ALEC’S EPILOGUE June
“Are you going to cry?”
I glanced at Dani, who actually was crying, and swallowed. “Fuck, no.”
But I wanted to.
As we stood there in the Doug, staring at the new addition to the mural that’d just been unveiled in front of a cheering, packed arena, not crying seemed like the toughest thing I’d ever had to do.
A CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON.
The words were huge, plastered just above the team photo that’d been snapped after we beat Minnetonka to win it all. The guys were grinning, sweaty messes after playing in one of the longest state championship games on record (four fucking overtimes), holding up their ngers in a pile on the ice with all of Southview doing the same in the glass behind them.
Vinny would forever be a god in this town with sixty-ve saves that night.
“It’s okay if you do,” she said. “Kyle’s bawling.”
“Thanks for that, Collins,” Kyle said, and when I glanced over I couldn’t not smile, because his face was bright red and his eyes were full of tears. “And I’m not bawling, for Christ’s sake. I’m just… misty.”
“Oh, fuck that, I’d rather bawl than be ‘misty’—what the hell is that bullshit?” Vinny said in disgust. “Are you an eighty-year-old grandmother? Do you need a crocheted box of tissues for your fucking misty eyes?”
“This is lovely,” Cassie said, laughing. “Truly.”
“I feel sorry for you if this mural doesn’t make you misty,” Kyle said, and I knew he meant it.
“Oh, will you stop with that word? I’ll bawl my fucking eyes out for you if you’ll stop saying ‘misty.’” Vinny wrapped his arm around Kyle’s shoulders and added, “You emo little MVP.”
Kyle had played his ass o in that game.
Everyonehad played their asses o in that game.
Well, everyone but me.
I’d been there on the bench, with my right arm in its trusty sling, chewing my goddamn ngernails the entire time.
We smiled for the cameras as everyone in town—and the media—lost their shit. It was the last time us seniors would ever put on our Southview jerseys, the last time the rst-ever championship team would be out on that ice together.
And that was what was bringing out the “misty” in everyone.
Honestly, I still couldn’t believe we were over.
I clenched my jaw as “When We Were Young” added itself to the moment’s playlist.
We’d spent our entire season on the hunt for that trophy, each game a step closer to the next game. Week by week, we’d concentrated on scouting reports and strategies, so when the end came, it felt like none of us had even considered the fact that our careers together—as teammates—were suddenly over.
We’d been too focused on the game of hockey to realize that after so many years, our time as a team was nished.
We would never play in the Doug—as Packers—again.
It felt like a loss, like something I’d be grieving for a long-ass time, because my goals and friendships had been tied up with that team for what felt like my entire life.
Let me photograph you in this light in case it is the last time That we might be exactly like we were—
But “misty” devolved into full-on emo asMick brought out the trophy and I saw histears.
When we left the ice, I took a second to memorize the way it all felt. I listened to Richie giving Kyle shit to my right, I looked out at the burgundy-and-white crowd behind the glass, I felt the temperature of the rink on my cheeks, and I gazed up at the banners that hung from the Doug’s rafters.
I wanted to sear every detail into my brain so I’d never forget.
“You know you’ll never top this moment, right?” Richie said as we smiled for all the cameras. “I don’t give a shit what happens in Boston—you can’t beat
this.”
“I know,” I agreed. “I could walk away right now and be completely happy.”
But I wasn’t walking away.
I was going to play for Boston College next year.
Before I’d even had a chance to get upset about having to sit out all summer while my shoulder healed, I got an oer from Boston College.
Which had a great hockey program.
And NIL money on the table that would make a big fat dent in our medical bills.
So I was going to let my shoulder heal this summer and go away to school in the fall, just like all my friends, and I was going to major in history. I never would’ve wished to break my collarbone and miss out on juniors, but it kind of felt like a win.
Because now I got to spend the entire summer running around Southview with Dani.
My eyes found hers—they’d alwaysbeen able to nd hers—and she winked from where she was standing between Kyle and Cassie. I felt the same kick in my chest that I always felt when I looked at her, the kick I’d never tire of.
The kick I was apparently not going to haveto tire of.
Because my girl nally got accepted.
Dani was headed to Harvard in the fall, which just happened to be in the very
same city where I’d be playing hockey.
It almost felt like it was meant to be.
