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“Looking forward to it,” I say.
I start to congratulate the team on a good season, but stop myself before the words can tumble from my mouth. The Hawks were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. I’m certain this is not the kind of success the coaches and administration want for the franchise. And the lack of wins in the postseason is likely the main reason I’m being called up now. Hockey is a business, especially at the professional level.
We disconnect the call, and I sit in my apartment, alone. The television drones on in front of me, but I don’t register anything on the screen. I take a deep breath as it all starts to sink in. A smile spreads slowly across my face. I look up at the ceiling and laugh.
I hit a few buttons on my cell and listen as it rings.
“Hello?” a familiar voice says across the line.
“Dad … guess what!”
CHAPTER TWO
MADISON
“What time are we meeting the guys?” I yell from my spot in front of the mirror.
I apply a dark smudge of kohl liner to my bottom eyelid, smearing it with my finger to achieve that smoky look.
“Chase said they’d be there around ten,” Oakley, my best friend and roommate, hollers back from her room.
“The other guys had better be coming too,” I say. “I don’t want to be the third wheel again.”
Oakley and I made plans to go out tonight. We’re meeting Chase, her defenseman boyfriend, at Cheerz, a local sports bar and grill that the hockey team often frequents. It’s a hole-in-the-wall with some of the best bar food in town. We all love it.
Oakley and Chase are now a real, official couple. They hooked up recently after circling each other for a few months. I love them together, and I’m friends with both. But lately, being around them has been harder. Everyone else seems to fade into the background when they’re in the same room. And that includes me. They only have eyes for each other. I get it. They’re in the honeymoon phase. But I miss my bestie.
“You’re never the third wheel,” she insists, her voice sounding closer. She pops around the bathroom door to lean against the threshold. She crosses her arms and watches me line my other eye. “And everyone is supposed to be there. We’re celebrating.”
“Celebrating what?” I say, squinting as I examine my reflection. Satisfied with my appearance, I drop the liner into a bag and turn my attention to my friend. “I figured the guys would still be drowning in beer from the L a few weeks ago.”
Sinclair’s hockey team lost recently. They were one win away from the finals of the Frozen Four. But they couldn’t make it happen. Since then, most of the team has been surly and pouting, drinking away the defeat. There was talk that they could go all the way this year.
“Oh, I’m sure Sam is still in that category.”
Sam is Oakley’s ex-boyfriend.
“But Ollie …” She fades away as the smile on her face grows luminous when she mentions her brother.
“What?” I ask. I walk a step closer.
“The Hawks phoned Ollie today. He’s being called up to the team in the fall.”
“Wait!” I shout, my hand landing on her arm. “Seriously?”
Ollie is family to me, even though my last name is Reynolds. I won’t say he’s like a brother. He’s far too hot to look at him like a sibling. But I’ve known him practically forever. I’ve spent more time at Ollie and Oakley’s house than at my own the past few years. I know this is a huge development. It’s all Ollie has dreamed of his entire life. It’s what he’s worked so hard for.
“Oh my gosh! This is huge!” I yell, pushing both of us out of the small bathroom as I start dancing around our living room.
Oakley laughs, the smile not diminishing from her face. “I know!”
“We need cake,” I say, my brain working in overdrive. “We can’t show up empty-handed tonight. We’ve got to celebrate!”
“We’re going to Cheerz,” Oakley states, pumping the brakes on my enthusiasm.
“So?” I insist. “We still need sugar to commemorate this moment.”
Oakley frowns as she thinks. “I don’t know where we can get one this last minute.”
