Page 8 of Puck Me Back to Life

By the time I reach the arena, the disappointment from last night has mostly faded into the background. The rink always helps. The ice makes sense. People are harder. Hockey is simple.

You know where you stand. Most of the time.

The locker room is already filling when I arrive. Guys are talking. Laughing. Arguing about something stupid. Normal.

I toss my bag beside my stall and start getting ready. That's when I notice Kai Hayes.

Not because he's doing anything unusual. Actually, the opposite. Kai's entire existence is built around not drawing attention to himself.

He's sitting quietly at his stall, drinking one of those horrifying neon energy drinks he loves.

The thing looks radioactive. I'm convinced they dissolve internal organs on contact.

Hale notices them too. A few minutes later he's giving Kai shit about it. Kai responds with a joke.

The room laughs. Then the conversation moves on. Nobody really knows what to do with Kai.

The realization makes me uncomfortable. Not because anyone is being cruel. Nobody is. Not openly.

The problem is that everyone treats him like fragile glass.

They don't tease him or include him. I guess they don't know how.

And Kai doesn't exactly help. He's spent the last year building walls thick enough to survive a war.

I don't think anybody knows how to get through them.

Including me.

My eyes drift back toward him. Kai is objectively handsome. Dirty blond hair. Gray eyes. Strong jaw. Lean build. The kind of face advertisers love. If his life had gone differently, he probably would've ended up in sports commercials and cologne campaigns.

Instead, he's become hockey's favorite tragedy. I hate that. Everybody in hockey knows what happened. William Grove died because the sport is dangerous. It wasn't fucking murder. It wasn't anything except terrible luck. People act like freak accidents have never happened before, but they have. Maybe once every decade a skate punctures the skin and a player bleeds out.

Rare. Horrific. But not impossible.

William just happened to be famous enough that the entire world watched it happen. And Kai happened to be standing closest when it did. That's the only reason anyone remembers his name.

I start pulling off my shirt. Halfway through the motion, I catch movement from the corner of my eye. Kai immediately looks away.

Interesting.

A smile threatens. I keep it to myself. This isn't the first time I've caught him looking.

Actually, it's become a fairly regular occurrence. Just little glances. The kind someone thinks they're hiding.

The first few times I wasn't sure. Now? Now I purposely take my time when strapping on my gear so I can see the pink flush of that pretty boy's cheeks. The funny thing is that Kai probably thinks he's subtle.

He's not. At all.

I finish removing my shirt. Very slowly. Entirely for scientific purposes, of course.

Kai looks again. I almost laugh.

Poor guy.

“Morning, Hayes.”

His entire face turns red. It's adorable.