Page 117 of Triple Pucked
The Bay Rebels aren’t taking advantage of their chances.
But that’s not what I’m talking about.
“Shay keeps getting these messages,” I say. “He hides them as quickly as he can, but I’ve glimpsed a couple.”
Finally, Robyn turns to face me. “What type of messages?”
“Emojis. I never understand them. Are you sending them to him?”
“Well,” Robyn blushes, “sometimes we flirt in them, you know?”
“No.”
She stares at me, before patting my chest. “Then I won’t corrupt you. Did they include an eggplant or a taco?”
“Why? Were you messaging about what you wanted to eat?”
Why is she laughing?
“Sort of. Maybe D’Angelo was texting him. If it included a peach, then definitely.”
I shake my head. “D’Angelo prefers to eat apples.” Why is she laughing harder? “One of the emojis I saw was an ace of hearts.”
Instantly, Robyn sobers. “Shit, that’s not good. If D’Angelo isn’t messaging him about our card game, then what if someone else is playing a game with Shay?”
I startle.
Fear jolts through me.
I yank my hands out of my pockets and rest them against the glass like I can beat and shatter it, breaking my way through to stand with my brother.
Yet I’m no longer able to skate. I can’t support Shay like that anymore.
He’s my twin, but on the ice, he has to fight this battle alone.
Has he been fighting another battle all alone that none of us have known about?
Desperately, I watch as he falls apart in front of the audience and cameras.
D’Angelo makes one last effort to pull Shay into the game, skating with him to the center of the rink.
“Puck,” I whisper like I can make Shay steal the puck from the Caps’ towering, bearded center somehow.
Next to me, Robyn takes up the hopeful chant underneath her breath. “Puck, puck, puck.”
Shay weaves toward the center, attempting to tackle the rival center.
I hold my breath.
Then my nails scrape against the glass, when I notice the right defensemen skating hard toward Shay.
My brother is still lost somewhere in his mind. Coach is screaming at him, loudly enough to make me cringe.
Shay didn’t make these kind of mistakes when he was a rookie.
The right defenseman shoulder checks Shay brutally in the chest.
I flinch.
