ALEC
“I can’t believe we’re actually here,” I whispered to Maddie.
She had to be annoyed with me because that had to be the twentieth time I had said it during the past hour and a half of watching the Glaciers play in a game. But she sat in the stadium next to me, right outside the penalty box, and smiled.
No eye roll. No, Alec, stop it.
Just a supportive smile with a thigh squeeze.
“I’m so excited for you,” she said, gaze flickering across the ice as the puck glided to the other side. “I can’t wait until I’m watching you play in professional games.” She placed her head on my shoulder and sat on her hands, kicking her legs back and forth. “When we have a little family of our own someday.”
“Someday soon.”
Cheeks tinting red, she glanced up at me through those long lashes and giggled softly. “We’re still in high school, Alec. Not anytime soon. I want to get through college and have a stable life away from Redwood first.”
But I didn’t want to wait.
I had waited for years to have a family that wasn’t fucking dysfunctional like both of ours were. I had wanted Maddie for so many years, had been planning out what our lives could be together if I ever got up the courage to talk to her.
Maddie glanced down at her phone as it buzzed. Vera.
After turning off the screen, she glanced back up at the game when the buzzer sounded.
Another buzz. Vera.
“Aren’t you going to answer her?” I asked.
“I’m here with you right now,” she said with a grin. “Vera will understand.”
She slipped the phone into her purse, stood up, and took my hand. “Come on! Game’s over, and didn’t the coach say he wanted to talk to you before we headed back to the hotel tonight? This is the last chance you’ll get to impress him before we fly home tomorrow.”
Warmth spread through my chest, and I let Maddie lead me out of the stadium. Instead of waiting like everyone else did, she pushed her way through the crowd for us, throwing elbows in drunk men’s sides and stepping on feet.
“Maddie,” I murmured, grasping her hips, “if you’re not careful—”
“You can fight, can’t you, Wolfe?” she hummed.
A low chuckle escaped my throat as I smiled at people Maddie had pissed off so I wouldn’t have to fight anyone who decided she was being a bit too rough with the crowd. And thankfully, we made it out into the hallway without a scratch.
Once the crowd dispersed, we walked toward the head coach’s office. And I finally gathered the courage to knock on the door. This was the last time I would have to make a good impression on him. I wanted this so badly.
“Alec Wolfe!” someone called. Head Coach Welker walked down the hallway from the locker room toward us, a grin painted across his face from the Glaciers’ win tonight. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.”
After he unlocked the door, we stepped into his office.
“It was great, having you this weekend,” he said, shaking my hand and smiling. “The team loved having you around. And”—he paused and glanced at Maddie—“hopefully, you’ll both be back soon.”
Maddie grinned and tightened her grip on my opposite hand.
“I hope so too,” I said, barely able to contain my excitement.
“Be expecting a call from us soon.”
Biting back a grin, I nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
“And, Maddie,” Coach Welker called, “take good care of him.”
“I will,” Maddie said, tugging me to the door. “We really appreciate this opportunity.”
After one last good-bye, we slipped through the door and headed down the hallway toward the exit of the stadium. Butterflies fluttered through my stomach, and I broke out into a full-on grin as excitement rushed through my body.
Is this really fucking happening? Has he alluded to making me an offer?
“I can’t believe it,” Maddie whispered, glancing over our shoulders and back toward the head coach’s office door. She tightened her grip on my hand and pulled it up to her lips, kissing my knuckles. “I can’t fucking believe it!”
“Thank you for coming with me,” I said once we made it out the double doors.
When we reached the top of the staircase that descended into the parking lot, Maddie wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me down into a kiss. Her fingers tugged on the ends of my hair, and her lips were curled into a smile the whole time.
“You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart,” she murmured against my lips once she finally pulled away. She rested her forehead against mine as I felt her phone buzz in her purse again. “I would do anything for you.”
“You know, you should get that,” I hummed. “Vera’s probably pissed.”
“Vera? Pissed?” Maddie giggled. “Those two words don’t even belong in the same sentence.” She reached into her purse and turned on her phone to see almost a hundred messages in the last twenty minutes from Vera.
Then, the phone rang.
“Hey, Vera,” Maddie said through the phone. “Can I call you back? We’re finishing—”
The soft look on Maddie’s face shifted into one of horror, fear, and sadness. I gripped her hand, brow furrowed, and wondered what the hell was going on with Vera back in Redwood. She hadn’t called all weekend.
“What do you mean?” Maddie said, stiffening. “Slow down, Vera. I can’t understand you.”
While I tried to listen to Vera through the phone, I could barely hear anything over her sobs. Maddie’s eyes filled to the brim with heavy, trembling tears. She clutched my hand as the phone slipped from her hand and onto the ground.
“Maddie, what is it?”
A stray tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m sorry. We have to go home.”
I grabbed Maddie’s hand before she could fly down the stairs to the parking lot, trip, and crack her head on the concrete. “What’s going on? What happened? Is Vera okay? Your brother? Tell me something, Maddie. Tell me—”
Before I could finish my sentence, she wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled me to her chest. She buried her face in my shirt and sobbed. “Vera told me that Piper …” Sniffle. “And I don’t know what to think …” Sob. “This is my fault.”
After taking her face in my hands, I lifted her head so she’d look at me, and I pushed some tears off her cheeks with my thumbs. “Slow down. I can’t understand you.”
“Pip-p-per …”
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“She hung herself.”