Page 68 of Offside

Volkov ignored him, took my face between his hands, and kissed one cheek, then the other. He released me and did the same to Bishop despite having to rise onto his toes.

"I write letter," he announced.

"To who?" Hayes asked.

"Formal complaint for unnecessary delay. Team has suffered."

"No letter," Bishop laughed. "Nothing formal."

"Then card," Volkov said.

"No card," Bishop said. "Drop it."

"I will send edible arrangement."

Bishop stared at him. "Volkov."

Kieran tore the tape with his teeth and returned to wrapping his stick. He'd looked at Bishop long enough to make sure everything was good, then went back to work. Nico touched the back of Kieran's neck as he passed behind him.

Eriksson considered Bishop and me from his stall. "My grandmother says two people who take this long to say something obvious should pay rent to everyone forced to wait." The room laughed.

"Your grandmother doesn't know us," Bishop said. "She doesn't get a vote."

"She knows people." Eriksson shrugged. "That's enough."

Hayes leaned toward Abbott. "Do we clap now?"

"No," Abbott said. "This is the part where everybody discovers Garrett already knew."

The room turned toward Garrett. He kept his back to us while he adjusted the tape on his shin pad.

"How much is the pot?" Theo asked.

Garrett shook his head. "We stopped keeping a pot."

Everyone began talking again. Our news entered the same space as tape, bad socks, and the game waiting for us.

When Bishop turned toward me, he put his left hand at the back of my neck and tapped his forehead lightly against mine, a headbutt reduced to affection.

Volkov made an approving sound.

I laughed—not the controlled breath I used when somebody had made an acceptable joke, but with the real thing.

The Storm led one-nothing after the first period. Garrett's point shot found Theo's stick above the crease and changed direction under the goalie's blocker. The visitors tied it in the second on a rebound that crossed the slot before Kieran could recover.

Early in the third, a failed change gave them a three-on-two. Bishop took the middle pass and forced the puck carrier outside, but the trailing winger beat our second forward into open ice and scored high on Kieran's glove to make it two-one.

Nico tied it four minutes later after Luca won a puck behind the net and put it through the crease. Nico reached the back post before his defenseman did, making it two-two.

The game tightened into short shifts. Pucks moved before the second forechecker arrived. Bishop gave up the boards when his feet could own the middle and used his left side when contact couldn't be avoided.

The Storm took the lead with seven minutes left. Eriksson disrupted an entry at center, and Theo collected the loose puck and carried it over the line. Bishop joined late without driving below the circles, held enough width to pull one defender away, and sent Theo's return pass immediately across to Luca. Luca scored before the goalie crossed the crease, putting the Storm ahead three-two.

With two minutes left, the visitors rimmed the puck high around the boards in our zone. Bishop reached with his right hand to stop it.

The shoulder caught. I saw the change before the arm stopped. His body tightened around the joint as the puck rode above the height he could control safely, so he let it go. The puck crossed the blue line, giving up the zone and giving the visitors possession.

Bishop pivoted instead of chasing it with his arm. Their winger gathered the puck near center and tried to turn the retreat into speed. Bishop held the inside lane, matched him through the neutral zone, and forced him toward the wall.