Page 97 of Side By Side
“What’s your fault?”
“That you gave it up. You could’ve had two gold medals by now. Maybe three.”
“Chandler, no. It wasn’t just you, remember?”
“I know. Your mom was sick. But I look at you sometimes, and I just wonder what could have been for you.”
“I don’t,” Belle said.
“How can you not?”
“Because I like my life. I have my dad. I love the Ice Park. I get to skate. I love my friends and the people I get to meet here. I have a place to live. I eat what I want, for the most part. I’m glad I gave it up.”
“You are?”
“Yes, I am.” Belle smiled at her. “I’ve loved skating with you; don’t get me wrong. But I chose to leave it behind and never look back. You know that if I’d wanted to skate after leaving the program, I could have. It’s not the only place in the country to learn with top coaches. I chose my family. I chose this place. This life. I don’t regret it.”
Chandler nodded and said, “You’re playing tonight?”
“Yes, I am. I won’t get hurt, so don’t worry. Maybe some sore knees or something, but I’ll be fine.”
“Can I come?”
“Of course, you can. I’ll even comp your ticket,” Belle joked.
CHAPTER 27
Belle watched the puck glide across the ice, following it with her eyes but keeping her head straight so as to keep it right there, in the middle of the action. When the shot came in, she stopped it with her stick and passed it out to her team. Teddy was their fastest skater and pushed it up the ice, passing it back and forth before it was intercepted, and she had to block a shot with her chest. It bounced off, and she fell on top of it. A stick from her opponent swung at her knee, which was covered in a pad, but she still felt the reverberations from the last stick. The ref blew the whistle and told the guy to get to the penalty box. Belle got up, and the game resumed with their team having the power play.
Teddy was the one who scored and broke the tie between the teams late in the second period. She’d held on and, so far, had a clean sheet. Belle took a sip of water from her bottle and tossed it back on top of the net, readying for the next shot to come at her. When it did, she caught it with her glove, but yet another player almost took her out with his stick. This time, it had been accidental.
“Shit. Sorry. You okay?” he asked after she’d tripped.
“All good,” she said and got back up.
Belle got the puck to her team, and as they skated off, she looked into the stands and saw Chandler sitting there, her body tight and her hands clasped so tightly together in her lap that Belle could even see the whites of her knuckles from there. She had to forget about that, though, because her team, apparently, sucked at defense, and she had to stop another three shots on target, all before the third period started.
“You doing all right?” Teddy asked when they took to the bench between the second and third periods.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’ll be sore tomorrow, though,” she replied. “You? Where’s our defense tonight?”
“Already at the bar, drinking,” Teddy joked. “We’ll do better. You just focus on keeping that clean sheet. We’re up one to nothing. We just need another goal, and we’re good.”
“At the rate they’re coming for our goal, I don’t think so. You’ll need at least two more goals and a prayer that I can keep stopping the puck from going into our net.”
“Yes, Coach,” he joked and took a drink from his water bottle.
Belle looked up at Chandler, who was still sitting there looking nervous. When Chandler caught her eye, Belle smiled at her, trying to get her not to worry as much. Chandler gave her a little smile but didn’t lose the white on her knuckles.
“That’s the skater you were with, right?” Teddy asked.
“Yeah. Her name is Chandler.”
“What’s she doing here?”
“She’s helping out a little while my dad’s out of it. She’s been amazing.”
“And you like her.” Teddy laughed and punched her teasingly in the shoulder.