Page 5 of Hockey Heart

“Three,” I said flatly. He took a look at my expression and could see this was no longer a negotiation.

“Can’t do it,” he finally said.

“Okay, just the other stuff, then.”

We settled up, and I went to leave, a measly $100 richer, when he spoke up again.

“$2,800andI’ll let you buy it back for the same price for seven days. After that, I sell it.”

I stumbled out of the pawnbroker in a daze. I probablyshould have felt deflated and annoyed at my losses, but there’s some odd mystic power that money seems to hold, making me instead feel a warm glow of achievement. In less than an hour, I had nearly eight thousand bucks. With the four I already had in my savings, that gave me a hefty twelve grand.

The idea stirred up a nice fuzzy feeling inside. I was fairly sure that it wasn’t anywhere near enough to buy a star hockey player for the night, but still, I could at least go get my ring back and pick up another cheaper car. I had a painful pang of annoyance at giving away my Parisian lamp though for, what, ten bucks at best? I guess maybe I could buy that back, too.

It was madness, and I knew I’d feel ashamed about it later, but it would all be okay. Unless it wasn’t. But then I would be out with HaydenfuckingRaynor. A burst of excitement rushed through me at the thought, making me unexpectedly blush.Christ, get it together Sarah!

Having traded up the most valuable things in my life just for the chance to put a bid on a hockey player, I had five hours left to swing by the bank, deposit both the check and cash, then get myself ready for tonight. With an unexpected spring in my step, I set off.

4

FLETCH, THE SON OF A BITCH

Hayden

“You got to be kidding, Fletch?”

“Hayden, you just stand up there, let them throw money at you, go for dinner, play nice, and then it’s all done.”

I stared dumbly at him.

“Hayden, it’s for kids with cancer, for the love of God!”

I sighed heavily. I couldn’t say no, but honestly, standing up on that stage being gawped at and then sold struck me as something we were meant to have gotten past by now. At least I’d already told Joyce, so that was one less thing to worry about.

“Not sure this’ll help,” I told Fletch, pointing at the black eye that was still throbbing on my face.

“It might actually make youmoreappealing,” Fletch beamed back. “Everyone likes a bad boy.”

Goddamnit.It’d be nice if just for one second someone saw me as something other than a raging bull. Then again, that was how I made my living. It’s how I protectedus. And one day, it would eventually all be over.

I looked down at my red knuckles and thought about Sampson. What the heck was the point of fighting with one minute left of the season, anyway? I wouldn’t have minded so much, but things seemed to take longer to heal these days. Next thing I would start getting slow, then I’d start losing the fights, missing the bodychecks, and then it really would all be over. That didn’t annoy me so much, I was looking forward to it. Well, maybe that’s notentirelytrue. I had no idea what would come next, what life without hockey would look like, and a big part of me found that absolutely terrifying. It also reminded me with a shudder that I really had to solve this thing with Cara before then, before it could ruin me, ruinus.

Just then Solly came into the office, rambling and looking like he’d seen a ghost.

“Fletch, I can’t do it! Maria, she’s mad as hell, says it’s a deal-breaker if I let it happen. Please Fletch, you gotta…”

“Solly…,” Fletch began, shaking his head at the panic-filled left winger in front of him.

He was enjoying this,I thought. Then I realized I was too.

“…It’s contractual. My hands are tied. You just gotta go out there, make some money for charity, and have a nice dinner. That’s it.”

“You try telling Maria that! She’s furious Fletch. You should’ve heard her, throwing things at me, threatening to kick me out.”

For a second, Fletch smiled dryly, then it disappeared in a flash before Solly could notice it.

Fletch arranged all our promotional events, sponsorships, and everything on the commercial side, and he was a persuasive son of a bitch. Or, honestly, just a son of a bitch most of the time. I’d also noticed him talking to Maria whenever she came along to events with Solly, and I had asense that there was something between them. No wonder he was enjoying this.

I could also see that Solly was overboard, swimming in deep waters with fins circling around him, panicking and looking for something,anything, to cling onto to save him. I swiftly made my exit before he tried to grab onto me as his lifeline. I might be the toughest guy on the ice, but even I couldn’t handle the fury of Maria Ricek when she got going.

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