Page 96 of Gave Proof Through the Night

I pull it over my head and hand it to her. She wipes her nose but then looks like she doesn’t know what to do with it now.

“You can keep it.” I fold her back in, chin on top of her head. “Listen, I’ve got a mandatory nap before the game.”

She sniffs into my bare chest. “They make you take naps? Like in preschool?”

I laugh. “Trust me, some of the guys act like preschoolers if they don’t get some zees.”

“I get a little cranky, too,” she admits.

“You can come with me. We’ll take a nap together. Or you can just watch me sleep. Or I’ll stand on this sidewalk, shirtless, as long as you need. I just don’t want to leave you or make you feel like I’m abandoning you.”

“I’m okay.” She pulls back, swipes under her nose with the shirt again. “I spent the last hour convinced you’d read that text and decided to bolt. I’m not upset about my dad. Much. I mean not more than usual.”

“You thought I ghosted you.” Because I didn’t answer her text right away. “Erica, I didn’t see your text until eleven. Coach made us put our phones away. And then when I did see it, all I could think about was getting to you. In hindsight, I should have called from the Uber.”

She laughs, short and wet, right in the middle of crying. “You should have called from the Uber.”

“I panicked.”

“Me too. And probably overreacted. But I want to tell you the rest of it. Just… not right now…standing on a stoop with my mascara halfway down my face.”

I tip her chin up so she’s looking at me. “Okay. Whenever you’re ready. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me now?”

“I’m sure. One of my friends is having an existential crisis. So I’m not the only drama queen in town.”

I chuckle. “Will you be at the game tonight?”

“Yes, I’ll be at the game tonight.” She thinks for a second, then, “Can I bring Zoe?”

I glance past her shoulder at the door, half expecting a pair of eyes to still be watching through the gap.

“Of course. I’ll leave two tickets at will call.”

“Thanks.” There’s a ghost of a real smile now. “She’ll behave. Mostly.”

I kiss her softly, one hand on her jaw. She comes up onto her toes to meet me halfway. For about four seconds, the whole morning goes quiet. The text. Her truths. All of it.

Then I have a nap to get to.

I wait for her to go back inside, then walk back to the Four Seasons with no shirt on. It’s a hot day anyway.

When game time rolls around, I’m more determined than ever to make her happy, and decide I will win this for her. She’s had so few good things in her life. And although she’s probably indifferent to hockey, she deserves a small win.

After a rousing pep talk from Coach Badaszek, we go out on the ice for stretches, and that’s when I see her. Front row center, and wearing that ridiculous GILL POWER hat. I skate up to the glass and blow her a kiss and mouth the words, “This one’s for you.”

Her friend is with her. Zoe, I think her name is. But she’s looking the other way, taking video of the players doing stretches.

When it’s time for the national anthem, I’m surprised to see Izzy stepping out under the spotlight. Now, I don’t know if she’s Jake’s fake girlfriend or if it’s real between them. I can’t keep up. But, dang, that girl can sing.

I tell him so right before puck drop.

“Dude, your fake, slash, not-fake girlfriend killed it.”

He doesn’t even try to play it cool, the way he usually does. Just watches her walk off toward the tunnel, grinning in a way he usually reins in when the cameras are close.

“She really is amazing, isn’t she?”

I mean, not as amazing as my girl, but I’m not about to say that to a guy with that derpy look on his face.