Page 113 of Edging Coach
Also, something to keep my mind off twothings.
Nerves about the game.
And how much I was already missing Jack.
Today was game day for the Grizzlies.
They were taking on Brampton tonight, who were doing their own western Canada tour. Their team would be shocked at the weather. After the storm that followed Jack and me from Tofino to Abbotsford yesterday, the skies had cleared and the temperature was now unseasonably warm. Like, twelve degrees.
As I took the exit for First Avenue, I tried to convert the temperature in my head.
Nope.
I needed to focus on the road.
Apparently, I was on the tail end of rush-hour traffic.It’s just a week. And the team’s heading south for a road trip in a few days. Hell, you might not even be going with them.
Yeah.
That.
I ran through my knowledge of the Vancouver team. Nicknames of the players. Names of the various coaches. Anything I could think of.
Nerves and Jack.
Two things I couldn’t afford to get distracted by.
I hung a right onto Main Street and damn near hit a pedestrian who decided a yellow light was a good time to dart across the road. I didn’t hit them, but my heart sped up. My hands shook at the near-miss.
Didn’t Arvy warn you about traffic?
Quite possibly.
As I drove the Georgia Street Viaduct, the arena came into view.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Huge banners of some of the players hung. Prominent. Right there for commuters to see.
One day…one day that’ll be me.
But not if I didn’t pay attention to where I was going and what I was doing.
Suddenly, I realized the GPS hadn’t chirped at me for a while. I pulled into a street parking spot on Cambie Street and checked the damn thing. I had no idea how, but it had some kind of fucking system error.
I yanked out my phone, heart hammering.
Okay, I wasn’t too far away.
Duh. You just passed the arena.
My phone provided me with directions that appeared simple. If Vancouver was anything like downtown Toronto, though, then nothing would be that easy. Especially around the arena.
Yet, as I pulled into the parking lot five minutes later, I said a thank you to the hockey gods who’d blessed me with an easy jaunt.
I presented my credentials to a very officious-looking security guard.
She directed me to a designated area and said someone would be out to greet me.
