Page 47 of Punchline
“Shit,” Carson said with a sigh. “That was… ”
“Not great.”
“Yeah.”
I replayed the fight in my mind. Clearly we should have done more work on shrugging out of holds, or isolating the arm and twisting out if it got to a clinch. I’d been so focused on Ethan being face-to-face with his opponent that I hadn’t spent enough time considering what could happen if they ended up facing the same direction. That was an oversight on my part; we’d focus on that next.
It hadn’t been a great fight, but he’d stayed on his feet—at least until he’d tripped on his helmet—and he’d come out of it not too much worse for wear. It definitely could have been worse. I’d talk it through with him tonight… if he was in the mood for it. Sometimes you needed a little distance from a fight before you could look at it objectively.
Once the third period was well underway and we were sure the locker room was empty, Carson and I left our seats behind and headed for the depths of the arena. By the time we got to the locker room, Jimmy was already there getting the banner set up. It readMAREK, WILL YOU MARRY ME?in letters that were big and… wow. “Did you bedazzle that?”
Carson laughed. “You thinkIhave the attention span for bedazzling? No way. Beth offered, and I took her up on it. Didn’t she do a great job on his name?” It stood out in gold and red, the team colors. The rest of the words were in blue and white rhinestones, and the whole thing sparkled in a way that was guaranteed to catch Marek’s attention.
“It looks great, doesn’t it?” Jimmy said once he finished taping up the far side. He met us at the door and pulled Carson into an enthusiastic hug. “He’s going todie, I guarantee it.”
“I hope not,” Carson said with a nervous smile.
“In the best way only,” Jimmy assured him. “I was nervous as hell when I proposed to my wife, but it went great, and I know it’ll be the same for you.”
“He’s right,” I added. “It’s all going to go perfectly.”
“Cupcakes are in the back, confetti cannons are ready to go, you’ve got the ring?—”
“I do?” He started patting himself down frantically. “Fuck, I?—”
“I’ve got the ring,” I said, pulling it out of my jacket pocket. “And you’re wearing the chain.”
Carson nodded. “Right. Right… okay.” His hands were shaking so hard I couldn’t give him the ring, though.
“Let me go check on the progress out there,” Jimmy said. “I’ll let you know when they’re on their way in.” He left, and I sat Carson down on one of the benches.
“It’s going to go great,” I said. “The game is going well, he got two goals, they’re going to be high off a win and then he’s going to come back here and you’re going to blow his mind.”
“Is it going to be enough?” Carson asked. I heard what he was really asking, though.Am I enough?
“It is,” I told him, pressing the ring into his palm. “I know it is.” In the distance, I heard a horn go off, and the roar of a very pleased crowd. “I think it’s over. Ready mind, okay?” I ruffled his hair hard the way our coach used to before sending us out into our matches. “Ready mind, ready body.”
Carson nodded, closing his hand over the ring. “Ready mind. I’m ready, I’ve got this.”
“You do.” I just had time to get to my feet when Jimmy came sprinting down the tunnel.
“They’re coming off the ice! Get ready!”
I stood back with my phone and took a quick video of the layout—the banner, Jimmy crouching beside the cannons in the back, and Carson staring down the tunnel with a determined expression on his face. There were shouts and laughter coming, and a few seconds later the first players walked into the locker room. They immediately got out of the way, although one of them started muffling laughter the second he saw the banner.
Then Marek arrived, but he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw Carson. “What… ” He dropped his stick as helooked around with wide eyes, then did a double take when Carson got down onto one knee, grinning like a fiend.
“Will you?” he asked. “Marry me, I mean? Wait, shit, I should have said it all together, let me start over—ooof.” Marek bowled Carson over flat onto his back, babbling words I didn’t understand but that seemed to indicate “not only yes, but hell yes.” The team started clapping and laughing and calling out congratulations, and a second later there was aBOOMand the air filled with rainbow confetti.
God, it was sweet. Perfect. Marek let Carson up long enough to get the glove off his hand and put the ring on it. They kissed, and I glanced up from the camera to smile at Ethan?—
Only to watch him look away immediately.
CHAPTER 15
ETHAN
I wanted nothing more than to go home, faceplant in bed, and pretend tonight never happened. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to faceplant, given the way my left cheekbone was throbbing, but whatever. I could lie on my back. Stare at the ceiling. Close my eyes and blot out this whole stupid game.
