"I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm headed to a hockey game. Maybe later?"
The silence on the other end of the line meant her mother wasn't happy with her answer. She should have told her she was napping.
"Now would be better, and why would you go to a hockey game when you have a competition tonight?"
"Because the hot guy I'm having sex with is playing" probably wasn't the answer her mother wanted to hear. "I like hockey."
"Since when?"
She'd always loved hockey. It was unfortunate her mother didn't know anything about her interests other than figure skating. "I have to go, Mom. How about I call you after the game?"
"I'm at the event center. I can meet you at the game."
"I'm . . . I'm with friends, Mom."
Another pregnant pause. "Great. I'll meet your friends. Text me your location and I'll meet you there."
With a sigh, she said, "Fine. I'll text you the details and see you soon."
She hung up. This wasn't going to go well.
When she got to the arena, she found the seats. Fortunately, there was an extra one available where they were sitting.
"You all, my mom is here and she wants to come to the game."
"Great," Lisa said. "We've got an extra seat. Did you text her our location?"
"Not yet. Are you sure you're okay with this?"
"Why wouldn't we be?" Telisa asked. "It's great that your mom is here. And the game hasn't started yet. They're cleaning the ice now."
Amber sighed. "Okay." She texted her mom the seat location, wishing her mother had . . . gone shopping or something.
She instantly felt like the worst daughter ever, that knot of guilt forming in her stomach. Her mother had come here for her. She should be spending time with her.
So why did half of her feel resentful, and the other half of her feel guilty?
"What's wrong?" Brandon asked, laying his hand over hers.
"My mother is coming to the game to sit with us." Amber shot him a helpless look.
Brandon nodded. "Say no more. She probably expects you to be taking a nap or something. My mother has already called me three times today, asking me what I ate for breakfast and what time I went to bed last night, and has double-checked with me four times about the time of my performance so I don't forget what time I go on."
That actually made Amber feel better. "Oh, so we have the same mother."
Brandon laughed. "Apparently."
Sergei leaned forward. "I have the same mother. She sends me e-mails with lists of things I'm supposed to do before a performance. One: Get sleep. Two: Eat big breakfast. Three: No boyfriends. Four: No boyfriends. Five: Shoulders back, chin up. As if I forget how to skate."
"You duplicated three and four," Brandon said.
"No. She thinks boyfriends are distracting, so she makes sure to put it twice so I don't forget."
Amber sent a warm smile to Sergei. "Well, boyfriends can be distracting."
Sergei leaned into Brandon. "Also good motivation to skate well so your boyfriend thinks you're hot."
"This guy already thinks you're hot," Brandon said.
"I will still skate well and win a gold medal."
"You do realize we're competing against each other," Brandon said.
"Yes. That's hot, too. You're very good. I will still win a gold medal."
Brandon grinned and looked over at Amber. "I'm going to kick his ass on the ice. He's good, but he'll win silver."
"You keep thinking that, but you will be mesmerized by my amazing eyes and will forget to do a double axel. Big shame for you."
Amber laughed. "I love you two together."
Brandon laid a sweet smile on Sergei. "So do we."
Amber turned her attention to the ice, where the US team had come out to warm up. She zeroed in on Will's number-seventeen jersey.
He skated with such ease, his skates an extension of the ice.
"He's so fast," she said to Lisa, watching him go after a puck one of his teammates shot. "He's like a rabid dog chasing a rabbit."
"Hence the moniker," she said.
Amber grinned. "It definitely fits him."
"Fits who?"
Amber's head shot up at the sound of her mother's voice. She stood. "Oh, hi, Mom."
"Who are you talking about?"
"We're talking about how great the US hockey team is. Mom, let me introduce you to all my friends."
She made introductions, then got her mother situated.
"Game hasn't started yet."
Her mother looked her over. "You seem nervous."
Amber tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'm not."
"See, I told you that you should be resting. Instead, you're at this hockey game, and these games are all hyped up and adrenaline fueled, which will only amp up your anxiety level. This is not a good idea."
"I'm fine, Mom."
"You should be napping."
"Napping would be inappropriate at the hockey arena."
Her mother leaned back and gave her a look that Amber was oh so familiar with. "Are you sassing me?"
She absolutely was. "No ma'am."
Fortunately, the announcer came on and the game was about to start, so the back-and-forth with her mother was called to a halt.
Amber snuck a glance at Brandon, who smothered a smile.
Yeah, laugh it up, funny boy. Just wait until I meet your mother.
From the start of the game against Finland, it was nonstop action. Amber leaned forward in her seat, trying to keep her eye on both the puck and Will.
The game went scoreless through the first period. In the second, the action heated up. When the US went up one player on a power play after a high-sticking penalty, Amber felt really good about the US's chance to score.
Eddie passed the puck to Will and he strung it along the ice, then passed it to Drew. Drew and the Finland defender fought for it. In the meantime, Will had made his way toward the goal.
It happened lightning quick. Drew moved forward, shot the puck across the ice to a waiting Will, who delivered it into the goal before Amber even blin
ked.
She jumped out of her seat, her arms raised above her hands.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she screamed, then high-fived Brandon and Sergei before turning to look down on the ice. "That was an incredible goal, Will."
"You know this Will?" her mother asked.
Amber was grinning when she turned to her mother. "Yes, I do."
"I see. And how exactly do you know him?"
She waved her hand in dismissal. "Not now, Mom."
She was engrossed in the game, in the nonstop action as Finland took the puck and raced down to the US goal. She grabbed Brandon's arm and held tight as the US defenders fought off the attack, slicing at the puck and sending it toward their teammates, who brought it to the Finland side. Will grabbed it and skated, fast, toward the Finland goal. He passed it toward Drew who sent a shot to the goal.
Missed.
"Dammit," she said.
Finland had the puck and raced toward the other end. It went back and forth like that until the end of the second period.
Amber finally exhaled.
"We're going to need more goals," she said to Brandon, who nodded.
"That was intense," Telisa said.
"My heart is racing," Lisa said. "And Canada plays later. I don't know how I'm going to survive this."
Amber looked over at her mother, hoping she was dialed into the action. She sat, ramrod straight, staring at the game. But Amber knew she wasn't really watching. Her mother often had that look when she was deep in thought, typically making lists of Amber's infractions.
There'd be a lecture coming.
She shrugged it off, concentrating on the game when the third period started. She refused to worry about her mother right now, not when Will had the puck and was fighting off one of the defenders. The defender pushed him up against the wall and Will shoved a forearm into him, then raced away with the puck, passing it off toward Drew.
"We need another goal," Brandon said.
Amber nodded, clutching Brandon's arm as Adrian Parker passed the puck off to Will, who lined it out to a waiting Drew.
Drew shot it into the goal and the lamp lit up. It was another goal, one they really needed.
They all screamed. Amber looked at her mother, who smiled politely.
Really? What did it take to get her mom excited? How could she not be caught up in the thrill of this game?
By the third period, Finland had scored a goal, but the US had also scored again. And with the last seconds on the clock ticking down, Amber and the rest of them were holding their breath.
The game ended at three to one. They all erupted in cheers, high-fiving each other.