Page 32 of Pucking Good Girl

“Sure, if you want.” She smiles.

“Lady’s choice.”

Talia’s smile widens. “Really?”

“Why not?” I chuckle. “You sound surprised.”

“You say that because you didn’t grow up in my family.” She touches the screen on my dashboard, scrolling through a selection of radio stations. “I have four brothers. Tucker is obviously the oldest, and you met the other three after last week’s game. They’re a lot. When we’re all together, even a five-minute drive to get groceries turns into World War Three. Someone is always fighting. About everything. From what to listen to in the car, to what to see in the movie theater, to where to eat dinner. You name it, there are at least three different opinions about what we should do. I don’t know how my parents survive it.”

Talia finds a local radio station, Star Radio, that’s playing 90s pop music. She sets the volume to a background noise level, so that we can still talk while I drive toward downtown Star Cove.

“Is that you saying that you don’t want children one day?” The question slips out of my mouth before I can think better of it.

Way to go and sound like a total weirdo on the first date. If Talia opened the passenger door and jumped out of my moving car, I wouldn’t even blame her at this point.

I need to turn down this intensity I feel when it comes to her by a few notches. A few million notches.

The trouble is that I don’t know how to. I’m intense about the things and people I care about. Hockey, my family, and Talia, it seems.

To my surprise, she doesn’t look weirded out by my inappropriate question. “I think I do. One day. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brothers. It’s just that sometimes they can be way too much.”

“You’re telling me about it.” I snort. “I know all about that.”

“Yeah?”

I can feel her gaze on me as I turn toward the old marina. “Yeah. Look, it’s hard to explain. Mack and I have always been close. There are less than two years between us. That means that we’ve always done a lot of things together. From getting our first pair of skates to riding a bicycle, you name it. And somehow Mack was always faster to learn and better at it. A natural talent, no matter what we were doing. I was the one who always had to try harder just to keep up. That’s why I chose Bridgeport over Star Cove for college. For once, I didn’t want to be compared to him every day on and off the ice. But here I am. No matter what I do, I always end up in the same spot.”

For a moment, the only noise in the car is the pop song on the radio. Linger by The Cranberries is on and I do feel like a fool. For letting Mack cast a shadow on me every second of every day, for falling for his girl without even trying. For how fucked up it is that I’m not gonna walk away when I know it would be the only way to break this cycle.

I slow down as our destination comes into view.

“Macklin is amazing,” Talia says. “But so are you, Becks.”

For a second, the only part of her words that registers is the first one. “Yeah, well.” I bite out. “I have a lot of work to do to even be in his same league, let alone be equal.”

“What are you talking about?” Talia sounds affronted. “Have you seen yourself play? Maybe you haven’t paid attention when Coach Harrison has you guys watch game tape. Because you’re a force to be reckoned with. A menace on skates.”

I can’t help the smile that wipes away the frown of a second ago. “A menace? I’ve been called a lot of things, but never a menace.”

Talia’s smile mirror my own. “You put fear into your opponents, Becks. Where Macklin could deke out an entire team and score before they even realized what hit them, you’re pure power. You dominate with your strength and physical presence, and you’re a faster skater than anyone on the team. You’re faster than Macklin. And don’t even start me off about your slapshot. Your playing style is different from your brother’s, but in my eyes, you’re equal. You both have more talent in your pinky than I’ve ever seen in my whole life. And believe me, I love watching hockey now, but it wasn’t always that way.”

This must be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. “No?”

“Try growing up in a house where your big brother lives for hockey and your dad makes it his dream to help him go pro.”

I chuckle. “That sounds kinda familiar.”

“Our TV was always playing some game. NHL, college, you name it. If it were hockey, Dad and Tucker were watching it. I resented it for years until I eventually started to get interested in it. So when I tell you that you have as much talent as Macklin, I’m not just saying it to stroke your ego.”

I stop the car and I’m about to kiss Talia until we’re both breathless. But the valet is right there and we really can’t be late for our reservation.

Talia believes in me, and that makes me fall harder for her when our date has barely started.

If she chooses Mack over me, I’ll be crushed. But now I know I have a fighting chance.

CHAPTER 10

SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL