Page 9 of Halftime

I nodded.

“Nice talking to you, Faith.”

There was something weird about the way he said my name, but I didn’t know why. Sure, it was kind of old-fashioned, but it wasn’t the worst name out there.

Penny led the way down the sidewalk, followed by her new friend. I shot a glance back, and Cooper was watching me. Not the way he had when he’d given me the once over. His eyes were narrowed, and he wasn’t smiling. I had no idea what he was up to, so I shrugged and followed my roommate.

The men’s hockey team and the players on it were not my problem. In fact, it would probably be a good idea if I didn’t spend any more time with them. That shouldn’t be difficult. Since we shared a rink, we couldn’t practice or play games at the same time. We had mornings on the ice, and they had the afternoons. On the weekends they had home games, we played away. Except for saying hi in passing, that should be it.

3

Sebastien

Holly looked good, and I made sure to tell her that. I couldn’t remember if this was something she’d bought today and sent me a picture of, but she was pleased with the compliment, and we headed out to Tito’s. I held her hand, and she happily told me about her day. She’d gone shopping and gotten her nails done. I was glad she’d had a good day. Hockey took up a lot of my time. When you added that to classes, it meant I was busy once the season got going. Holly and I had dated last year after the hockey season was over, so she didn’t know what it was going to be like. Not yet.

Her friend and her date were already at Tito’s when we arrived. We ordered drinks, and then Holly asked me about how practice went. I hadn’t prepared for this. I didn’t want to tell her about Faith being here. She knew Faith existed, knew she was the ex who’d broken up with me last year, but I hadn’t told her a lot of details. Holly would freak, I was sure. Right now, I was trying to reassure her that we were together, that the summer apart hadn’t been a bad thing.

The problem was that most of the freshman practice had been over by the time I gotten my shit together and joined my teammates. I didn’t know if they’d say anything about Faith being in net during practice if the topic came up when Holly was around. They might say something since I’d missed a lot of the practice because I’d been freaking out about Faith being here.

The silence was becoming weird.

“Um, practice was fine. You know, freshmen still learning the ropes…”

The three were staring at me, but I didn’t know what else to say. “Some of the guys looked good, a few were struggling. It will take time to find out what they’re like.”

“Was it your first practice?”

“This was just the freshmen. Not the rest of us. We’re hitting the workout room tomorrow to get started, but we’re not on the ice for another day.” Holly and her friends weren’t athletes, so they had no idea what this part of my life was like.

“Do you have to spend a lot of time doing that?”

Holly spoke for me. “Sebastien says they’re super busy during the season. They practice or play every day but Sunday.”

I’d described it to her, but it wasn’t the same as living through it. “Sometimes, if it’s an away game that’s too far from here, we travel back on Sundays.”

A frown creased Holly’s brow. “You don’t always even have Sundays?”

I shrugged. I really had told her what it was like.

“Isn’t it hard to handle your classes and homework with all that?”

It was. That’s why I’d warned Holly. I guess it hadn’t sunk in. Holly blinked, and I wanted to swear. I’dtoldher.

“Hey, we can still make time, but it won’t be as much as we want, not during the season. But the hockey house always puts on parties, and you’re invited to all of those.” I picked up her hand and dropped a kiss on it.

Her friend aahed, and Holly smiled. I relaxed, hoping she got it this time. I’d be busy, but I’d do what I could.

“Is your team good?” her friend’s boyfriend asked. Holly had said he was some kind of computer major.

“We won the Frozen Four last year.” I never knew how to answer questions like that. We were good, but I didn’t want to sound like I was bragging. The next question was always about whether I was any good. How was I supposed to answer that? Yes, and I’m arrogant. No, and I’m either overly humble or useless to the team.

“Do you want to go pro?”

My knee was jiggling under the table, and I worked really hard to keep my voice even. “Isn’t that everyone’s dream?”

I hated that question, and I was going to get it a lot. This year, I was eligible for the hockey draft. Fortunately for me, our server arrived, and we concentrated on pizza toppings rather than my professional aspirations. The conversation moved on to some class the three of them were taking together, and I was able to sit back out of the spotlight, which I preferred.

I had to come up with an answer for that question, the one about going pro. This was the year I could declare for the draft. If I played like shit for the next couple of months, people would stop asking. But I didn’t want to play like shit.