“C’mon, you can do it,” I chanted when Corby hopped off the bench for another shift on the ice. He’d come close to scoring a few times so far, but it was feeling as though a force field in front of the nets stopped the puck from going in.
About a minute later, one of the defenders sent the puck flying up the center of the ice. It was a little to the left of the other team’s goalie, and I figured they’d get called for icing—which I didn’t confuse for frosting anymore. But Corby took off to chase after it, skating faster than I’d ever seen him move before. Right before the puck reached the red line at the other end of the rink, he stretched his stick out and pulled it back. Then with a quick flick of his wrist, he sent the puck flying toward the goalie. I held my breath while I watched the small black object rotate through the air, jumping from my seat when it sailed over the goalie’s shoulder and into the net. “Yes!”
I almost cried with happiness when Corby turned to look up in the stands and pointed at me before he bumped fists with his teammates. Sarah, Emily, and I continued to cheer for him until he was seated on the bench and the ref was getting ready to drop the puck. Corby’s goal seemed to break the seal for the Cougars, and Dean scored the next time he was on the ice. They were up two to zero going into the third period, but the other team scored a quick goal thirty seconds in. The game was closer than any other time I’d been in the stands watching, and I could barely sit still. Each time Corby was on the ice, I prayed he’d score another goal to give the Cougars some breathing room and impress the recruiters who were watching. With four minutes left in the game, he gave me and the rest of the Cougar fans what we’d been waiting for.
One of the other team’s defenders went to pass the puck up to their offense, but Corby got there first. Sending the puck up ahead of him, he powered past the other players until it was just him and the goalie. Then he did some fancy move that tricked the goalie into thinking he was going to shoot to the left when he went to the right instead. The other player didn’t get the chance to correct his mistake before the puck crashed into the back of the net. I jumped up to cheer again, hugging my best friends while I cried. Not much time was left in the game, and we were up by two goals. Corby was playing great, and I didn’t see how the other team could possibly beat him now that the momentum was in our favor.
I blew Corby a kiss this time when he pointed at me and giggled when he pretended to catch it and pressed his hand to his chest. “You hit the motherlode when you found him,” Emily sighed.
“Yeah, I can’t help but wonder why I never signed up to be an office assistant. Then maybe I could’ve met all the new guys who needed tours before any other girl got her hands on them,” Sarah grumbled.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d been the one to help Corby on his first day; he was meant to be mine.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Emily sighed.
“I didn’t mean him, obviously,” Sarah declared, tapping her finger against her chin. “But now that I think about it, that plan wouldn’t have worked for me anyway. I don’t have enough patience to help out the office staff.”
Neither of us argued because she was right. Our conversation would have ended anyway since the ref was ready to drop the puck again. My attention shifted back to the game, and I heaved a deep sigh of relief when the clock on the scoreboard finally counted down the last few seconds of the game. The crowd who’d come to root for the Cougars got to their feet and cheered as the players lined up to shake hands. We remained standing while they handed out the trophies, and I screamed when they announced Corby had won Most Valuable Player for the game. “Way to go, Corby!”
He lifted his extra trophy high in the air, staring straight at me. I threw him another kiss and laughed when he grinned in response. Before he skated off the ice, Corby mouthed, “Meet me outside.”
I sent William a quick text to let him know the plan, and then we waited until the stands emptied before we headed outside. We hung out near the bus the team had taken to the rink, and about thirty minutes later, Corby walked out of the rink.
“You did it!” I ran down the sidewalk and threw myself into his arms.
Dropping his bag, he lifted me off my feet and twirled me around. “You bet your sweet ass we did, baby.”
“You played great.” I squeezed him tight. “Two goals and MVP.”
“It helped a lot to have my good luck charm in the stands.” He set me down and claimed my mouth in a deep kiss. “But you started a new tradition tonight.”
“I did?” I tilted my head to the side, trying to think of what I’d done differently and not coming up with anything.
“Yeah, I’m going to need a text from you before any championship game from now on,” he explained, pulling his phone out of his pocket to show me the message I’d sent a couple of hours ago.
“Oh.” I felt my cheeks heat. “I didn’t think you’d see it until after the game was over.”
“I saw the screen light up when Coach was giving us a pep talk and checked it really quick before we lined up. And I’m glad I did because your message was perfect, baby.” He brushed his lips against mine again. “The only thing that’ll change on that text at some point is the last word.”
I didn’t understand what he meant. “How so?”
“Because it’ll need to say fiancée or wife at some point.”
Holy crap, I was fairly sure my first boyfriend had just told me he’d be my last, too. Then again, we were already living together, so I probably shouldn’t be shocked.
18
Corby
It felt as though I was at the top of the world when we won the state championship. But I’d quickly come crashing back down to Earth when a girl at our school was killed only a couple of weeks later. It was a damn good thing Emme was so understanding because I’d barely let her out of my sight since then.
