Connor breathed a small breath of relief— he hadn’t popped any buttons, so a huge breath of relief wasn’t exactly possible— and set the boy on the ground as he stood. The motion made one of the sleeves fall completely off, though, and it fell to the floor. Without thinking through the likely consequences first, he bent to pick it up, completely tearing the seam in the rear of his pants from top to bottom. And because they were so tight, he hadn’t put a pair of shorts or pants on underneath them.
The entire class of Kindergartners immediately burst into stomach-clenching laughter. He had been booed at enough stadiums in locations away from home before, but even that wasn’t exactly like a bunch of Kindergartners laughing because they could see your underwear.
Nor was it like having a vice principal who was probably old enough to be your mom take off her cardigan and tie it around your waist to hide said underwear and usher you off stage as your second sleeve threatens to burst free at the slightest move.
Or to have the woman you felt like you really connected with and are attracted to strongly enough to maybe forget your rules filming all of it.
When Connorfinally got back to his hotel, he didn’t have long before he needed to leave to head to the arena. The front desk stopped him, though, and gave him a package that had arrived. He looked at the label and saw it was from his sister— it was the package she had put together the day he’d gotten traded and mailed to him. He took the elevator up to his room and opened it as soon as he walked inside. Items from home was just what he needed after the debacle at the school.
He smiled when he saw that his favorite cinnamon caramel hot chocolate mix was right on top, even after telling his sister that he didn’t need her to send it. The contact lenses were a huge relief to find. He’d been wearing the same daily lenses for three days, and his eyes were dying for some new ones. Same with the socks. One of the t-shirts she sent was a greenish color, which would’ve been a life saver today.
The charging cords were a relief to find, too. He’d been relying on charging his phone during practices by borrowing from other players. He laughed when he saw his pajama pants, though, and picked up his phone to call his sister.
The moment she answered, he said, “Really? The pajamas with the flamingo hockey players are my favorites?”
“Well, yeah. They’re from your favorite sister.”
“I should’ve seen that one coming.”
“You really should have. I shipped off a bigger box of your stuff— you’ll get it in a couple of days.”
“Thank you. For both. And thank you for the hot chocolate mix. It’s been a rough day, and it was a nice thing to find.”
“Okay, hot chocolate doesn’t usually warrant that much gratitude in your voice. I’ve got a few minutes before my next meeting. What happened today?”
He told her the entire frustrating and embarrassing story, from showing up late, to Katie being there to film everything, to the vice principal tying her cardigan around his waist. Not just handing it to him— actually tying it on.
“I’ve had two embarrassing experiences related to underwear since I got here, and Katie was there for both of them.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t the fifth-grade boys who witnessed this one.”
He laughed. “True.”
Now he needed to apologize to Katie for his frustration at the elementary school that probably ruined every bit of footage shefilmed when he had just apologized yesterday for his behavior at the school dance. She was going to start thinking this was normal for him— act poorly, apologize, repeat.
He was quiet for a minute, and so was Laura. Then she said, “You miss home.” It wasn’t a question, just a simple statement.
“Is it stupid that I’m a twenty-six-year-old man— almost twenty-seven— and I do?”
“No. Missing the place that you love, the people you love, and the team you love has nothing to do with age and everything to do with the strength of your connections.”
It also didn’t help that Charlotte had been where his family moved to get a fresh start. That was where he’d flourished after everything had hit rock bottom. Maybe if he had gotten traded to anywhere other than the place where his dad had left their family, at the same time of year as when he’d left— the place where he’d actually hit rock bottom, things would be different.
“Hey, sis. I’ve only got about ten minutes before I have to change and head to the arena, and I’m not in the right head space to go play my first game with the Glaciers. I need you to pump me up.”
“Okay,” she said, and he could hear the squeak of her office chair as he was sure she was leaning all the way back, putting her feet up on her desk. “Tell me about the ice.”
“The ice?”
“Yep. Talk me through what it’s like the moment you first step a skate onto the ice. Don’t think about where the ice is, just that you’re on it. How do you feel?”
He closed his eyes and pictured it. The stands could be completely full with a raucous crowd, but the moment he stepped on the ice, everything always seemed to quiet. Knowing that his sister might razz him about a lot of things but never would about this, he was willing to talk through it out loud.
“From the first step onto the ice, I’m relaxed. But somehow energized, too. It’s a feeling… I don’t know. Like coming home. No matter where the ice is, the scent of the cold, the gleam on the ice, the expanse of white spread out before me always feelsright. Like I’m in control of the space and even of time.
“That first glide is almost… sacred. Untouched by chaos. Smooth. The sound of the blade slicing across it is like music. It’s a whisper, but so full of possibilities and potential. And gliding forward on it is powerful. LikeI’mpowerful. As I pick up speed and then make a tight turn, the centrifugal force pulling at me, it’s like there’s a trust, an agreement between gravity, the ice, and me. When I come to a stop, the side of my blade cutting across the ice, sending a spray of white ice in an arc, it reminds me that we’re all working together to make something beautiful.
“The ice is where I’m most alive. Most myself. Most free. And as the crowds come back into focus, they energize and exhilarate me. They give me fuel to work with the ice, the gravity, and my team to pull off something amazing.”
