Page 86 of The Secret Play

She stood abruptly, clutching her sign as she marched toward me. Her movements were purposeful, her expression unwavering. There was no avoiding this. Did she plan to wield the, “Coach can get it!” fan sign as a weapon? Or would she go personal and use her fists?

My heart pounded as I gripped the edge of my seat, my breath coming shallow and quick. I didn’t know what she would say, but I braced myself for the worst. I was not much of a fighter. I preferred avoiding confrontation if I could, and I’d never fought a woman before. Handsy guys, sure, but a woman? She knew how to hurt me because she had all the same parts.

I didn’t even know if security was around to stop her. Fights in hockey stands were nothing new, though they usually happened during the game, not the intermission. I looked for any of the men in a security jacket, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Once other fans figured out who I was, they might join in. My phone had died long ago. I was on my own now. I had to handle the mess I’d made.

You deserve this, Gemma, I thought.You did worse to Casey. An ass-kicking is nothing compared to that.

The woman stopped a few feet away, her eyes narrowing as she looked me over. “You’re her, aren’t you? The bitch who hurt our coach?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. How could I explain myself to a stranger? Who would understand the choices I made back then? There was nothing I could say to her to make her not hate me before she took a swing. Stale beer scent wafted off of her, so I also had that to contend with. How do you calm a drunk woman fueled by righteous anger?

The answer was, you don’t. You just do what you can to mitigate the damage. I braced for whatever came next.

She growled, “You’re the one who?—”

Before she could finish, the announcer’s cheesy voice boomed through the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the Kiss Cam!”

The woman froze as everyone’s attention shifted toward the screens. The crowd cheered, their excitement palpable as the camera began its sweep of the audience.

I had always hated the Kiss Cam schtick, but not tonight. Tonight, it had saved me. Or it had postponed my beating. I exhaled shakily, grateful for the unexpected distraction. My nerves were still raw, though. Tonight had been harder than I had thought it’d be.

I considered using the distraction to get the hell out of there, but my would-be attacker blocked my aisle on one end and the other side had too many people to crawl over. My choices were to face her or try and grapple with a dozen people, half of whom were standing. In these tight quarters, I didn’t like my odds.

The Kiss Cam usually focused on couples in the stands, drawing laughter and applause as the camera coaxed them into a kiss. It was the perfect distraction for her to use to attack me. But tonight, something was different. The camera didn’t stop on any of the usual suspects.

Instead, it focused on me.

What the hell?

I wasn’t there with anyone except for the woman who wanted to wring my neck and the knot of people at the other end of my row. Before I could shake my head or signal them to get the camera off me, I thought better of it.Keep the camera on me, so she’ll leave me alone. But then the lights lowered. The next shot was of the ice, where the Fire players were skating onto the rink in an unusual spreading formation.

I frowned, stretching up straighter as I tried to understand what I saw. My attacker did, too, preoccupied by the spectacle instead of me. The players moved deliberately, their movements coordinated and precise, until they formed a giant heart at center ice. The crowd gasped, murmurs and light clapping rippling through the arena as the spotlight zeroed in on the center of the heart.

There, standing proudly, was Winnie. She held a bouquet of flowers so large it seemed to dwarf her tiny frame, and she was waving at me with a grin that could light up the entire arena.

“Hi, Mommy!” her voice echoed through the speakers, clear and full of excitement. Someone had put a microphone on my baby girl.

My heart leaped into my throat.What is happening?

Before I could fully process what I was seeing, movement caught the corner of my eye.

I turned, and there he was.

Casey.

The camera put us on screen for everyone to see.

He kneeled beside my seat, looking up at me with a nervous smile that made time stop. Even with the whole arena staring at us, the world shrank until it was just him and me, and the crowd's roar faded into a dull hum.

“Casey,” I whispered, my voice barely audible over my heart pounding. I thought I knew what this was, but it couldn’t be that. People like me didn’t get things like this.

He slipped the ring from his thumb and held it out to me in his open palm. The one I’d seen him wear every day. The one he had come back for, despite what I’d admitted to, despite his pain and suffering. It was that important to him. His father’s wedding ring.

And now, he offered it to me.

Before he said a word, I laughed, trying to stop tears from pricking my eyes. “We always do things the weird way, don’t we?”

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