Yikes.
“Dammit,” Gigi mumbled before turning and skating off to our bench.
“What was that all about?” Jillian asked in a calm voice.
“Nothing,” was all I replied with. Jillian was smart enough to know what was going on. I didn’t need to lay it out for her.
“You okay?” Her eyes held mine for a second.
“I’m great, Jillybean. But we need to put more pucks in the back of that net over there.” I nodded to the other team’s net.
“What? No way. Is that right? Dang, I wish someone would have told me that earlier.” The sarcasm in her voice made both of us laugh.
When I looked to our bench again, I saw that the coach had actually benched Gigi.
“Holy shitballs,” I said, my eyes widening and my mouth dropping open.
“Hey, Cami,” Jillian greeted our new center who had just glided up to us.
I smiled at her. The look of excitement on Cami’s face made me feel giddy.
Gigi was a fantastic center.
When she wasn’t acting ridiculous and self-sabotaging a game.
This meant that Cami rarely played on our line.
Like, as in never.
For her to be playing up with us now really said something.
“Cami, I was just telling Jillian that we have to get that black puck into the back of that net.” I pointed to the opposing team’s net.
She burst out laughing, and that made us laugh, too.
“You don’t say?” she countered back to me.
“Yep, you ready to help us with that?” I asked and the way she looked at me, it felt like she was more than ready.
“No problem.” Her voice was full of enthusiasm and I could feel the thrill of anticipation radiating off her.
“Good, sounds like a plan then.” I whacked her on the arm and went to line up.
“Lexi,that was an incredible game. What do you credit your five goals tonight to?” the press guy asked after pulling me to the side on our way back to the locker room.
I pulled off my helmet and wiped my forehead with the back of my arm.
“Working together as a team. This isn’t a one player job. We’ve all gotta be playing our best out there to achieve something like that.”
He shrugged and chuckled. “Is that why they replaced Gigi in the second period?”
“Luckily, I’m not the coach. So, I don’t have to make those decisions. Cami came in and played incredibly well as usual. She’s a great player. I’ve known her for a while. She really came through for us.”
He responded enthusiastically. “I’ll say. Two assists directly to you, and one goal for herself. She had a fantastic showing tonight.”
I nodded. “I agree, she played to win.”
He moved a step closer. “With everything going on in your personal life,” he peered at me, “how did you manage to not only keep your composure on the ice but also play your best game to date?”