Page 81 of My Pucking Perfect Goalie

“FinleyAsher!” Fallon says, stepping in and crossing her arms. “You were not about to fly back to California without saying goodbye to us!”

I blink at her, then look over at Lola, who’s admiring my suitcases.

“I’ve been thinking of getting a set of these,” she says. “Are they nice?”

“Lola,” Fallon hisses. “Focus.”

“Oh, right—we’re doing this whole thing.”

“What is this whole thing?” I ask, glancing between them. Penny shows up in the doorway and I raise an eyebrow at her. She let these women into the guest room to make me feel bad about going back to California?

At first, when I delayed our flight, Penny was delighted. I told her I was doing it to give myself time to think, but then I still couldn’t bring myself to unblock Sam’s number. What if I did, and there was nothing from him? That would hurt more than just blocking him and leaving behind.

Obviously,a voice in my head says.That’s why you want to block him and run back to California. Because you’re afraid.

Now, Lola pushes her curls behind her ears and grins at me. “This whole thing is the same thing that happened to me when Devon and I broke up.”

“You and Devonbroke up?”

“Yeah, for a little while,” she says, “it was a legal thing. I won’t bore you with the details.”

I mouth, “Legal thing?”to Fallon, who just rolls her eyes.

“It’s the third-act breakup,” Lola says, like that’s a phrase that makes sense. “You and Sam are meant to be together—that much is obvious—but this is testing your loyalty to one another. Showing that you can make it through the toughest of times.”

“He told me toget outof his father’s hospital room.”

Fallon cringes. “Yeah, Brett told me about that. But Penny also told us that you haven’t been willing to hear him out since that happened. I think the two of you need to talk.”

“Honestly,” Lola laughs, “I’m surprised a woman like you needs this kind of middle-school intervention.”

“What?” I ask, sitting back, a wave of amusement and embarrassment flooding through my chest.

“Look at you!” Lola practically cries. “In your fancy suits and with your perfect hair. I’ve never seen you anything but totally put together. I’m just surprised that when you and Sammy had a fight, you didn’t schedule a moderation meeting. Put it in the calendar. Break everything down into bullet points.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being mean or not,” I say, tilting my head and looking at her.

“Thepoint is,” Fallon says, sounding exasperated. “We’re taking you to the game tonight. Penny told us about what happened with you two. And according to Brett, Sam has been a wreck.”

“He’s been playing just fine.”

“He’s been playingkind ofokay,” Lola corrects, leaning in. “And Devon told me that if they lose this game tonight, Grey is going to be a shit head for an entire year.”

“Plus, it’s not just about how he’s been playing,” Fallon says, leveling her gaze with me. “This thing isn’t about his performance, or about hockey. It’s about the two of you. The fact that if you fly back to California now, you’ll never know what things could have been like if you stayed.”

Without meaning to, I rest my hand on my stomach again, my mind flashing to images of Sam—the perfect dad. What our life here could be like. I could write my book, and we could raise our baby together. If Fallon and Lola notice this involuntary gesture, they don’t say anything about it.

“Well, the car is here,” Penny says from the door, her eyes meeting mine. “So it’s now or never.”

***

“Well, shit,” Devon says, sitting down with a chili dog in his hand. “Sammy is playing like garbage, huh?”

Lola glares at him, but I can’t muster up the energy to follow suit. I can barely tear my eyes away from the rink below us.

Devon isn’t wrong: Samisplaying like garbage. Halfway through the second period, and he’s allowed four goals. Brett and the line are struggling, with only one goal to answer. It’s like when Sam plays poorly, it affects the morale of the entire team.

“His positioning is off,” Lola says, the steam from her hot chocolate rising up around her face. “He’s biting on every fake.”

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