Page 70 of Gave Proof Through the Night

Dangerous: sounds fancy. what is it?

Me: You’ll see. I’m not telling you.

Dangerous: i hate this

Me: You love this.

Dangerous: we shall see

Then, at midnight, when I was lying in bed, refraining from bothering her at a late hour, she texted:

Dangerous: is it weird that today felt long?

Me: No.

Dangerous: ok good because it did and i don’t love admitting that

Me: I’ll allow it. Today felt long here too.

Dangerous: dont get used 2 me being soft. limited time offer

Me: I’m framing this text.

Dangerous: remember that big goober I was telling you about? He’s you.

“Precio.” Badaszek’s voice cuts across the bench, and I nearly drop the phone.

“Phone away. We’ve got twenty more minutes and I’d like your head to be somewhere on the premises.”

“Yes, Coach.”

I put it away. It doesn’t stop the smile.

“Man’s got it bad,” Colt says to nobody, cheerfully, as we skate back out.

“I don’t have it bad.”

“You checked your phone eleven times in the last ten minutes,” Kingston says. “I counted.”

“That’s a sad way to spend your free time, man.”

“Teasing you guys is the highlight of my day,” he says.

Badaszek blows the whistle and we’re back to drills, and nobody’s smiling anymore except me, quietly, on the inside.

By the time we’re done, my legs feel like two sandbags, and my jersey’s stuck to my back in a way that will require industrial-strength detergent. But we ran that last drill clean six times in a row. Even Badaszek, walking off the ice, allows himself a tiny grin.

“Better,” he says, to the group. “Do that tomorrow. Same energy. Less mouth.”

“Yes, Coach,” we all say, and somehow I have a feeling about tomorrow’s game. We’re going to win. I just know it.

In the tunnel, Colt catches up to me, still riding the high of not getting yelled at personally for once. “Hey, Zesty. Few of us are grabbing wings before we crash tonight. You in?”

Four days ago that nickname would’ve made my skin crawl. Now it barely registers, and I don’t mind it anymore.

“Can’t. Rain check?”

“You got something better going on?”