When the bodies of the cheerleaders who had tormented her for years were found the following month, I’d been filled with fear that Emme would somehow be next. She’d never hurt another soul in her life, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen to her. Keeping Emme close was the only thing that had gotten me through the days leading up to graduation, and I was so fucking glad it was finally here. I’d hooted and hollered when Emme had walked across the stage before waiting for my turn. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, I was filled with pride when my name was called.
“Congratulations, Mr. King,” the principal said, shaking my hand.
I accepted my diploma and replied, “Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. D.”
“It was truly our pleasure to have you as a student this year.”
His reply sounded heartfelt, and I assumed he was happy about the Cougars winning a hockey championship again. The school had gotten a lot of great press out of it and some interest from some skilled players who were thinking about coming to Black Mountain to play under Coach Carter next year. I wished the team all the luck in the world, but I was thrilled to be finished with high school.
Locking gazes with Emme, I made my way back to my seat to wait out the rest of the ceremony. As soon as we tossed our caps in the air, I muscled my way out of my row and headed over to hers. She smiled when she spotted me and sidestepped the two people at the end of her row. “We did it!”
“We sure did, baby.” I brushed my lips over hers in a quick kiss. “Congratulations.”
She did a little dance, and I had to grip her arms to stop her from falling over when Sarah crashed into her from behind. “We’re graduates!”
Emily hurried over and gave Emme a hug. “I can’t believe high school is over.”
“I so can,” Sarah disagreed, flinging her arm around Emily’s shoulder. “I’ve been ready for this day for-freaking-ever.”
“Yeah, but we won’t see each other every day anymore.” Emily sniffled, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “We’ve been going to school together since kindergarten. It didn’t hit me until right now how different college will b
e with each of us at a different school.”
I understood where Emily was coming from. It fucking sucked that Emme and I were going to be about a thousand miles apart from each other. I was used to having her in my bed each night, and it was going to be a hell of an adjustment to only see her on random weekends and breaks. A big part of me hoped that I’d get drafted by Boston and they’d want me to sign right away because then I’d only be a two-hour drive away from Yale, where Emme was going. The realistic side of me knew that wasn’t likely to happen since very few players made the jump from high school to the NHL. If I wanted to be a force to be reckoned with for the team that picked me up, then I needed time to mature as a player. Being drafted was a dream come true, but it was only one step in the process for most players. I needed to keep my focus on having a good season my freshman year while missing my girlfriend.
I had no doubt we’d stay strong despite the distance. Bigger obstacles had been put in my way before and none of them had ever stopped me. The stakes were higher now, and I’d bust my ass to keep the things most important to me—Emme and hockey.
“Damn, you’re right. That’s gonna suck. Maybe we should take a super-long girls’ trip this summer?” Sarah suggested, earning a scowl from me since the last thing I want is my time with Emme to be shortened. “Oh, crap. Sorry, Corby. You’re totally invited, too. It doesn’t have to be just the girls.”
“Um, yeah.” Emme bit her bottom lip, her gaze darting between her friends and me. “It would kind of need to be the other way around.”
Emily and Sarah tilted their heads to the side, looking as confused as I felt. “What do you mean, baby?”
Emme bit her bottom lip and sighed. “I’d planned on doing this later tonight when it was just the two of us, but I guess now is as good a time as any.”
“Good time for what?” I asked, taking her hands in mine and giving them a gentle squeeze since she seemed nervous.
“To share my surprise with you.” Her gaze darted to Emily and Sarah, and she flashed them an apologetic smile. “I wasn’t sure how you’d take it, so I kept the arrangements I made a secret until now.”
“C’mon, tell him,” Sarah urged.
“Yeah, I want to know, too,” Emily added with a nod.
“Do you want to get out of Black Mountain?” she asked me with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
I didn’t know what she was up to, but I was down for whatever she wanted to do. “Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“Lots of places. I thought we could take an extended trip over the summer. I want to show you all my favorite places around the world and booked us tickets and hotel rooms for the first few weeks to get us started.” She grinned and wagged her eyebrows. “Starting at the beach in California, where we can hang out at a house on the beach in our swimsuits all week long.”
“You know how much I love the beach.” Sarah jumped up and down. “Count me in.”
“Me, too,” Emily agreed. “As long as you’re cool with us crashing part of your vacation.”
“The house I rented has three bedrooms, so there’s plenty of room.” Emme stared up at me with wide eyes. “But only if Corby is okay with you guys joining us for part of the trip.”
As long as I got to spend time with Emme, I didn’t mind if her best friends hijacked her plans. “It seems only fair that Emily and Sarah join us since I would’ve come along if you three did a girls’ trip instead.”
“Woohoo! This is awesome.” Emily did a fist pump to celebrate.
“I need to buy some new swimsuits before we leave.” Sarah pointed at Emme and asked, “When do we leave?”
“The reservation is for two days from now. Corby and I have something we need to do tomorrow before we leave.”
Emme was full of surprises today. “We do?”
