Chapter One

It was cold in the arena as she made her way down to her seat.  It was a little loud with the crowd of people all moving to find their places. Zoey followed closely behind her friend, Madison, as they found their seats near the glass.  She was excited and apprehensive at the same time. She had thought this would be fun when she agreed to come with Madison. Now, she was completely nervous. He would probably not even see her. She told herself that she could just enjoy the game and see how he played. It would be exciting to see him play. He wouldn’t know that she’d been there, but maybe that would be for the best anyway. It had been a long 5 months since she’d seen him.

There was a countdown on the jumbotron.  As the time ticked down for the players to take the ice for warm up, her nerves became more and more strained.  She smiled at her friend who fidgeted in the seat next to her, unable to contain her excitement. Madison had taken the occasion to get them tickets right next to the glass. She had been to the games before but never sat so close. She was hoping for a cross-check right in front of them. Zoey just wanted to see him again. It didn’t matter, she kept telling herself, that he wouldn’t see her. She found herself fidgeting as well. 

The first skater jumped through the door and onto the ice. Zoey caught her breath.  A whole line of skaters appeared, one right after the other, zooming out across the ice. He was the last. He skated a big circle, stopped and began stretching on the ice. Zoey sat up in her seat inching to the edge of the chair.  She watched him stretch unable to take her eyes off of him. Madison was pointing to her favorite skaters, but Zoey wasn’t hearing her. She only had eyes for one. He started shooting pucks at the net. The guys all made a wide circle near the boards and came up the middle to shoot. She watched him amazed at how hard and fast his shot was.  She’d never watched him play hockey before, not even on TV. Her reasons all seemed irrelevant now. She smiled to herself.  He didn’t have his helmet on for warm up. He created his own breeze as he skated, which made his hair blow back like it did that warm summer day by the pond.  He skated in front of her and stopped short. He was waiting for a pass from his line-mate. He turned in her direction and missed the pass. She found herself looking into the same amazing eyes that had taken her breath away the first time she saw him.  He had a shocked look on his face and then he smiled, the smile that stole heart.