by Daphne Slade
She laughs and rolls her eyes. “Oh come on, you know that’s totally not true.”
I cock half a smile, realizing I like her despite that confession. Or maybe because of it. Frankly, these days I’ll take anyone who’s too honest rather than the alternative.
“I admit it, I’m the very definition of a puck bunny. I grew up on hockey and I just can’t help myself. I don’t even have a problem with the name. I mean, who doesn’t like bunnies? And yes, I get the similarities between the nickname and…well uckfay uddiesbay,” she says in Pig Latin, then giggles. “But so what? It’s an awesome sport!”
She’s so damn perky and silly. It’s as addictive as it is ridiculous. A lot of people would probably dismiss her as some blonde bimbo. But she goes to Devington, which means she must have some smarts. I suspect she’s a lot more intelligent than she puts on.
“Anyway,” she continues with a pout of confusion. “It’s just that, I’ve been to a lot of the games and, I could have sworn you were with Matt Parks. I mean, I always see you cheering for him and going up to kiss him after the games. So I just thought you and Noah were friends or maybe like, planning a surprise party for Matt or something. I know he and Noah are friends.”
Yes, she fits the profile of puck bunny. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knows the horoscope of each team member. Even I don’t know this much about the other players.
“Matt and I broke up,” I say, mostly to put an end to this discussion. By now, even Professor Kardos’s work-study student has started to pay attention. Who could blame her? I’m sure it’s far more interesting than whatever paperwork he has her doing.
“Really?” Heidi says, a mixture of surprise and hope coloring those pretty blue eyes.
“Yeah, he’s not a good guy,” I say, making sure to stress that fact. Being a self-proclaimed puck bunny, I can just imagine the ways he’d chew her up and spit her out, playing on her love of the sport, and more importantly her obvious adoration for anyone who plays it.
“Huh,” she says.
“Really, he’s not,” I say even more adamantly.
“Oh, don’t worry!” She says, brightening up. “It’s not like I was going to try and pounce. I’m not that much of a puck bunny.”
I smile, mostly relieved that she’s at least taken him off her to-do list. So to speak.
“And hey if you ever come to the bar during a game night, first round of shots for you and your friends are on me, okay?”
“Really? That’s so nice of you.”
“Please, I owe you for how unprofessional I was last time. Maybe it will bring Noah good luck,” she says with a grin, then stares down at my paper. “Anyway, good luck on your paper, Grace um…?”
“Arlington. Grace Arlington,” I say, holding out my hand for her.
“Heidi Bennett!” She gives my hand a good pump, throwing in a dazzling smile. “See you game night!”
“I’ll definitely hold you to that shot,” I say with a smile.
She giggles and spins on her feet to skip off.
I watch her go in awe, wondering how anyone could have that much pep in life.
When she’s gone, I shake my head and exhale, releasing some of the energy she built in me by proxy.
“Some people are just naturally caffeinated, huh?” I say with a chuckle when I see the smirk of the girl sitting behind the desk.
She’s pretty with hazel eyes and a headful of blonde ringlets.
“You’re Professor Kardos’s assistant?”
“Ashley Byrd. Don’t worry, I already have a man.” She says with a grin as she reaches for my paper to take. “Besides, I’m more of a gecko than a bunny.”
“Someone who works for Professor Kardos and has a sense of humor. There’s a contrast.”
She wriggles her nose and grins. “Him? He’s a puppy dog. My specialty.”
“Well can you make sure that puppy dog gets that paper by five today?”
She puts it on top of a pile that I see is already stacked with others that have been turned in.
“I see I’m one of the stragglers.”
“But hey, it’s definitely there before five.”
“You’re a godsend,” I say in an exaggeratedly gushing voice. “I owe you my life.”
She laughs. “How about one of those free shots and I’m good.”
“Why not? I’m going to be at the Den of Iniquity for the Ice Breaker with my roommate, so if you’re there, join us.”
Her smile falters and she gives me a self-conscious look. “I was just joking.”
“Nonsense, the more the merrier. Like Heidi said, maybe it’ll bring them good luck.”
She still seems uncertain, as though wondering if I’m joking.
“Seriously,” I encourage. Heidi has put me in a giving mood.
“Okay,” Ashley says with a crooked grin. “I guess I’ll see you there.”
“It’s a date,” I say with the same pep Heidi would have had. I give her a wink and a smile, then I turn and leave.
I stop short of skipping away.
Though I do feel positively giddy as I head down to the first floor. I’m not sure if it’s those two encounters or the pack of Twizzlers waiting to be devoured during my studying in the library. Or maybe just the late date I have with a certain guy once practice is over tonight.
Just before I reach the front exit to Seeley Hall, I see Jenny rushing up the stairs from the basement level.
“Hey, you turning in that paper last minute too?” I ask, catching her attention. One of the on-campus printing centers is down there, so she must have just printed it off.
Jenny seems startled, then practically panicked, then angry for some reason. “What are you doing here?”
“Um, I had lab and just turned in my paper,” I say hesitantly, wondering what has her so distracted and upset.
“Oh,” she says swallowing, and looking like she’d rather be anywhere but here with me. “Um, yeah, I’m turning in the paper last minute as well.”
