Page 4 of Down to Puck

Sawyer doesn't laugh.

“About that. Coach wants to meet with the team. We’ve got to talk about your injury, and where we’re going from here.”

Coach Owen Morgan joined the Snowhawk’s organization the day after my injury. Sawyer’s known him since high school, and Morgan’s daughter Skylar is already on the physical therapy team.

I make a face. Talking about myself is the worst. A meeting about my own injury might as well be torture.

“I’d rather just focus on drills, Cap. Get back in shape.” I swoop between two of the cones on the ice. “I got hit because I wasn’t fast enough. That just means I need to get faster.”

Sawyer grimaces, shaking his head.

“We all get hit, Em. It’s what we do after that really defines us. But I thought you might be reluctant.” He stands, stretching lazily. “Guess I’ll have to pull out the big guns.”

I’m the shortest Snowhawk by a few inches, but I’ve never let that matter. I’m big where it counts, and everyone knows it. Skating up to Sawyer now, I look him in the eye, trying to read the smug expression on his face.

“What are you going to do, Sawyer?” I glare at him. “Make me?”

Sawyer laughs, shaking his head.

“Nope. I’m just going to tell you that your doctor from the game is going to be there.” He grins. “The one you’ve been asking all over The Nest about. She specifically asked for you.”

All at once, the anger rising inside me gutters out like a candle in the wind.

“My Angel?” My mouth works independently of my brain.

Sawyer gives me a confused look but nods.

“Yeah.” He waits as I exit the ice and untie my skates. “But her name isn’t Angel, it’s Yasmín.”

I snort.

“Not like that, Cap. She’s my Angel.” I don’t care how it sounds. I need to tell someone. “I came to and there she was. One look at her and I just knew. Has that ever happened to you?”

Sawyer shakes his head, but for a second I swear there’s a moment of hesitation there. But I blink, and his smile is back in place. Damn head trauma.

“No. But Kai says the same thing about Dakota,” Sawyer smiles.

Kai Mita is our biggest, baddest D-man. A terror on the ice. I’m glad he’s on my team because he’s the scariest guy in the league. Watching him destroy Sergei after he hit me has been one of the few highlights of my week.

Dakota is the team’s new new assistant manager. She used to work for a local newspaper before falling in love with both the team and Kai. Smart, sharp, and strategically minded, Dakota is a Snowhawk at heart.

She came by to check on me twice this week. She’s a sweet girl with a steel core. I can see why she and Kai get along.

“Yeah. That’s not exactly reassuring, you know,” I pull my shoes on, throwing my skates around my neck.

“Come on. Let’s go. No matter what happens, I’ve got your back, alright?” Sawyer tells me, his arm going around my shoulder as we walk away from the ice.

The way Sawyer says that should fill me with trepidation. It’s the kind of thing someone says right before they deliver the really bad news. But fear is the last thing I’m feeling. Excitement burns deep inside me.

My Angel.

* * *

The Nest is a crazy place. It doesn’t take us long to get from the practice ice to the central campus. People wave at us as we go, even this early in the morning.

“I’m never going to get used to being popular,” I shake my head. “I don’t know how you manage it, Sawyer.”

Sawyer chuckles, pushing open the big glass doors of the main building.

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