Page 128 of Keeper
I drew a deep breath. “Well, good. I just wish you’d done it a lot sooner. Before any of this had to happen.”
“Yeah. Me too.” She stepped forward, as if she wanted a hug. Perhaps remembering my plea for space, she thought better of it and backed away instead. “I’m sorry again, Ainsley.”
“Bye, Marta.”
She turned and left, heading for the elevator.
Tanner opened his door and pulled me inside. He locked the door and we both let out a sigh of relief.
“What the hell was that?” he muttered.
“I don’t know. I’m still numb.”
“Do you think we’ve seen the last of her?”
“I have no idea, Tanner. I sure hope so.”
“Well, either way, you did great,” he said. “I’m proud of you. If I were you, I probably would’ve yelled and told her to fuck off. But you were calm and cool and I actually think you got through to her.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Cujo pranced around, excitedly standing on two legs, showing off and begging for pets. I crouched down and gave the little guy some love.
“I just want to relax and forget any of this ever happened,” I said.
“I got you.”
Amazing boyfriend that he is, Tanner scampered off and quickly returned with a pillow, some linens, and a heavy comforter. He made the couch into a comfy bed and urged me to join him.
I climbed in and he spooned me, his muscular arms wrapped around me. I snuggled in, letting him pull me tight against his warm, athletic body.
“This is right where I wanna be,” I said.
43
Tanner
Five days later.
The curtains in Mr. Bowfield’s office were drawn open, the late morning sun a golden shimmer.
“That was one hell of a run, Vaughnsy,” Mr. Bowfield said. He bounced a stack of papers against his wooden desk to straighten them.
“Who said it’s over?” I asked with a cocky smirk.
“That’s what I like to hear.” Smiling, he shook his finger in the air. “You really found your game, kid. Keep it up.”
“I will, sir.”
We’d had three games in the past five days and won them all. Dane was right about the start of a hot streak—in fact, I didn’t give up a single goal until the third period of the last game we played. That’s four shutouts in a row. At 280 minutes long, my shutout streak ended up coming 52 minutes shy of the NHL record.
I like to say there are three types of goals a goaltender allows: goals you could’ve had, goals you should’ve had, and goals you never had a chance on. The one that ended my shutout streak was in thenever had a chancecategory.
Yeah, it sucks to not break the record, but whatever. I’m not too torn up about it. The most important thing for me is that the team is winning and whatever funk I was in is officially gone.
Besides, whatever damage my slump had done to my earning potential was effectively wiped out. For a few days there, the whole league was watching our games and wondering if I could break the record. There was this electric buzz not just around me, but the whole team itself, and I think it really bolstered everyone’s confidence.
Of course, the thing thatreallygot my confidence going in the first place was Ainsley. And what matteredmostto me, more than the shutout record or the contract negotiations or the team winning, was the fact that I still had my girl.
