He could do this, no big deal.
As he grabbed his stick, he thought about Audrey and couldn’t help the grin that came over his face. He was so proud of her for going forward with her dream. She was in the process of signing the papers for Audrey Jane’s. She loved it, and seeing the pictures she sent him, he knew he would love it too. He looked forward to seeing the location in person, but mostly he was excited about helping her build her business from the ground up. Audrey was such an amazing person, and he had no doubt that Audrey Jane’s would be the best cupcake place in the Nashville area.
Making his way down an unfamiliar hall on the way to the ice, he stopped and waited at the end of the line of hockey players. His number was thirty-nine, which meant he was the last to be announced. Rocking back and forth on his skates, he listened as each player was called out. Finally it was his turn, and to his surprise the crowd erupted when he skated onto the ice. His adrenaline started pumping and his heart kicked up in speed. This was it.
His first All-Star game.
After a hard fought but fun game, Tate’s team lost, but only by one goal, and even though that sucked, he was all smiles, because no one could score on him. It was a great feeling being the only goalie to have a shutout during his period. Reporters were all over him. He was on every sports news channel imaginable, they were calling him a “force to be reckoned with” and a sure bet for the Vezina Trophy, given to the best goalie of the season. It was crazy, and insane, but man, was he proud of himself. After the game and all the interviews, he found himself facedown on his bed with his speaker phone on.
“Hello, Mr. All-Star goalie,” Audrey said when she answered.
He chuckled. “I miss you.”
“Aw! I miss you more, when are you coming home?”
“Not till Monday afternoon. They are having the closing activities tomorrow, and then Sunday and Monday I have a bunch of interviews in New York with Lucas and Shea.”
“Well that blows,” she said, disappointed.
“I know, I want to come home.”
“Yeah, I wish you were home. I am still so sick. I could use my big strong boyfriend’s arms to hold me.”
“I’ll come home,” he said.
“Tate, you’re in Canada. You can’t just walk across our porch to bring me soup.”
“No, but I can be there in a couple hours. It’s a plane ride.”
“Okay, big-shot goalie, just because you signed a big deal with the Assassins and were the only goalie to shut out everyone at the All-Star game doesn’t mean you can just blow all that off to come home and take care of me.”
Tate chuckled. “I would blow it all for you. Every bit.”
“Liar,” Audrey joked.
“No really, I would,” Tate said sternly, sitting up. “Do you want me to come home? I’ll leave tonight. I can miss tomorrow, and then I just fly out to New York on Sunday?”
“That is crazy, no, I’m fine. I was just whining. It’s been a long week,” she said sadly. He could tell she still wasn’t feeling well.
“Is it the nausea still?”
“Yeah,” she groaned.
“Audrey, go to the doctor,” he suggested. “They’ll give you something so you can feel better.”
“Yeah, I know. If it isn’t better by Monday, I will, okay?”
“Promise?”
“Yes. I promise.” She giggled. “Now go to sleep, it’s late and you played one hell of a game.”
“Thanks, love. I wish you were here,” he said, a smile on his face.
“Me too, I love you so much,” she said, and he could tell she was smiling too.
“I love you more, ’bye, baby.”
“ ’Bye.”