My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 64

Nina

Enzo walked me home that night. I could see the disappointment written across his face, but both of us were more concerned with who sent the “Mad Wolf Serum” to Justin… and why. We were both too exhausted to talk much about it, but as I went to bed that night, there was one thing on my mind that overpowered the horrors that happened in the forest: the feeling of Enzo’s lips on mine.

…

All week, the entire school was buzzing with gossip thanks to not only the excitement of the rematch, but also the news of Justin’s removal from the hockey team. I tried my best to stay out of it and to just focus on school and work, but when news got out that Justin had suddenly gone home to stay with his parents for the remainder of the semester, I started to question whether that was true or not.

Unfortunately, Enzo was too busy preparing for the rematch, and I was too busy preparing for midterms, to find time to talk to him about it. Hopefully we would be able to talk after the match. Justin was my ex and he had cheated on me, but that didn’t mean that I wanted anything sinister to happen to him.

On the morning of the match, Jessica woke me up a little earlier than I would have liked.

“Rise and shine!” she said, coming into my room without permission and opening my blinds.

I groaned and threw my covers over my head to protect my tired eyes from the sudden beam of sunlight aimed directly at me.

“What the hell, Jessica?” I said, my voice muffled through the blankets.

“Don’t be so grumpy,” she said in a sing-song voice, coming over to stand next to my bed. I pulled the blankets down just enough to glare at her through squinted eyes.

“Why are you waking me up?” I asked, glancing at the clock on my bedside table. “It’s not even eight in the morning. And you’re dressed already.”

Jessica grinned and walked over to my closet. I watched annoyedly as she started rifling through my clothes.

“Listen,” she said, re-emerging with a bundle of clothes and tossing them down on my bed, “you and I both know that whatever weird back-and-forth situation that’s been going on between you and Enzo needs to stop. Everyone knows that he’s, like, madly in love with you, and now that Justin and Lisa are both out of the picture, you guys can finally get together for real.”

I propped myself up on my elbows and felt my face get hot. “What does this have to do with waking me up so early? And why are you picking out my clothes for me?”

Jessica rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest, giving me a look that implied that I should know already.

“I’m waking you up so early so we can go get your nails done and do something about your hair.”

I sat up fully, looking at my hands. I had never thought much about getting manicures; sure, I painted my nails from time to time, but I always thought that paying for manicures was a waste of money. Plus, my hair was fine. I didn’t need a haircut.

“Chop chop,” Jessica said before I had a chance to object. “I’ll be waiting in the living room. And don’t even think about trying to get out of this.”

Jessica turned on her heel and walked out of the room. When the door shut behind her, I stuck out my tongue.

Unfortunately, there was no changing Jessica’s mind once she had her sights set on something. She was incredibly stubborn, and it seemed that I had no choice. As soon as I was dressed and ready to go, we spent the morning getting manicures and pedicures, followed by visiting the hair salon. The hairdresser trimmed my hair, washed it, and blow dried it, and as we left, Jessica gave me strict orders to not braid it “for once”. When I tried to explain to her that I needed my hair out of my face since I would be on call during the hockey game, she wouldn’t hear it.

After I got my hair done, Jessica took me shopping with her dad’s credit card and bought me a new top, perfume, and makeup.

“You really don’t need to be doing all of this for me,” I said sheepishly as we stood in line. She had already paid for my nails and my hair, and I was feeling incredibly guilty for letting her spend so much money on me.

“Oh, shut up,” she said, waving me away. “My dad’s loaded and won’t even notice. Besides; I’m allowed to spoil my best friend once in a while.”

…

Enzo’s helmet must have come loose during the intensity of the game, because when he fell on the ice, it came off.

The crowd gasped -- myself included -- as he knocked his head on the ice and instantly passed out.

“Shit,” Tiffany said as the referee blew his whistle, grabbing her medical bag as the crowd murmured worriedly. “Come on. Let’s--”

I didn’t hear her finish because I was a step ahead of her, already on the ice as I scrambled toward Enzo. The crowd watched in anticipation as I made my way toward him, falling to my knees on the ice when I finally made it to him.

“Enzo? Are you alright?” I said, hunching over him and holding my head in his hands. There was a bit of blood on his temple from the impact, which started getting on my clothes, but I didn’t care. The only thing I cared about right now was Enzo.

Enzo groaned, his eyelids fluttering open. When they did, his eyes locked immediately with mine. His pupils were red for a split second before quickly fading back to brown before anyone else could see, but I felt as though the intensity of them was already burned into my mind.

The arena erupted into cheering when the crowd saw that Enzo was okay. Ronan, who had been on his knees beside us, clambered to his feet and threw his helmet down, cursing and skating away. I glanced up to look at him, cursing as well when I saw something in the corner of my eye: Enzo and I were being projected directly onto the Jumbotron screen with a big pink heart around us. Everyone was looking at us. Students were taking photos and whispering to one another as I held Enzo’s head -- which was already healed, unsurprisingly -- in my lap.

“You alright?” Tiffany said breathlessly, finally catching up and kneeling down next to us.

Enzo nodded and sat up, not answering her question. Instead, he only said three words: “Did we win?”

I looked up at the scoreboard to see that the timer had long since hit zero…

“Yes,” I said, tears coming to my eyes as I saw the score. We were one point ahead, thanks to Enzo’s last shot. “You won.”