Page 98 of Play Your Part

“Give me a break, Kennedy,” she said. “Alexei’s a good man, but this isn’tout of the goodness of his heart. Do you see the way he looks at you?”

“It’s called acting, Gemma. We were in a fake relationship.”

“The only people you two managed to fool were each other.” She held up the envelope again. “This is a peace offering. Don’t pretend otherwise. It’s fine to ignore it, but at least have the courage to admit you know what this means and you’re actively choosing not to take it.”

My mind snagged on one word—courage.Gemma thought I was hiding behind my grief like Alexei accused. I’d never been one of those people who raced toward what they wanted, damn the consequences. My moves in life were measured, sure. But before my mom died, I made moves. I went to school out of state, even though my parents wanted me to remain close. I worked for the Wolves despite the assumptions about how I got the internship.

Slowly, these last few months I started making moves again—calling a university, finding an apartment, even dying my hair. And now, Alexei presented me with the opportunity for two more risks. Neither of which I felt ready for. But maybe no one ever felt ready as they went headfirst toward what they wanted.

I snatched the envelope out of Gemma’s hands.

“That’s my girl.” Gemma pulled me into a hug. “I’m proud of you. I can go with you, if you want.”

“No,” I said into Gemma’s ear. “This is something I need to do alone.”

40

KENNEDY

Iwalkedtothearena in a sea of green and black jerseys—couples holding hands, parents with children, college students out on a Friday night. Everyone else walked toward a night of entertainment, a chance to drink beer, eat fried food, and cheer on their team.

I walked toward the painful memory of nights like this with my mom. She would meet Deandra and me in the same place every time, in front of The Den, which sold Wolves merchandise. It didn’t matter how many games she attended or how many times she looked up from her phone to see us walking toward her, she beamed from ear to ear every time.

Tonight, I walked alone into The Den and found Alexei Volkov’s jersey, paid for it, and slipped it over my plain black tank top. With fifteen minutes to puck drop, I made my way to section 105, not wanting to miss the opening sizzle reel. The usher’s eyes widened upon seeing me, but she didn’t say anything, just gave me directions to the seat I could find blindfolded.

A mass of people—in Wolves and Lions jerseys—crowded the glass to watch the end of warm-ups. When the buzzer sounded, players skated off the ice as the crowd headed to their seats.

“I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it.” Deandra rose out of her usual seat. She wore her green jersey with Collins on the back, like she used to.

“D, what are you doing here?”

Her eyebrows rose. “You thought I would let you do this alone?”

“How did you…”

She took a step toward me and gripped my shoulder to turn me enough to read the name on the back of my jersey. “How do you think?”

“He told you?” I asked, settling into my seat beside her. The seat to my right—my mom’s seat—would remain empty tonight.

“He needed someone to get him the right seats.”

She turned her attention to the jumbotron as the Wolves video her team designed played on the screen, showing highlights of each player interspersed with them standing in front of a green screen made to look like a forest, primed for battle. The dramatic music made it feel like a movie trailer.

“I suspected there was something between you. What happened?”

“Neither one of us knows what’s real,” I said as Alexei’s determined face flashed on the screen for a beat before the scene changed to him checking a guy hard into the boards and scoring several impressive goals. Each one included the announcer’s audio—Volkov gooooooooal.

She laughed. “Come on, Kens. It’s me.”

“I’m here to watch the game.” I directed my attention to the Wolves storming out of their locker room onto the ice to the cheers of the crowd, bigger than I had seen in years. After the national anthem, Alexei looked over to these seats, checking to see if I was here. When we locked eyes, a grin spread across his face as he skated to his position. Briggsy followed his gaze and waved excitedly at me until Alexei pulled his arm down.

“You were saying…”

“Hush,” I warned, bumping against her shoulder.

The first goal scored by the Wolves came in the middle of the second period, cutting the Lions’ lead in half. As soon as the red lamp lit, the familiar song blasted through the arena, and fans leaped to their feet to cheer, scream, and dance. I glanced to my right, and in my head, I could see my mother high-fiving everyone around her as she cheered.

Deandra grabbed my hand, noticing the emotion shining in my eyes. She hip-checked me and started to dance, tugging my hand until I did the same.

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