inhaling deeply, the smell of the fresh sheet of ice beneath my skates floods my system as I take the first few strides of my rookie lap. The cool air fills my lungs as an awestruck smile takes over my face. My childhood dream of playing in the NHL is coming to fruition today.
Circling the net, I crossover to pick up speed as I snag a puck from the top of the circles and shoot it in the back of the net.
Fuck, this feels good—like I’m right at home.
Two blondes are cheering me on, banging on the glass beside the home bench, so I make my way over to them. When I get to the glass, I wave at Cadence, who’s wearing a mini version of my jersey and noise-canceling headphones that take up most of her tiny head.
“Uncle Car Car loves you so much, Cadey Cat!” I holler so she can hear me, blowing her a kiss.
The announcer’s voice sounds through the arena. “Make some noise for your Minnesota Wolverrriiiinnneeesssss!” Black and lime green jerseys flood the ice as my teammates join me out on the ice.
Our opponents, the Colorado Summits, also take the ice for their warm-up, but I refuse to look across the ice, knowing that if I do, my eyes will likely land onhim, and I refuse to spoil this memory. Instead, I turn my back to the other half of the ice and squat down to stretch my legs.
“Careful, Carsey,” Jax taunts, waggling his eyebrows as he pops a squat beside me. “If you keep stretching your hip flexors like that, you’ll wind up with even more ladies fawning over you on TikTok.”
He says this just as he spreads his knees wide and begins pumping his hips back and forth like he’s fucking the ice.
Chuckling, I reply, “Nah, I’m pretty sure you’re giving them all the content they need.”
When he gets even more into it, looking up and winking at a group of girls with their phones aimed at the two of us, I playfully slash his shinnies with my stick.
“You’re really leaning into that playboy image right now,” I tell him, shaking my head at his theatrics.
Jax leans closer, voice lowering as he asks, “Can you believe we’re about to play in our first NHL game together? How the fuck is this real life?”
“Right? It doesn’t feel real. Want me to pinch you, Jaxy?”
“Oh, fuck off,” he says, swatting my gloved hand away. “I’m not trying to make it dusty in here, but how surreal is it that we played on the same mini mites team together and now we both just took our rookie laps on the same sheet of ice for our NHL debuts?”
Unwilling to get too choked up, I hold my fist out for him as he bumps his glove against mine. “Let’s do this,” we say in unison, chuckling to ourselves.
Hours later, I’ve barely started down the player’s hallway when Mack runs and jumps into my arms. Spinning her around, I bask in this moment with my twin. We’ve always been each other’s biggest cheerleaders through every high and with every low, we’ve had each other to lean on. I can’t imagine Mack not being here on my biggest day.
“Great game, Carse. I’m so unbelievably proud of you. Scoring a goal in your rookie debut? Amazing!” she tells me as she brings me in for another big hug.
