Page 86 of What It Means To Be Found

The game was starting and people were suddenly cheering around us as the three of us turned to see the players zooming towards our end of the rink. Our conversation was paused as I stood up again, along with other fans around us who were pressing up against the glass to cheer on the Colorado team (the Avalanche, according to their jerseys) to get the puck from the Ducks.

I cheered as Logan successfully defended his teammates, shoving and blocking other players to clear a space for someone else on the team to take a shot.

It was a miss.

The stadium cheered, and the three of us slumped in disappointment while the Avalanchetook back the puck and everyone skated to the opposite end of the rink.

“It’s interesting,” I mused, regaining Taylor and Courtney’s attention as we settled into the hard plastic seats, “Just a couple of years ago, I would have been the woman who pretended to be into hockey in order to simply be on the arm of a professional athlete.” Courtney and Taylor were silent as they let me ponder about my past life, how my old friends, Lucy and Michelle (whom I hadn’t spoken to in months), would probably be excited to join me at one of Logan’s games for the same silly reason I just admitted to. “But now, I feel comfortable openly admitting that I wasn’t interested in the sport at all. Not until I became involved with someone that I really cared about, someone who’s livelihood literally depended on it.” I grinned a little bit as I watched Logan bump a gloved fist with another player, who I realized was John. I was surprised to see the two of them quickly remove one of their gloves, before tossing it to the other and quickly strapping it on before the next play started. “Even then, I’m still not really into hockey. I’m into my boyfriend, and hockey is important to him,” I shrugged one shoulder, “So here I am.”

Courtney’s hand came down on my knee, squeezing once before she gently patted it and pulled back. “We never stop growing up and improving ourselves. It’s good to acknowledge the moments that we do.”

I nodded my agreement as I glanced over at my friend, grateful that she and I connected during the time that I had finally given up on reviving my past failed relationship. I was truly a better person since befriending Courtney, and Taylor, and Beck. And everyone else. Even Logan.

“Oh, they’re coming back!” Taylor shot to their feet, cupping their hands over their mouth and shouting, “Get it, twenty-nine!”

“Twenty-nine!” Courtney shouted with a deep voice, mimicking her favorite character from the TV show New Girl.

“Go! Go! Go!” I was clapping as I cheered, the three of us on our feet and pressed against the plexiglass as a swarm of players elbowed and slapped sticks and struggled against each other. John was surrounded, but still managed to keep the puck close as he lifted his eyes, searching.

Logan was skating on the outside of the mess, and he signed something quickly to John, with his gloved hand, before blocking someone else from getting involved in the attempt to regain the puck.

John nodded, and within a second, he snapped his stick against the puck and sent it flying in the direction of a third Ducks player that I wasn’t familiar with. He captured the puck easily, because very few Avalanche players were guarding him, but as soon as they saw the puck hit his stick, everyone swarmed, leaving John and Logan at their backs.

The player, instead of going towards the net like I was expecting him to, blocked an attempt to steal the puck and snapped it back. The puck gained air, and Logan lifted his stick and caught it before it could get further out of range.

I gasped, bouncing on my heels as an opposing player, that I hadn’t been keeping track of, charged Logan, who was already swinging his stick and cracking the puck into the net.

The stadium booed, but the three of us gasped and cheered.

Logan was using his momentum on the ice to skate around the net before traveling back down to the center of the rink, and I banged my fists onto the plexiglass and cheered as he did so.

He almost missed me.

I could make out his dark brown eyes, and the mouth guard he had in his lips through the mask he wore, concealing most of his face. His eyes scanned the crowd without really seeing anyone, like it was habit for him to just glance up and remember that there were fans in the room.

But right as he was about to pass, our eyes met, and I could see the recognition flare in his.

Logan finally found me.

He skidded to a stop, like a cartoon, and skated backwards a little so that we stood in front of each other through the plexiglass.

I smiled and kept slapping my palms against it, jumping and grinning and even going as far as to put my fingers in my mouth and whistle.

Logan pulled out his mouth guard under his mask to smile at me, a wide and open grin that he didn’t try to cover with his hand. It wasn’t until Courtney and Taylor banged their fists against the plexiglass that he let his gaze flick over to notice them, but quickly set his sights right back on me.

And my heart swelled.

He lifted a gloved hand up to press against mine through the plexiglass, then popped his mouthguard back in and threw a wink over his shoulder at me, as he skated back to the game. I pressed my palms to my cheeks to confirm that I was, in fact, blushing from his wink.

“I think he’s happy about the surprise,” Courtney mused as we settled back into our seats again, “I’m glad Logan isn’t—oh barf.”

I turned to look at Courtney, who was frowning through the plexiglass and staring at something. Taylor and I tried to follow her line of sight, but we both gave each other confused looks before Taylor asked, “What is it?”

“Daddy James,” Courtney grumbled. I felt my heart sink into my gut, and the warm happy flutters I had felt from getting Logan’s attention earlier were shrunken down, oppressed by the familiar feeling of anxiety my body lit up with.

Taylor and I both turned our heads to try to see where Courtney was looking, and we both found Logan’s agent at the same time.

I didn’t say anything, but I heard Taylor grumble, “Yuck,” at the same moment my eyes met his.

---