The Exchange

Chapter 26

When the game finally began, Matt, David, and Viktor all took the ice, and although I had little to do with the whole line, a part of me felt like I had assembled some sort of dream team with Patrick Kane, Alex Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid or some shit. Obviously, it was a complete exaggeration on my part, but that was how excited I was.

I was pretty sure Blaine had no idea what this meant to me, but he laughed at me when I let out a tiny little squeak when the puck dropped. The other team played it back to their defense.

Seriously, Viktor? You lost the opening faceoff after everything we've been through? God, for someone as special as you, you'd think we wouldn't have such stupid problems.

"Look at that dumbass. Losing the first faceoff of the season." I shook my head and wrote it down in my notebook. "He's never going to hear the end of this from me."

Blaine laughed. "You're too harsh on the guy. He did his best."

"Well, that shit isn't going to fly in the Minnesota Tournament, and that's our goal here. Viktor was supposed to be the piece that finally gets us there."

"He can't lose a single faceoff the entire game? Amanda, come on and try to be reasonable."

I turned and pointed at him. "Don't defend him."

"Just once. All I'm asking for is for you to try to be reasonable just once."

I turned back to the game. "I'm incredibly reasonable. It's not my fault that none of the rest of you happen to understand my complex thought processes."

He laughed. "Never change, Amanda. Never change."

I had no intention of doing that, but everything else in the world seemed to change so fast.

After the game (a six to nothing win for us), I waited for Matt and Viktor by the door. Overall, they both looked pretty good on the ice with David, and they both assisted on a couple of his goals, plus Matt scored one. It wasn't that Viktor was slacking, but he still couldn't shoot the damn puck to save his life.

If Matt didn't give him a hard time about it, I was going to have the time of my life with it.

Blaine stood beside me, and as people walked in and out of the arena, the cold air rushed over us again and again.

"Do you want to just go? You can talk to them later, and I want Chick-Fil-A," he said, and I shook my head.

"Nope. I'm okay with waiting."

"I don't think you understand. I really want Chick-Fil-A, and the longer I go without it, the more likely it is that I'm going to act like a dick."

"Even at your hungriest, you're not that bad," I said, and I looked down at my notebook. I almost filled the entire page with a few observations, but Viktor probably wouldn't care about them. It was most likely a giant waste of time, but it kept me entertained, so I wasn't too pissed about it.

Finally, Matt and Viktor came out to the door together, and I handed Viktor the sheet of paper with all of my comments. "I made that for you. You need to work on your shot."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, then tucked the note into his bag.

"His shot is fine, but he really needs to work on his confidence with it. You're never going to score if you refuse to shoot it at the net," Matt said. "Nothing for me, Amanda? I desperately need to know your thoughts about my game."

I shook my head. "You already know I think you suck. I'll see you guys at home. Blaine might lose his mind if he doesn't get some chicken nuggets in the next two seconds."