Two Minutes for Hooking

Chapter 23

James
I held Jocelyn like my life depended on it. I knew it. I freaking knew it the second she looked at her caller id. And I really was proud of her. But it didn't mean I was prepared for what it would mean. I wanted to be mad at her for not being forthright with me but I wasn't being completely honest and open with her either. I knew I was being drafted this year. I also knew I would likely be going to Canada. But did it stop me from telling her everything would work out? Nope. It absolutely did not. When I would be going to Canada, she would be headed somewhere in the midwest or to new england. Unfortunately, the us womens hockey didn't yet have the same stability as Canada with their centralization program. Instead the venue changed each year for training. She would liekly end up having to leave in the middle of her school semester to go to training camp to get ready for worlds and then her time would become incredibly valuable. She would eat, sleep, and breathe hockey training and when she wasn't training she would be encouraged to spend social time with her team only, to help promote team building and morale. She wouldn't have time for herself or her family, let alone a relationship. And if I was drafted, I would head off to training camp at the end of the summer and there I would have to take my turn at eat, sleep and breathing hockey training. I would have to work harder than I've ever worked and still hope and pray for a miracle to be signed. If I didn't get signed at the end of that, I would become an unrestricted free agent and I would be left to work with my agent to find a team before the start of the next season.
The other option was to have my agent contact some of the college scouts who have expressed interest over the past couple of years and hope they would have the roster space and money needed for me to join. Luckily my ncaa clock hadn't started yet so I had time to use that as a fall back option. And if that happened, maybe I could end up in the same state as Jocelyn. It was a long shot but I gave me hope. It gave me something to hold onto.I looked down at her sleeping form and felt my heart tug. I still hadn't told her how I felt even though, after the way she broke down earlier, I was pretty sure I knew she felt the same. I didn't want to add even more complications into her life. She didn't need my emotional baggage to add to her own troubles. I put my nose into her hair and inhaled, breathing in the scent of her shampoo as I kissed the top of her head.
"I love you," I whispered quietly into her hair. Then I gently eased one arm under her legs and the other around her back and carried her into my bedroom and laid her gently on my bed. I tucked her in and kissed her one more time, then I headed down the hallway to Ryans room. I needed to do something to get this pent up frustration out.
"Hey," he said without turning just before I could knock on his door frame.
"Geeze, how do you do that?!" I asked.
He pointed at his computer monitor "I can see your reflection when you come down the hall. What's up?"
"I need to do something, would you be up to training?"
"Sure, let me grab my gear. I think we can make stick and puck at the rec."
I left him and went back to my room, scribbling a quick note to Jocelyn I laid it on the pillow next to her, grabbed my gear and met Ryan out front to head to the rec.
When we got to the rink, I wasn't all that surprised to find Rush already on the ice. Every weekend or evening that there was stick and puck you could find Rush surrounded by several much smaller goalies holding lessons for anyone who shows up. Which usually meant every midget, mite and middle school goalie in a 50 mile radius surrounded him. It didn't hurt that goalies got into stick and puck for free. Surprisingly, Rush usually had everything under control and organized. He would lead the group through drills and then divide them into into smaller groups with the ones who seemed to grasp the drill the best leading them through it. This time, however, he seemed to have his hands full with nearly twice as many goalies as usual. The poor kid looked like he was trying not to panic but he definitely seemed spread thin. And there seemed to be serveral brand new goalies in the mix as well.I looked at Ryan. His face was a mask of resignation.
"Should we help him?" I asked.
Ryan's shoulders fell. "Yeah...lets do this." He responded. We headed to the locker room and dressed out. Then we took to the ice and skated over to Rush.
We waited until he was done dividing the group and then we approached him.
"Where do you need us?" Ryan asked. The look of relief on Rush's face was almost comical.
"Oh, thank god." He exhaled. "Ryan, I have a group of more experienced players who need something a little more challenging. Would you mind running them through some more complex drills?" He said pointing to a group of 4 boys and 3 girls waiting patiently in the far corner.