“Okay then,” I say, with a wrinkled brow, wondering if it’s me she’s mad at. “I guess I’ll see you in class next week. Then our study session is still on?”
She seems to relax, breathing out a laugh. “Of course. I’m sorry, I just…I’m a little out of sorts.”
“Oh, is everything okay?” I ask with concern.
“Yeah,” she says, waving it off. “I just ran into someone I’d rather not have.”
“Sure,” I say, feeling suddenly guilty for how happy I was just a moment ago. She must have seen Noah leaving, which had to be at least a little awkward.
“Anyway, I just remembered I forgot something downstairs before I turn in my paper.”
She turns and heads back downstairs before I can even say goodbye. I watch her go, wondering once again what’s wrong. She looked as though she couldn’t wait to get away from me.
“So both Jenny and Heidi were there?” Noah asks as I finish with the pasta.
“Yes, I almost felt like a Noah sandwich,” I say with a smirk.
We’re at my place tonight.
Erin has graciously decided to give me the apartment while she spends the night with Clark. At least until his roommate decides to give up studying into the wee hours.
That’s one thing I miss with Matt, or at least having a public relationship with him. All the hockey players get to rent their own apartment in Hockey Row without roommates. Erin was more than happy to take advantage when I spent the night with Matt. Now, it feels like we’re all playing a game of musical chairs. All so no one on the team catches me entering or leaving Noah’s apartment.
I’m trying my hand at cooking, something I think I’m pretty darn good at, despite Matt’s criticisms. Tonight, it’s pasta primavera with chicken.
We’re off to a late start since, well, dessert came first.
This is why I’m in Noah’s t-shirt which just barely covers my ass and he’s in nothing but jeans, which I have no problem with.
“I mean, I get why Jenny was there
. She had to turn in her paper just like me. But seeing Heidi too?”
“She was returning a paper to me that I accidentally left in class.”
“Was she?” I say, turning around with a cocked eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he says, arching an eyebrow of his own. He comes up to me and wraps his arms around my back. I love it, how touchy-feely he is, just like me. “I guess I should be a bit more adamant about who my one and only girl is.”
Love that bit too.
I smile and wrap my arms around his neck to play with the back of his hair.
“I should warn you, she kind of figured out we’re an item. I swear I didn’t say a word! But at least that should avoid any further chases across campus to return papers to you. In fact, I think we might be friends now,” I say with a crooked grin. “Or at the very least, I have a very accommodating bartender who offered a free round of drinks.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” I say, smiling broadly. The way Noah stares at me whenever I do has it coming more naturally these days. “I like her. So you have at least a few people rooting for you next week at Notre Dame.”
“Hopefully more than a few,” he says with a chuckle.
“Well, she did include my friends in the free round of drinks. Maybe I could make it an official Heidi and Jenny sandwich by inviting Jenny as well.”
“Now, I’m the one who's starting to get worried.” He says with a mock frown. It swiftly transitions into a grin. “Not that I wouldn’t mind enjoying that sandwich myself.”
I roll my eyes. “Men.”
Noah laughs and pulls away to lean against the counter next to me, so I can return to cooking.
“Speaking of Jenny, did she seem weird in class today? I swear it was almost like she was terrified of seeing me when I ran into her.”
He grabs a raw slice of bell pepper and munches on it, shaking his head. “No, she was cool as ever.”
“Cool as ever?” I mimic, wriggling my shoulders in some sort of taunting dance.
“You know,” he says rolling his eyes. “I mean laid back and easy going.”
“Yeah,” I say, recalling how she was the exact opposite of that today. “Anyway, I’ll invite her along. Might as well have all your cheerleaders there supporting you.”
“Why does that sound like a recipe for disaster?” he replies, wrinkling his brow.
“We girls aren’t as vicious and vindictive as you guys think we are. I can get along with someone you’ve been with. I am an adult after all. Then again, I don’t have a female Matt on my team.”
“Thank god for that.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Noah
It’s the Friday of the Ice Breaker and the team has finally arrived at our hotel to get settled. We got into South Bend, Indiana early to avoid playing under the influence of travel weariness.
But I’m too hyped up to rest. Mostly because my family has driven down for the event since it’s only about a three-hour drive. It’s not just my Mom and Dad but my older sisters and their husbands and kids too.
When they appear in the lobby, I’m almost embarrassed by how enthusiastically they greet me. It’s full of shouts and yells, causing everyone’s heads to turn, and me to wince.
That nonsense is thrown out the window when I see Mom. Thankfully, she doesn’t look worse than when I saw her last, but she still looks like a shell of the vibrant woman I once knew. At least there’s no news about her coming out of remission.
It’s a big deal to make the Ice Breaker so several of my teammates are in the lobby with their families as well. This includes Matt and his parents not so far away. They look on at my boisterous clan with a mixture of disdain and amusement. I ignore it.
“Uncle Noah!” scream Mark and Danielle, Amanda’s kids. They are five and three and I easily scoop both of them up after they run toward me.
“You two coming tonight to support me?”
