Page 65 of Playmaker

Come on, come on, you can do this. You’ve got this.

The whistle blew, and she took off. She flew down the straightaway and whipped around the curve like a speed skater, her hand out and fingers nearly grazing the ice as she rounded the first corner, then the second. She powered down the longer straightaway, the crowd roaring as she raced the clock along the boards, then around the end of the ice, before giving everything she had in the final stretch to the finish.

In a blink, it was over, and her time flashed on the Jumbotron: 14.016.

I screamed along with the crowd. There were still two competitors left, but she’d bumped the leader into second place.It wasn’t even that much of a surprise—Sabrina was one of the fastest skaters I’d ever seen—but it was a relief. She’d stayed on her skates, and she’d beaten at least three people.

As the crowd settled down, the next skater took her mark. Like Sabrina, she stayed up, but she was no match for Sabrina’s time. She crossed the finish into fourth place with 15.001.

The final player was Eevi Heinonen, a Finnish forward who couldn’t have been more than five feet tall. She was only nineteen, a rookie playing for Denver. An All-Star as a rookie? That was impressive.

She took her mark, and when she sped off the line, I was genuinely surprised flames didn’t shoot out from her skates. Holy shit. She zipped around the first two corners like they were nothing, and her short legs didn’t hold her back at all on the straightaway. The crowd was absolutely roaring when she sped over the finish.

Her time? 14.001.

Sabrina was the first to congratulate her, almost toppling the tiny rookie in a huge hug. Heinonen stared up at the screen, her jaw slack as her name lit up at the top of the leaderboard. Then she smiled, and the rest of the skaters came up to congratulate her.

Sabrina didn’t look the least bit bothered that she’d been knocked into second place. I wouldn’t have been either; her time was perfectly respectable—hell, it was insanely fast—and it was seriously cool to see a kid perform that well against veterans.

Then everyone cleared off for the next event. I dropped into my seat, dizzy and breathless from watching and cheering for Sabrina. Not too long ago, I’d have been so salty that she’d made the All-Stars. I’d probably be watching at home, rolling my eyes and telling Faith, “I’m so glad she lost to that rookie,” while Faith rolledhereyes and told me I was an idiot.

Yeah. I was. But fortunately I wasn’t anymore, and I was here with Sabrina, watching this play out in person and cheering for her like a friend and teammate should. I might’ve been slow on the uptake when it came to her, but I got my head out of my ass eventually.

Not a moment too soon.

As Sabrina skated past the bench where some of the guys were hanging out, she locked eyes with Ty. Even from this far away, it was obvious when they made eye contact. He said something to her, and her smile vanished.

One of the guys with him gave him a sort-of-playful punch to the shoulder, then spoke to Sabrina as he herded Ty in another direction.

I gritted my teeth.

For fuck’s sake, dude. Can’t you just let her enjoy the event?

Of course he couldn’t. From everything Sabrina had told me, he was incapable of letting her enjoy something that didn’t involve or prioritize him.

Fucking asshole.

At least she’d been able to shut him down a couple of times since we arrived, but this time… Ugh. There were too many cameras around, too many fans watching; she didn’t dare make a scene, so she had to take whatever he said.

What a twat.

After that, the skills competition couldn’t wrap up fast enough. There were still several events—hardest shot, backward skating, trick shots—and they took for-fucking-ever while I squirmed and waited to be able to see Sabrina.

The minute things started winding down, I took out my phone. Sabrina would be tied up for a while—showering, media availability, maybe eating—so I texted her,Hey, are you good? I saw Mr. Douchewaffle talking to you.

It was about fifteen minutes before she replied,Yeah. He just made a snide comment about how our fastest skater wouldn’t even place against the men’s league.

“Are you kidding me?” I muttered into the night. I wrote back,What a jackass.

I know, right? She’s a rookie and she just won something she’ll be talking about for years. Why shit on that?

I rolled my eyes. She didn’t hear him, did she?

Fortunately, no.There was a pause, then,I kind of wish she had, LOL. I was chatting with her in the locker room and she’s spicy AF. She’d have made him wish he hadn’t been born.

At that, I laughed.Oh man. That would’ve been funny.

Right? Anyway, he’s just trying to be a dick. On-brand for him. WTF was I thinking when I married him?

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