Page 35 of Power Play
“Why?”
“Because I can tell how fiercely youcareabout the program. That means more than anything. You want Power Play to succeed, to be more, and you’re out here changing lives every hockey season without even knowing.”
“I should have been writing this down. This is therealsuccess story,” I said with a soft, awkward laugh.
How he knew me, I didn’t know. Was I that transparent? I thought I was more guarded than I was, clearly, since Zach seemed to have figured me out from the moment he first saw me.
“Grab your notebook,” Zach chuckled.
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
I squeezed his hand, and he peered down carefully.
“Oh,” he began, and a smile spread wide. “Guess you’re going to have to figure out how to get it without letting go.”
“While you drive?”
“I’ll pull over.”
I tried to ignore why those three words made my stomach swirl. Zach flicked on his indicator and pulled into the small gravel parking lot of Riverside Park near the soccer field. Shifting the car into park, Zach turned until he was looking at me fully; a sly smile drew his lips upward.
“Go ahead,” he coaxed, nodding toward the backseat.
Using my free hand, I unbuckled my seatbelt and shifted until I could bring a knee up onto my seat. I used our connected hands as leverage and twisted around to slip through the space between our seats. My right shoulder pressed against the back of Zach’s seat, and I could barely reach my bag.
Zach laughed, and I groaned.
“You’re enjoying this too much,” I grumbled and yanked our joined hands forward.
Zach was closer then, and I clearly hadn’t thought anything through as he placed his free hand on my hip to help support me. Stretching forward, I dug through my bag until I found my notebook and a pen and started shimmying backward. Zach’s grip on my side tightened, and his fingertips dug into the soft flesh there.
With a garbled gasp, I jerked away and fell back into my seat. I faced a cheeky Zach with wide eyes, and my reaction made him laugh loudly.
“Looks like someone is ticklish.”
“Amnot,” I countered, and flipped open my notebook with one hand. Our hands were still entwined, and I was too stubborn to let go.
I also didn’twantto let go.
Jotting down notes on what Zach had said, how important Power Play had been to him, I wondered how many former Power Play kids had gone on to have a successful hockey career. Were there any others? He couldn’t have been the only one…
“There.” I closed my notebook. “Done.”
“And you did it all with only one hand. Impressive.”
“You should see what I can do withtwohands,” I said without thinking.
I felt the warmth spread across my face as Zach stared at me, an emotion I wasn’t quite familiar with dancing in his bright blue eyes.
“Oh, yeah?” His tone was deeper.
I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded.
“Hmm,” was all he said while biting back a grin. “Guess I should bring you back to your car…”
It was an open-ended question. The chance for more.