“Un-huh,” Mark says, nodding enthusiastically. “Mommy helped us make a sign but it’s a surprise for when you’re playing so we can’t show you, but I did all the crayons. Danielle just put glitter on.”
“Don’t even get me started on that,” Amanda, my oldest sister, says. “She nearly threw a fit if I didn’t let her. I’m pretty sure I have the stuff coming out of places you don’t want to know about.”
“Well gee, my own sign? With crayon and glitter, my two favorite things on a sign! I can’t wait to see it!” They laugh and giggle. I set them down and they begin running in circles, already bored with the conversation.
“So, we gonna kick some Fighting Irish ass?” Dad asks with a grin as he claps me on the shoulder.
“Bob,” Mom chides, giving him a look.
He goes through the motion of looking appropriately chastised, but it’s too easily replaced with another grin. “Making the Ice Breaker, that’s gonna look damn good for your prospects, Noah.”
“He has enough pressure already, Dad. He doesn’t need you turning him into the next Wayne Gretzky before he’s even graduated college.” Amanda, the most sensible of all the Donahue children, squeezes past him to come and give me a hug. “Congrats, baby bro.”
“Just don’t forget about us when you make it big and become a millionaire,” Kate says, as usual managing a tiny dig in. She was the troublemaker out of all the siblings.
“Yeah, I want a pony!” Jessica, the one closest in age to me jokes, batting her eyes like a little girl. Kate frowns at her, no doubt reading the taunt somewhere in there. Jess knows exactly how to torment, but she’s still my favorite mostly because she always stuck up for me when I was little. She laughs and squeezes me in as much of a bear hug as she can manage, being that she’s a foot shorter and probably a hundred pounds lighter.
The guys, including Amanda’s and Kate’s husbands (Jess has yet to marry), all huddle with me while the rest go off to grab drinks and juice for the kids in the cafe attached to the hotel.
“So, it’s looking pretty good,” Dad says in a conspiratorial voice. “Obviously nothing is finalized and Mike has been following all the proper protocols, but I think you’ll have a nice selection of teams vying for you come graduation. Just keep up the good work this season.”
Mike is the “advisor” who’s been working with Dad since I’m not allowed to have an agent under NCAA rules.
“You still sure you don’t want to reconsider Brooklyn? They’re looking pretty hot this year,” Jim, Kate’s husband teases.
“If I’m going anywhere on the East Coast, it’ll be Boston,” I say without thinking.
“Boston?” Amanda’s husband repeats. “I thought you had settled on someplace close by? That’s going to be a trek.”
“Something you want to tell us?” Dad says with a bemused look.
“Nothing,” I say dismissively. “I was just kidding. It’s Chicago or Minneapolis all the way.”
“Your choice, son. I just thought with your mother and all—”
“I’m coming home, Dad. This time next year you’ll all be able to drive to see me play home games.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Anyway, I should go back up and get rested. No need to screw up the first game of the season.”
“Right,” Dad says with a grin, clapping me on the shoulder again. “I’m proud of you, son.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you, Dad,” I reply with a similar grin.
When everyone comes back, I again make my goodbyes. It takes another ten minutes just to extract myself, mostly from Mom fussing and making sure I’m both taking care of myself and not letting my schoolwork fall by the wayside just because I have my eyes set on the NHL.
When I get to the elevators I see that Matt is already waiting to go back up as well. He doesn’t look happy, which makes him even less thrilled to see me. I chuck my chin up at him in acknowledgment and I’m rewarded with a scowl.
“If you’re thinking about gloating, save it.”
I wrinkle my brow in confusion. “What a
re you talking about?”
“You know what,” he mutters.
Does he know about Grace and me? I quickly dismiss that idea. He’d be a lot more animated about that.
The elevator arrives and he heads in first.
“I honestly don’t,” I say, now wondering what’s on his mind.
“Whatever,” he grumbles, stabbing his finger into the button for our floor.
I drop it. Getting him talking will only open a can of worms I’d rather not have to scramble to collect and put back in. I know how his ego works. It likes to fester and wallow, then encourage him to do something spiteful to revive itself.
Hell if I’m going to be the target just before the first game of the season. Let him take it out on the ice. A good defense should do the trick.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Grace
I’ve arrived extra early at the Den of Iniquity as Heidi suggested. It’s a good thing since it’s already about three-fourths full.
Naturally, it isn’t the only place on or near campus showing the game. Making it to the Ice Breaker is a big deal so the campus is having a viewing in one of the auditoriums as well. But you can’t get signature shots served by eye candy there, which is why I’m sure this place will be crazy come game time.
“It looks like there’s going to be five of us tonight. I hope that’s okay,” I say to Heidi when she comes over to my table to greet me.
Erin is coming. Clark decided to join us. It’s amazing what something as simple as a free shot will do.
I also got Jenny to join us. This Monday during class she seemed fine, as though our run-in last week had never even happened. During our study session, she was completely back to normal, even more chipper than usual, in fact. I guess she was just having an off-moment last week. Either way, she was thrilled about joining us tonight and happily agreed.
“Five people is nothing,” Heidi says with a laugh. “We get entire fraternities coming as a group. Now that is what I’d call a handful. Just let me know when the rest come and that first round is on me.”