She gripped my biceps and went up on her toes. Whispering near my ear, she added, “I thought we could go see your dad before we head to California.”
“Shit, Emme.” I pulled her close and buried my face in her neck. Although the hockey season had been over for a little more than two months, I still hadn’t made the drive up to the prison to see my dad. Emme and I hadn’t really talked about it again since the day I told her about what happened when my mom died, but somehow, she must have known the decision had been weighing on my mind all this time. It took me a moment to pull myself together enough to say, “I’d really fucking love to take you to meet my dad, baby. Thank you for giving me the nudge I needed to finally go up there.”
The following morning, Emme and I hit the road in her BMW. Luckily, she was okay with me driving because concentrating on the road kept me from freaking out during the five-hour trip to the prison. Going through prison security with her at my side was uncomfortable and humbling, but she hadn’t complained about a single step of the process. As we entered the lobby area to wait for my name to be called, Emme tugged on my arm and pointed at a kiosk in a corner on the opposite side of the room. “From what the guard said, we should have enough time to add some money to your dad’s commissary account.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. “What?”
She tugged me across the room and pressed some buttons on the screen before holding her hand out. “I need your license.”
I pulled out my wallet and handed it to her. She held it under a scanner and gave it back before she explained, “I did some research into prison life, and everything I read said you can help your family member be more comfortable by adding money to their commissary account. As long as we’re here, I thought we could take care of that for your dad.”
Yet again, my girlfriend’s kindness blew me away. She didn’t care that my dad was in prison for killing a man. The only thing that mattered to her was that I loved him. “Shit, I only have a couple of twenties.”
“No worries, I hit up the ATM yesterday.” She pulled a stack of bills out of her purse. “It said online that some prisons have a limit to how much you can add. If this place doesn’t, I wanted to make sure your dad could buy anything he needs since he’s been on his own in here for so long.”
Emme’s money had never been a problem for me, probably because she’d never made an issue of it. She spent what she wanted on the things important to her, but she didn’t throw her money around to impress other people. But I never wanted her to doubt that I was with her because of who she was and not what she could buy. Wrapping my fingers around her wrist before she could insert bills into the machine, I rasped, “You know I love you and not your money, right?”
“You love me?” she gasped, her eyes going wide.
This wasn’t the romantic setting where I’d planned on telling her about my feelings, but visiting my dad in prison was significant to me and somehow made this the perfect moment. Cupping her face in my hands, I whispered, “I love you so fucking much, baby.”
Her smile was brighter than it had ever been before as she answered, “Thank goodness, because I love you right back.”
The grumbling of someone behind us about how long we were taking stopped me from following my declaration of love up with a kiss. Emme worked her magic on the kiosk and got the cash deposited seconds before the guard called my name. Since Emme’s name wasn’t on the approved visitor’s list yet, she couldn’t see my dad with me. I got her settled in a seat closest to the guard’s station and brushed a kiss against her forehead. “I’ll be back soon, baby.”
“Take all the time you need,” she insisted, pulling her e-reader out of her purse. “I have plenty of books to keep me from getting bored.”
Leaving her behind, I followed the guard to the area where prisoners visited with their family. When I saw my dad sitting at the closest table, dressed in his prison uniform, my vision grew misty. He’d aged so much in here. I wanted to kick my own ass for taking so long to come see him.
“Corby, my boy. It’s so good to see you.” His blue eyes, so much like my own, scanned my tall form. “You’re all grown up now.”
I smiled and
sat down. “I’d better be grown up because the woman I’m going to marry someday is sitting out in the lobby, waiting for me.”
“Tell me all about her,” he urged.
We spent my first visit to the prison with me sharing the story of how I fell in love with Emme.
19
Emmeline
Five weeks into our summer break, Corby’s big day to determine what was going to happen with his hockey career was here. We’d flown from Paris to Montreal a few days early to do some exploring before we needed to be at the arena. The excitement in the air was contagious, and I could almost ignore the crowds of people and media around us. Most of the reports that had come out in the past month had Corby listed as a probable first round draft pick.
At first, I’d been super confused by how it all worked since I’d thought college athletes weren’t supposed to play professional sports. But ice hockey must’ve been full of rebels because they had their own rules, and players could be drafted without actually signing a contract to play for the team that picked them. From what Corby had told me, he was going to play college hockey for at least a couple of seasons before he’d be ready to take the ice as a professional player. I didn’t fully get how it all worked, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to hear his name called early. The earlier the better because my butt was a little sore from sitting here so long.
Corby looked around the room and got out of his seat, pulling me to my feet with him. “Fuck it, I don’t want to do this after.”
“What are you doing? We can’t just leave. They could call your name any minute.” I tugged on his hands, trying to get him to sit back down before we drew too much attention. I couldn’t help but wonder if the wait had gotten to him. It felt as though it had taken forever to get through the first eight draft picks, and he’d grown increasingly antsy as time went by.
Charity: Black Mountain Academy/Fortuity Page 13
