Page 122 of Puck You Very Much
Jakob’s brows furrowed and nose wrinkled like he could’ve believe I’d scored a burn over him.
“See,” I said, “two can play at that game.”
“That’s really great, jackass.”
I didn’t mind his insults. I sort of liked them in a weird way. Don’t ever tell Jakob I said that, though. I don’t want him thinking he’d earned a free pass to be a dick.
“Seriously, though, I know you’ll make a big comeback and you’ll be amazing,” I said.
“That means a lot to me, coming from you. My getting back on the ice means that we’re going to be competing against each other again. We’re gonna have to discuss how to handle that.”
I shifted back in my seat. Jakob’s eyes fixed on me and I read a lot more in them than he was saying.
“Wearegoing to square off on the ice against one another again, aren’t we?” he asked.
I glanced about the room, whistling a nonsense tune, hoping futilely for the subject to disappear.
Fat chance, right?
“What’s going on, Zane?” he asked. “What are you up to?”
I breathed deep and released a sigh.
“Okay, you got me,” I said. “I do have some pretty big news.”
“Hockey-related or …?”
“Hockey-related.”
I paused, unsure how to drop the news on him. Once I did, he would see that we wouldn’t be rivals anymore, something I considered bittersweet.
“I’m going pro.”
His eyebrows arched. Honestly, I expected him to jump up from the table in excitement, even if he was nursing an injury.
“Seriously?” he asked. “How long have you been holding onto this? And why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Just a couple of days. And I wanted to wait until just the right moment to tell you. A special moment.”
“You wanted to wait until I was full and not on an empty stomach, you mean?”
“Sure, if that’ll shut you up long enough for me to tell you the rest of my story.”
He made a fake-angry face, which meant I never had to worry about him taking that too seriously.
“Okay,” he said, “tell me the rest of your story. Which team? Whose entire program is going to go to shit once you’re on the roster?”
“The St. Louis Blues. Obviously, nothing is set in stone. They told me I should enter the draft. Given their position in the draft, they think they’ll be able to pick me up no problem.”
“Think they will?”
“It’s all but a guarantee. I know that technically nothing’s ever guaranteed in life, but I doubt they would’ve spent all that time talking to me for nothing.”
Jakob paused. Judging by his eyes, I knew he must’ve been thinking about something.
“But you’ve been spending so much time with me,” he said. “When did you have a chance to talk to the Blues?”
“Trust me, I still had more than a few moments to spare, despite it all. Anyway, I don’t want to get my hopes up too much. I’ll have to start at the very bottom of the minors. Maybe I’ll never see the big-time NHL ice.”