"Cap, would you mind running my intermediate group through some rebound drills? I'm going to take the newbies and help them get a little more comfortable." The poor kid looked exhausted.
"Where did all these other kids come from?" I asked.
"They had enough girls this year to make one girls team for each age group, so the girls who usually played for the boys teams are playing for the girls now and both groups have brand new goalies. And apparently the coach told them all it was required to show up today."
"Dude, you have got to start charging for this shit. Or at least work it through the rec so they can get you some help." I clapped him on the shoulder.
"I know, I don't really want to charge because not everyone can afford to go to camps or have private lessons. You know?"
"Well, if the coaches are telling them they have to come, have you thought about volunteering to work with them during their practices? You're USA certified for camps, I can't imagine you would need much more to volunteer as an assistant coach. It's something to think about anyway."
"Yeah, maybe. We'll see what I can do. Thanks Cap. Careful with that group, Jo is a handful."
Jo, as it happened was an 11 year old girl with a fast glove and smart attitude. She was kind of my hero.
We worked with the groups in twenty minute increments, turning each drill into a station so we all got time with them. At some point during I noticed Jocelyn had joined and had taken a group of Rush's newbies for some skating lessons. An hour later, we were all exhausted but felt pretty accomplished. As we were changing out in the team locker room Rush, who was quieter than normal, looked at me and said "your girlfriend is awesome. Does she have a sister?"
"Yes, but she's too old for you. And yes, she is pretty great."
"Seriously, I think I might be a little bit in love with her myself. Where do you find a girl like that? She's so pretty and did you see her when we were demonstrating for the newbies? I had to scramble to make a save on her. She is crazy good. But she can score on me any day. I don't mind." He said with a lascivious wiggle of his eyebrows.
I balled up my sweaty undershirt and threw it at his head.
"Ew, you're gross!" he laughed. "I always thought she looked like Hilary Knight but now I know she plays like her too. Ooh, do you think she knows her? Do you think I could pass as a Frederik Anderson lookalike?"
We all passed the rest of the time in the locker room with some small talk and laughter. When we left the locker room, showered and fresh, I felt a million times lighter.I noticed Jocelyn sitting at one of the cafeteria table waiting for me. She smiled when she saw me and I felt the last of my tension melt away. I transfered my stick into my other hand and pulled her up and against me with my free arm and gave her a lingering kiss.
"So," I said after pulling way. She looked at me with trepidation. "Your place or mine?" I asked waggling my eyebrows and making her laugh.
And then we linked hands and carried our gear to her vehicle. We drove in silence for a few minutes before Jocelyn spoke.
"James," she started, her eyes focused on the road, her hands tightening on the steering wheel, "I'm sorry I freaked out. I should have known you would understand. It's not like our situations are so different. We're both trying to make a career out of a passion and those careers are both extremely selective and difficult to get into. And you're exactly right, we've always known this was a potential issue and that neither of us truly know where we'll end up in the log run."
She took a deep breath and flexed her fingers on the steering wheel.
"So I guess what I'm trying to say is, for now, we can take this one day at a time. And as we find out more about our prospective futures, we'll plan accordingly."
We were both silent for a few moments. I was trying to organize what I wanted to say so that I could present it in a light that was, hopefully, both favorable and honest.
"I think," I started, "that is a great idea." I heard her exhale the breath she was holding. And start to speak before I interrupted her, "but I also think we need to be one hundred transparent with each other. If we are in this, we are in this with both feet not with one out the door waiting to run."
I let her take a moment to process what I was saying as she pulled into her driveway and turned off the ignition.
She sat back in her seat and said on a sigh, "well then I guess come in and we'll iron this out.."
I agreed and got out of the vehicle, hurrying around the side to catch Jocelyn before she could get too far. "And Jocelyn, " I breathed, before lifting her chin and kissing her with everything I had. I tried to pour all of myself into the kiss.