Chapter 50 Chapter 50

Chapter 50 Chapter 50
HAYDEN

I finished my coffee and didn’t rush to stand.

The café buzzed around me, steam and chatter and someone behind me rustling a newspaper like it was 1999.

I pulled a napkin toward me and started scribbling stupid little plan ideas. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to make sure that we both explore every activity I could think of when we are both free.

Coleen was a bit skittish in nature. I wasn’t expecting her to just change overnight. So it was up to me to be proactive, even though she already knew how I felt about her.

I wanted her to feel special. I wanted to treat her like a queen so she’ll realize that she deserves to be doted on. Most importantly, I want to erase every memory of her shitty ex-boyfriend from her mind.

He doesn’t deserve her. He never has. And now that I have her, I wasn’t going to mess it up.

The bell above the door jangled, and an unmistakable voice floated past.

“Well, if it isn’t Michaels.”

I smiled despite myself because I already knew who it was, and I knew that I was in for an absolute grilling.

I turned. Alicia stood there with a to-go cup and a look that said she was at once pleased with herself and the world. She sauntered over, hip-checking the chair opposite mine.

“I won’t sit,” she said, sitting anyway. “But I will say good job.”

“For…?” I asked, and I was ninety percent sure I knew.

She drew a heart in the condensation on her cup and wiped it away with a finger. “The date. You have done exceptionally well, and I have to say that I’m proud of you.”

Relief slid in. With Alicia, you never knew what to expect because she was like a fucking tornado, always doing things the way it suited her.

“Good,” I replied.

Alicia tipped her head, studying me like she was assigning me a label in her head. Like she was seeing me in a fresh light for the first time. “You look different.”

“I just finished hockey practice and I showered,” I said.

“Ha-ha. That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she responded. “I meant to say that there’s a lightness to your face. The usual creases that are usually on your forehead are nowhere to be found.”

“Well, I guess you can say it’s because I’m having a good day,” I said.

She leaned forward, her voice softening. “Don’t hurt her, Hayden.”

“I won’t,” I said, and the words came out steadier than I expected. “I’m not… I’m not in a hurry. We’re taking it slow. I just…” I stopped, because saying I just really like her felt like the world’s biggest understatement.

I tried again. “She matters to me, and the last thing I want to do is hurt her, so I’m not going to do that, at least not intentionally.”

Alicia’s smile lifted at one corner, grudging approval turning to something almost kind. “Now that’s the kind of stuff I like to hear. Okay then, permission to proceed.”

“Thanks,” I said dryly. “Last time I checked, you were my best friend, and I didn’t realize I needed clearance.”

“You don’t,” she said, standing, “But you have it anyway. Also, I don’t care how long I’ve known you, I’m always going to be on Coleen’s side when it comes to your relationship. Hoes before bros and all that.”

“Duly noted.”

She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at me, mafia-style. “Be good, Michaels.”

“Always,” I said.

She left in a flurry of scarf and attitude. I looked back down at my napkin, at the messy list of small ideas, and felt the shape of something bigger grow under my ribs, hope, sure, but also a strange, quiet confidence I hadn’t expected.

I crumpled the napkin and stuffed it in my pocket like a lucky charm.

On my way out, I cut across the quad. The sky was a blunt, winter blue. A girl on a bench read with her knees tucked under her; two guys tossed a Frisbee in coats like idiots. I passed the athletic complex and paused at the big window where the rink lives on the other side of the glass.

From here, you only see a slice of the ice and a reflection of the sky, but even that sliver was enough to tug a smile out of me.

That place was where I learned to love the game. The last few weeks, it had become where I learned to love the quiet between shifts too, those small, ordinary moments that don’t make highlight reels but make everything else make sense.

I wasn’t naïve. Seasons get long. Schedules get loud. People get tired.

My parents would probably text again with their long speeches about “opportunity you can’t refuse,” and there would be rival games and bruises and nights where the only thing I wanted in the world was eight hours of sleep without an alarm.

But right now? Right now, I had a team that felt like family, a coach who believed in what I could be when I wasn’t trying to be someone else, and a girl who’d said yes when I asked for a proper date.

I could work with that.

On impulse, I dipped inside the complex, bought two hot chocolates from the lobby kiosk, one for now, one for later, and signed the receipt with a stupid grin. The cashier looked at me like I’d just proposed marriage to a beverage.

Back outside, I took a careful sip and hissed when it scalded my tongue, but it was worth it. I walked the long way home, letting the heat from the cup seep into my gloves, my thoughts drifting in orbit around the exact curve of Coleen’s smile when I’d told her she looked incredible.

And I couldn’t help but imagine us on another date. Just us, slow and steady, like a good breakout, heads up, read the ice, make the right pass, trust the next play.

I could do that.