Page 125 of Ice Mechanic

THIRTY-FIVE

CHANCE

Cameras flash directly on the podium. From this high up, it’s like looking into a sea of exploding stars. After so many years of this circus, I’m still not used to the way cameras actively try to blind us.

Questions erupt from all corners of the conference room.

I only respond to one.

“Chance, why have you been refusing to do after-game interviews? Are you trying to build suspense?”

“You caught me, Harry. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”

Harry Winsbury pauses. He’s a sports journalist with The Millenial Times. Nice guy. A bit overzealous but only because he loves hockey as much as the players he writes about.

I feel a hand land heavy on my shoulder. To my left, Max is grinning painfully. His eyes beam a frantic ‘what are you doing?’

I shrug his hand off and look at the cameras.

“There’s something I need to address, but I wanted to wait until you were all here before I spoke up.” I nod to the line ofcameras filling the room. Every major broadcasting network is present and waiting.

“And what exactly is this news you want to share?” Harry prods.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to retire?” another reporter barks out.

Harry throws them the stink eye.

A low roll of disgruntled murmurs erupt from the journalists. It’s a bit surprising that the media is so sympathetic to me. It wasn’t too long ago that I was being burned at the stake.

“Never gonna happen,” I reply. “You’d have to drag me, kicking and screaming, off the ice. I’m never giving up on hockey.”

Loose, uncomfortable chuckles tell me I may have been a little too intense saying that. Too bad. I mean every word.

“This isn’t about hockey, but it is about something equally important to me.” I clasp my hands and set them on the table. “As you all know, I’m in a relationship.”

“Don’t remind the ladies, Chance. We didn’t bring enough Kleenex,” Harry yells.

The room fills with laughter.

I do not join in. “That’s the thing, Harry. I do want to remind the ladies. And the men. I want the entire world to know this. I am a taken man and I have zero interest in anyone but the woman I fell in love with.”

Max’s eyes are drilling holes into the back of my head.

Harry’s jaw is on the floor.

“The first time I met her, my car had broken down. Like a total idiot, I rejected her when she offered to take a look at it. Despite that, she offered again. That’s who she is. A woman who’ll help a stranger on the road. Who’ll take thirty minutes to fix a car when I can’t even name the parts of an engine. Who’llgive her life to take care of her family. Someone honest to a fault, whip-smart and so beautiful that sometimes all I can do when I’m in front of her is stare.”

I adjust the mike and lean closer so the words reverberate through the speakers.

“Her name is April Elizabeth Brooks. It’s her and no one else.”

“Tell ‘em your truth, McLanely,” Harry encourages.

I shake my head. “This isn’t my truth, Harry. This is THE truth. Immutable. Unobjectionable. And Unchangeable.” I pause for dramatic effect. “Now… any questions?”

A giant bear paw of a hand covers my phone screen and lowers it to the backseat. “Put that down,” Max says, dramatically covering his eyes. “Oh, I have a headache.”

“There are worse things to say at a press conference,” I remind him, pausing the video and putting the phone away.

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