“She's … the first girl I've cared about,” I muttered. “In a long time.”
The team grumbled more grievances, and Coach smacked his forehead.
Honor, her hand still in mine, squeezed me. She stood on her tip-toes and whispered to me. “Tell them about your history with Cunningham.”
“What? Are you crazy?” I whispered back. “I can't do that.”
“Why not?”
“It's embarrassing. They'll think I'm weak.”
“Remember how you said you felt a thousand pounds lighter when you told me?”
“Yeah, but that's …”
Coach grew impatient and interrupted us. “Would you twopleasetake your lover's quarrel outside? I've got a team to coach out of a miserable fuckin' hole.”
I groaned. “Okay. Look. Me and Cunningham. You guys wanna hear what went down? Why I was traded here in the first place? Everyone heard the rumors that we got into a fist fight at practice, but no one knows the reasonwhy—not even my old Boston teammates over there know.I'll tell you. Cunningham fucked my fiance. Months before our wedding. Actually, I only found out months before the wedding—but he'd been fucking her for an entire year before that.”
All the jaws in the room dropped.
“Yeah, that was my reaction, too. I'd always thought it was strange how, at team parties, those two always ended up chatting with each other in some private corner like they were secretbesties. Or how they had all these inside jokes that made each other crack up, and I'd just stare at them both, with no idea what the hell was so funny.” I paused. “You know how many optional skates I missed that year? Zero. You know how many optional skates Cunningham missed? All of 'em. I don't think I have to tell you what he was doing.”
Iggy pounded his fist into his palm and ground it like a mortar and pestle. “Thatmotherfucker.”
“I've been all fucked up about it ever since. Couldn't trust a woman, I thought, because at the end of the day she had no loyalty. All a woman cared about was money. All a woman was good for was fuckin'.”
Honor jabbed her elbow into my side.
“But … Honor.” I pulled her in tight. “This girl, I'm crazy about. For once, I was actually excited about dating a girl and getting toknowher. And then Madison came along and fucked it all up. But, yeah, maybe it was dumb of me to run off like that. Yeah, okay, you'd say that makes me a shitty captain, and I wouldn't disagree. But Honor isthereason I've been able to find my game again lately. So if I let her run off, I'm not going to play with my heart in the game, because guess what, it won't be—it'll be crushed.”
I turned to look at Honor. “And now I'mreallykicking myself for being too afraid to ask you what I wanted to ask you earlier.” I took a deep breath. “Would you be my girlfriend, Honor?”
Her face lit right up and she threw herself into my arms. “Hunter! Yes!”
And the boys all made half-serious puppy-dog noises, “AAAAAAAAW.”
“Never thought I'd see the day when Rockwell settled down, eh boys?” Vinny opined.
“Yeah, but now we know why their little kissing scene was so hot yesterday,” Iggy said.
Coach addressed the room. “Team vote. All in favor of letting Rockwell play the third?”
Every hand in the room shot up.
Coach shrugged. “Alright, captain, looks like you're back for the third. Lead the way.” Then he turned to Honor. “Andyou,come with me.”
Honor shot me a worried look, but I gave her a gentle push. “He'll help. You can trust him.”
Honor gave me a kiss goodbye, wished me luck in the third, and Coach whisked her away.
I stood at the door and rallied everyone. “Alright, boys. One period to go. I don't care that it's 4-0. Let's put up one goal and build from there.”
Iggy pounded his fist again. “Cunningham isdead.”
I stood at the door and bumped fists with my teammates as they filed out the door. Seemed like everyone had a sarcastic ribbing ready for me.
“Jeez, Rockwell, never knew you were such a sap!”
