Page 99 of Scoring Position

“Hello, Ryan Wright?” asked someone in a no-nonsense tone.

“Speaking.”

“This is Patrick Laroche from Hockey Canada. I was wondering if you had any plans for the next six weeks.”

Ryan’s heart hammered. “Uh, nothing firm.”

“How would you feel about coming to Worlds this spring?”

“Worlds?” Ryan was asleep. He must be. “To play?”

“Yes, Mr. Wright, to play. We’re putting together Canada’s team, and you’ve made our short list. We were hoping you’d be willing to fly out on Saturday to Prague to skate with the rest of the team.”

Maybe he was hallucinating.

“You want me to play for Team Canada at Worlds,” he repeated slowly. “You want me to leave at the end of the week for Europe. So I can practice with the team.”

“We’ll work with your agent to get you booked on the flight and set up in a hotel. The rest of the team is scheduled to arrive the same day.”

“The rest….” He licked his lips. Team Canada wanted him to play for them. Holy shit. Team Canada! Who was waiting for an answer. “Shit! I mean—fuck—I mean, sorry!”

Laroche’s voice gave away the fact that he was holding in a laugh. “So, Mr. Wright, is that a yes or a no?”

“Oh! Yes, that’s a yes. Shit, of course yes.”

“Good. I’ll get in touch with your agent to start working out the details. Have a good afternoon, Mr. Wright.”

“You too. Bye.”

Ryan hung up and stared at his phone. Then, shaking, he sent a text to Diane warning her about the incoming call.Just got called by Team Canada??? I said yes??

Diane sent back confirmation andWill call when I have something.

Now Ryan had to wait until Diane confirmed it was not in fact a prank but rather an actual invitation. Who knew how long that would take?

He called Tara.

“What’s up, baby brother?”

He didn’t waste time bitching about the nickname. “I just got a call from someone saying they work for Team Canada, asking me if I wanted to go play for Worlds.”

“What?” Tara screeched and then hung up.

Ryan pulled his phone from his ear and stared at the screen. It started to ring—a video call this time.

“Seriously?” Her eyes were wide and she seemed to be vibrating with tension. “Oh my God, Ryan! You’re going to play for Canada!”

“It’s not, like,officialyet,” he said, suddenly nervous.

“Okay, okay, I will wait on the celebrating and phoning everyone until it’s, quote, official.”

“Thanks.”

“If you didn’t call me to brag, why did you call?”

“So I wouldn’t have to wait alone?”

Tara stuck out her tongue. “You’re lucky I have time for you right now.”

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