Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

D o You Have a Special Lady in Your Life?

Macklin

We are suiting up for our game in Wisconsin when I get a text from Ruby.

Ruby: Good luck and thanks for the flower.

Me: What flower?

Ruby : Very funny, Mack. I know it’s a periwinkle blue iris and it’s beautiful.

Me: How do you know it’s a periwinkle-colored iris?

Ruby : What’s with all the questions? Just admit it was you.

Me: It was me.

Ruby: I didn’t take you for a romantic.

I didn’t know I had it in me either.

Me: Lol

I’m not about to tell her she brings it out in me.

“Dombrovsky, what’s up with you?” I look up to see Hayden watching me curiously.

“Nothing.” I tuck away my phone like it’s on fire. “Why?”

“Because you’re smiling like a damn fool.” He cackles. Hayden and I always ride each other, but in a friendly way. “Are you in love?”

I scoff, “As if.”

“I think we have enough with the captain being in love.” Luc laughs.

“Fuck you.” Finn laughs, and he gives him the finger.

“Come on, if you guys all end up dating, we won’t have any wingmen,” Aaron complains.

“Nah, bro, you still got me,” I tell him since I don’t want anyone to think I’m off the market, which I am.

“Cool.” Aaron fist bumps me.

“Are we going to go out after the game?” Luc asks.

We don’t have time to answer since Coach Heaton enters the locker room.

“Okay, listen up. We need to win this game to guarantee us a spot in the Frozen Four. We’ve practiced the plays. You know their weaknesses. Everyone, do your job,” he directs with a firm voice that accentuates each word.

“Yes, sir,” most of us reply at the same time.

Then Finn gathers us in a huddle. We do a little cheer followed by some grunts. We all head out to the tunnel. Charlie, who is Ruby’s best friend, is here. She and Finn worked things out and somehow, she managed to get her job back as the team social media coordinator. She films us sitting on the bench. When we get the all clear, we head onto the ice for some stretching.

Charlie comes around with her phone to record warm-up. I wish Ruby could have come along this weekend too.

“Macklin, any special lady in your life?” Charlie asks.

What is it with everyone today? I must give her a funny look because she shuts off the camera.

“Macklin, I’m asking everyone on the team that question,” she clarifies. “You guys have a large female following.”

Don’t I know it.

“Are you ready now?” she asks.

I nod. The camera is rolling as I do some stretches.

“Macklin, do you have a special lady in your life?” Charlie asks.

“My abuela,” I answer.

“Aw,” Charlie swoons.

I figure that’s a good enough answer.

“The ladies are going to eat that up,” Charlie says before moving on.

I don’t know if people will notice that no part of me is Spanish with the last name Dombrovsky, but Abuela is my grandmother, even though we aren’t blood related.

Coach blows the whistle and calls us over to the bench because the game is going to start soon. We go through all the usual rituals of fist bumping each other. I also check my stick, which I always tape the same way, and then we are all standing for the anthem.

Finn is up at face-off against a big guy from the other team. Wisconsin is a strong team and we will have our work cut out for us. Finn shoots the puck across the ice and then everything is moving fast. I’m tailing a player in the offensive zone. Our team loses the puck, I block a shot, intercepting the puck. A forward from the other team sweeps in and tries to steal the puck, but I swivel back as Cade moves in and blocks another player, opening the way for Aaron to sweep in and take control of the puck. Aaron stickhandles his way across the ice and slides the puck to Hayden, who is close to the net. Two players from Wisconsin sweep in on Hayden but he takes the shot, hitting the right corner of the net. When the puck slides over the line, the horn sounds and our team cheers. It was a fast, clean play but they were riding us hard. It’s always nice to get the first goal in the game but we can’t slack. One of the defensemen on this team is a rough guy who likes to play dirty.

By second period, I get a break with some time on the bench. A player on the other team trips Brody, one of our forwards. A fight breaks out close to the net and then the guy is pulling on Hutch’s jersey. He’s our goalie.

“What the fuck is this?” I mutter.

“Crazy-ass shit,” Cade answers beside me.

The ref blows the whistle and the guy who was causing the trouble ends up in the penalty box.

Brody is called off the ice and Coach switches Hayden on. By the time we are breaking for third period, the score is still one zero in our favor. We head back to the locker room where Coach gives us another of his mid-game pep talks.

“This game isn’t won, men. It could go sideways in the blink of an eye. I’m putting Cade and Macklin back on the ice. Stay close to that asshole and make sure none of the players get close to Finn, Hayden and Aaron. We are after a goal. Let’s go get it.”

The guys cheer. I put my helmet back on. We make our way back through the tunnel to the arena. Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing with my life if my parents hadn’t died. Dad was a dentist and mom was a nurse. When I was younger, I joked about being an astronaut or a fireman, but they weren’t serious goals. I never saw myself as a hockey player. Hayden’s dad was a hockey player in Sweden and started him young, before he cut out on them. The Foxx siblings didn’t mention him much. He was kind of an off-limits topic. Where Hayden started with hockey young, I was a late bloomer since my parents had me in soccer. Luckily, I knew how to skate and I was fast. When I went to live with Leila and had Hayden across the hall, he introduced me to hockey. It didn’t take long for Abuela to see I wasn’t being cared for properly. She swept in and paid for my lessons and all the team dues that were required. With Thanksgiving coming up and Abuela not living in the apartment anymore, I guess I am thinking of the past. It feels like the end of an era.

By third period, Cade and I are back on the ice. I stay close to Hayden, and he stays close to Finn, ensuring they both have opportunities to get the puck to the net. Everything is moving fast when I forecheck the puck and pass it off to Hayden. He ends up scoring the goal. Hayden and I have played together for many years. We make a good team in the sense that I am a big guy, and I’ve always had his back, on and off the ice. Same for Hayden, which makes this whole situation with Ruby shitty. If things go south, I risk not only losing my family but screwing over my team. At the end, we win the game and secure our spot in the Frozen Four, but heading back home for Thanksgiving has me feeling too many things. My feelings for Ruby are growing by the day. I don’t know how I am supposed to act like she doesn’t matter to me because that is what I have been doing these last couple years. And if I do act differently and we act close again, then Abuela will ask what changed. I can’t give her the answers she’s looking for. I only hope going home doesn’t blow our secret to the family. If they find out I have been schooling Ruby in the bedroom with the intent of taking her virginity it would make me look like a real asshole. It’s the last thing I want my only family to be thinking of me.