Page 131 of The Girlfriend Card
Then Mr. Capuano turned to me. “Kid.”
“Yeah?”
“I refused to believe you were the real deal. But you proved me wrong.” He pinched my cheek and gave me a clap on the shoulder. “Now you have to go out there this year and prove everyoneelsewrong, too.”
“I intend on it, sir.”
He pulled me in close for a hug, too. “And you better treat my princess well,” he whispered into my ear.
“I will,” I whispered back.
Mr. Capuano stepped back to address the rest of the room. “I’ll put out a notice for a press conference at the end of the day. We’ll make the announcement then.”
Mr. Capuano turned on his heels and headed for the exit. As soon as he left the locker room, the boys erupted into a cheer.
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“HOLY SHIT!”
“DAKOTA SLAYED THE GODFATHER!”
“We did it! Oh myGod,we did it!” Ottavia jumped into my arms, and our lips joined in a passionate kiss—we werefreeto be with each other, and had more control over our lives than ever before.
“I’m so fucking proud of you,” I said as I held her in my arms. “You’re so brave and amazing.”
“I couldn’t have done it withoutyou,” she said, her eyes shining.
Truth is, we couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help—Leo, Rust’s, Killer’s, and everyone else’s, too. The celebration continued as we went around the room thanking everyone for their help.
It was a wild moment where we realized we weren’t just two people in love—we were ateam,surrounded by people who cared about us, who wanted to see us succeed and were willing to fight for us.
But at the end of the day? Everyone was here for hockey—and we had a training camp to attend.
“Okay, boys, we gotta get to work,” I said, rallying the troops.
“I’ll help!” For her first act as team owner, Ottavia went to the pile of laundry in the middle of the room. She picked the first jersey off the pile and read the name on the back. “Sherman? Which one of you is Sherman?”
“That’s me,” Tank said. “Otter, if you’re going to be our new owner, you better learn our names!”
“What do youthinkI’m doing?” she belted back. With a laugh, she tossed Tank’s jersey back to him, and picked up the next jersey. “Cotton?”
“That’s me, Cale Cotton,” the young defenseman said, sticking his arm in the air.
“Nice to meet you, Cale,” she said with a smile, and picked another jersey off the pile.
34
Announcement
Ottavia
At ten minutes past five, the media packed the press conference room. Waiting just out of sight, we were a big group: me, Dakota, Dad, Coach Miller, and the entire Vegas Sin hockey team.
Dad peeked out behind the curtain. “We’ve got a full house out there.” He turned to me with a grin. “How are you feeling, princess? You ready?”
My throat was clenched so tightly, I had to gasp for every breath. “Like I’m about to puke,” I croaked.
Part of the reason I was so nervous was because I didn’t know what Dad actually intended to say. How much were Dakota and I going to have to explain about this whole crazy situation? What were we even willing to admit?
