Page 64 of Playmaker

The low rumble of an engine met my ears before I had a chance to snark back, and I turned to see the Zamboni pulling up to the gate. I glanced up at the clock and realized it was almost 3:30.

I nodded toward the Zamboni. “Guess we should get out of here.”

We gathered up the pucks we’d been using and a few stray ones littering the ice. Once those were gone, we headed for the locker room to shower and change, and I was pleased that Sabrina was still smiling and chirping like normal. All traces of her encounter with her ex-husband were gone.

Mission accomplished.

Get wrecked, Ty,I thought as we stripped off our gear.You have no power here.

Her mood held as the day went on, so I was confident she’d shaken it off. We relaxed in our room for a while, then put on our suits and returned to the arena for the All-Star tournament.

This time, I could only go with her as far as the players’ entrance. I’d be spending the game in the stands along with some of the spouses and families.

Outside the entrance, I turned to her. “You going to be okay? After earlier?” I’d been hesitant to bring it up and remind her of it, but I wanted to be sure.

Her smile deserved to be on magazine covers. “I’m good. Honestly, everything with him feels like it happened ages ago. So… thanks for that.”

“Don’t mention it.” The impulse to draw her in and kiss her was almost irresistible.

I recovered, though, and I cleared my throat. “Well, good luck out there.”

That smile. Fuck me.

“Thanks. Enjoy the show.”

Oh, I would. As long as Sabrina was out there on skates, doing what she did best, I would definitely enjoy the show.

And maybe spend some of the time figuring out how to shut off the part of my brain that kept whispering“Kiss her”every time she looked my way.

A number of players from the men’s league were out on the ice in their jerseys and skates with the All-Star competitors. Not all of them were here just to promote our league on behalf of theirs. Two of the guys beamed as they talked about how proud they were of their wives—one was married to Cleveland’s goalie, the other to Vancouver’s star center. A defenseman from Chicago cradled his infant son against his jersey while he raved about his fiancée and how she was definitely going to win the hardest shot competition. It was seriously cute.

Ty was down there, too, and like the others, he was interviewed, his face projected onto the Jumbotron for all to see. He plastered on his fake smile to talk about how excited he was at the prospect of Houston getting a WHPL team.

The whole time, he lookeddeliciouslymiserable. Every time the reporter started to speak, he seemed to brace a little as if he were expecting an uncomfortable question. Probably one about his ex-wife, her performance, and her selection to the All-Stars.

I was glad the reporter didn’t ask about Sabrina. I didn’t care at all if Ty was uncomfortable, but Sabrina didn’t deserve to have her relationship picked apart as tabloid gossip. Especially since she wasright there—she and another forward were warming up for fastest skater, which was the next event in the skills competition.

Eventually, the reporter moved on to someone else, and Ty became another face in the crowd around the edges of the ice. On the screen now was Alex McDaniels, who had retired a couple of years ago and was married to Nichole Manning, captain of Omaha. He was wearing the jersey of his old team, Kansas City, as part of the city’s campaign for a WHPL team. As he was interviewed, he held his ten-month-old baby, and the whole arena was practically swooning over how cute they both were. Especially how cute he was as he gushed about his wife.

“I’m real proud of her,” Alex said with a big smile as he bounced the baby gently on his hip. “I mean, she had him, and like six months later, she’s at training camp.” He shook his head and laughed. “I’d have needed anotheryear, and I definitely wouldn’t have made the All-Stars my first season back.”

Some of the guys behind him were nodding in agreement.

Everyone in the crowd chuckled at that. Alex had played through some pretty hardcore injuries in his career, so he wasn’t a wimp by any means, but he was clearly awed by Nichole’s recovery. We all were—here I was thinking I’d come a long way after my knee surgery, and hereshewas racking up points and dominating the ice a few months after pushing out a whole human.

The interviews ended, and everyone except a handful of skaters and officials moved to the side of the ice to make room for the fastest skater event. Sabrina was among the competitors, and she skated some lazy circles while she waited for the event to start.

My heart thumped as I watched. I’d done the backwards skating competition in the exhibition at the men’s All-Star weekend a couple of years ago, and I’d been stressed as hell about that. Like any defender worth her salt, I could skate backwards all day long, but with a timer and that many people watching? It was seriously intimidating.

Come on, Sabrina. You can do this.

The first two skaters notched impressive times. 14.121 and 14.629. Not bad at all.

The third wiped out on a corner. I grimaced sympathetically as she got up and dusted herself off. She’d hit the boards when she went down, but she didn’t seem any worse for wear; probably more frustrated than anything.

Sabrina was fourth. My pulse pounded even louder in my ears. The only thing worse than going right after someone with an incredible time was going after someone who’d fallen. The sight of someone going down could get stuck in a skater’s head, make them second guess themselves or hesitate at the worst possible moment.

I pressed my hands together in front of my lips and held my breath as Sabrina glided up to the starting line.

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