Page 7 of Playing to Win

He’d better show up at Faith’s. Getting photos of the two of them celebrating would make a good narrative.

“We did it, Tempo. We fucking did it. No one can say women can’t play with men.”

Faith might have been on the ice, but all of us had a part in this story. Years of women fighting to get their chance, and tonight we’d had a payoff.

No place I’d rather be than celebrating with my teammates.

* * *

Two hours later,I leaned against the wall at the back of Faith’s living room, resting my cane on my hip. Faith was across the crowded room, face lit up like Christmas, and my own smile hurt my cheeks. A huge day. Afantasticday.

Megan, my roommate and teammate, jostled into me as she returned from the kitchen with a couple more beers. She misjudged her distance and spilled some from the bottle.

“Sorry, Tempo!” She raised her voice to be heard over the noise of many people excited and talking. Not crazy loud. Presumably Hailey was trying to sleep down the hallway behind me, but every player on the Bonfire was here. Some of the Blaze players had shown up as well.

“Don’t drink too much—Coach might have canceled practice, but I know you have clients pretty early.” Megan worked with Faith as a skating coach, and they were booked steadily.

“What about you?”

“I’m working.” I held up my phone and took another shot of Faith surrounded by Seb, Cooper and some of our teammates.

There were no shots with Braydon Mitchell though. Cooper was wrong about the guy—he hadn’t bothered to show. Probably pissed that his debut was overshadowed by Faith. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to deal with him. How long would De Vries be out? While I’d been lucky to get the paid position working as social media manager for the Bonfire, a position earmarked for someone on the team, I was also filling in for the person doing the same for the Blaze while she was on maternity leave. While I couldn’t play on Injured Reserve—IR—after my knee was injured in a game, I had the time and could use the extra money.

Speaking of…Penny, the woman I was temporarily replacing, bounced over our way. She was petite and easy to miss in the crowd.

In spite of the dark circles under her eyes she was vibrating with excitement. “Jayna! This is so awesome!”

I grinned back at her. “It is!”

“Hey, Megan,” Penny greeted her. “Aren’t you thrilled!”

“Absolutely! Any chance they’ll play her again?”

Penny’s face fell. “I don’t think so. Taranis messaged me that they were keeping the Inferno guy up because De Vries is out for the rest of the season. He didn’t tell me why.”

Penny’s eyes widened and Megan looked at my knee. Everyone knew I was out for the Bonfire playoffs. I braced myself. Not only was I in hockey-playing withdrawal, but I was also over and done with the pity.

As the coach of the Inferno, Penny’s husband Taranis would know what they planned for Mitchell. If that guy was staying up, they wouldn’t have room for Faith.

“But won’t they need Faith until Petrov is back?”

“They said she’s too important to the Bonfire. Petey just had a sprain. He swears he’s good to play the next game.”

Megan’s lip curled up and mine did the same. “At least we’ve got tonight.”

Faith playing, even just one period, was a huge step. It would be a better, bigger step if they let Faith continue playing, but she’d shown she could do it, keep up with the top male players in the world. We’d get there. Probably not in my playing lifetime, but it was coming. Women would play in the NHL.

“How’s the baby?” I asked Penny. Dwelling on the unfairness of the hockey establishment would bring down the mood of the evening, and we deserved to celebrate.

“Oh, she’s great!” Penny had her phone full of photos of a little person with a surprising resemblance to Winston Churchill, but we said she was beautiful, and Penny glowed. She had to leave after that.

Seb had his arm wrapped around Faith’s waist and a big smile on his face. He was proud, and in love. Megan followed my gaze.

“Ever think you’d like what they have?”

I turned to my roommate and saw a wistful expression on her face. “You want that?”

“Who doesn’t?” she asked.

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