Josie Mills is a precocious and straitlaced young woman who is pursuing a career in architecture. The field is very difficult to get a foot into and Josie has been working nonstop to make her dream come true. She's so focused on her slowly growing c...
"Luke, are you alright?" Ben asks lightly, leaning over my shoulder as I slouch on the bench and wait for the game to start.
The rest of the team is restless, eager to get the game underway, but I'm struggling to find any interest in it at all.
Crowds of our fans are filling the stands, waving their banners and chanting for the Pumas to win. A few weeks ago, it would've filled me with joy. It would've reminded me just why I'd chosen to play hockey, but now... it feels so empty.
Nothing matters, not if Josie isn't someone I can share it with.
An entire week has passed since we said goodbye after Ben's unexpected arrival at her home. I'd kept waiting for the gloom to lift and for my eyes to see a little clearer, but so far, it's only gotten worse and worse. I haven't been able to focus at practice, I haven't been sleeping because I constantly dream of her face. I haven't been able to eat because everything is tasteless.
I've never once gone through a breakup like this before. Though I haven't had a ton of relationships, when I parted ways with any other woman, my bounce back was almost instantaneous. I always had hockey to fall back on and save me. This time, it just isn't making my heart feel any better.
"I'm fine," I mumble to Ben, mustering up a very halfhearted smile that he sees right through.
"Man," he sighs, "there must be something in the water. Every time I talk to my sister, she's all down in the dumps too."
"She is?" I ask, hating myself for being so interested.
Ben nods, clapping my shoulder, "Come on, we've got to line up for the anthem."
Our coach directs us out onto the ice as the song begins to play through the speakers.
The other team glares over, their hands over their hearts, their eyes focused on us. They're trying to intimidate us before the game even starts. Usually, I'd love trying to do the same, but this time my eyes sweep towards the empty seat that Ben always saves for Josie. I know she won't come, but just the thought of seeing her for a split second makes me feel so much better than I can't help the glance.
I'll probably find myself looking over there a thousand times during the game, letting pucks right by me into the goal. I'd be lucky if my team wants anything to do with me by the time the game is done.
"Luke!" Ben hisses, shoving my shoulder to get my attention, "Why are you just standing there?"
Blinking, I glance around, noting that the other players have already skated to their starting positions.
Swallowing hard and holding up a hand in apology, I glide expertly over the ice towards the waiting goal. I settle in front of it, struggling to focus on the game.
In seconds, the players in front of me are darting back and forth, their jerseys clashing together as bodies roughly hit and the puck flies back and forth.
Any other day, I would be absorbed in the madness on the ice that I wouldn't notice the door up at the top of the arena slowly open. This time, however, it's all I see. I look up, catching the top of a woman's head slide inside, but I can't see her clearly enough to make sure that it's not Josie.
My feet move on their own, skating slowly forward, desperate to try and get a look at the woman who'd just walked in.
I follow her, not even hearing the sounds of Ben and the coach and the rest of my team shouting at me to go back to the goal and do my job, I am utterly consumed by this woman.
She turns suddenly, sinking into a seat beside another man, and I realize it isn't her. My heart sinks down to my feet like a concrete weight.
Ben skates in front of me, waving his stick to try and get me to focus.
I shake my head, remembering where I am, but when I turn to go back to the goal, there's someone standing behind the glass.
My heart pounds against my ribs, the stick dropping from my hands in shock.
Josie stares at me, her palms pressed to the glass, her nose fogging it. Forgetting Ben, forgetting everyone, I start to skate towards her just as one of the players on the opposite team shoots the puck into our unprotected goal. The player makes a sharp turn, spraying ice towards his fans as he rejoices the point. He's so focused on his celebration and I'm so focused on Josie that neither one of us seems to see each other. We collide head on, both of our bodies flying backwards against the ice.
The last thing I hear is both Ben and Josie screaming my name before I smack hard into the side of the rink and everything goes black.
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