Page 55 of One Night with Number Nineteen

One of those perfect few seconds of kismet.

Where everything goes right.

Where all the pieces drop into place.

Where I feel completely at home even as the world spins around me.

The puck does exactly what I want. The ice opens up. The goalie flashes me a space to shoot.

So…I take it.

I fire a shot at the net.

Time slows.

I don’t breathe.

Even my heart seems to stop for one long moment.

Then I exhale and everything moves in warp speed.

The puck flies toward the goal, shooting toward that opening in the upper right corner.

The goalie lifts his glove, trying to catch it.

But…

Too slow.

The puck sails by just above his glove, hitting the back of the net and dropping to the ice.

For a moment everyone freezes and the arena goes quiet.

Then the red light behind the net flashes on and⁠—

Explosion.

Of excitement from the crowd, of frustration from the Hawks, of cheers from my teammates as they close ranks and hug me, clapping me on the back, tapping me on the head.

“Fuck yeah,” Smitty says.

“Hell of a Christmas present,” Gray says with a grin, nodding up at the clock.

Twenty seconds left in the game.

And now we’re up a goal.

Fuck yeah, indeed.

I’m grinning as we skate back to the bench, as my coach taps me on the shoulder, as the next line hops on and the puck drops a final time, as the clock ticks down to zero.

But I know the main reason my smile doesn’t fade is because Lainey and Ollie watched me do that.

Sixteen

Lainey

“Get it! Get it! Get—yahoo!” my little bear cries.