“Oh, hi boys! How are you?”
She stood and watched us as we marched out to the ice.
***
We took our hour skate around the rink. Normally, heading into a game against Boston, Boston was all Icouldthink about. My old teammates. Cunningham. My ex Vanessa—all that heavy history. I wanted revenge against all of them.
Today, though, mymindwas pretty much everywherebutthe game. I felt pretty goddamn awful.
I'd wanted to ask Honor to be my girlfriend. Was it soon? Yeah. But after listening to that TV show last night, I feared the worst. If we lost this game against Boston? From the sounds of it, Colorado wasn't interested in offering me a new contract.
And what then? Would Honor really move with me to wherever the hell I was heading? What if I got sent to someplace like Edmonton? She thought the winters inMinnesotawere bad … ha.
But she wasn't even willing to quit her job for me. What did that say?
I wasn't sure.
Then again. I chickened out. I hadn't asked her to be my girlfriend. I'd asked her to quit her job for me.
Which wasn't really the same thing. At all. And no wonder she turned me down.
Sigh.
My body felt heavy and worthless as I lugged around the ice with my teammates. I knew I wasn't going to have it tonight if I didn't get it together.
And that meant asking Honor to be my girlfriend.
As soon as we're done here, I'll call her and ask,I said to myself.
And, what do you know. Suddenly, my body wasn't so tired and useless.
***
After the morning skate, we left the ice and headed for the dressing room. I made a bee-line to my stall and called Honor's phone.
But instead of her voice, or her voicemail, I heard an automated message. “Sorry, but the number you're trying to reach has been blocked by the account holder.”
I clenched my fists. What the hell?
Why?
No message, no explanation, nothing. Just blocked.
I knew I shouldn't have been surprised. Women always let me down in the end.
I grabbed my shit and stormed out of the dressing room.
Fuck it.
Chapter 21:
Cursed
Honor
Hours later.
I arrived at the rink an hour before the game—and, believe me, it took all my will-power to actually show uphere and not, oh, say, run back home to Minnesota with my tail between my legs.
