Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 135831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
I catalog one more thing—my pulse.
It’s calmer because I’m not waiting any longer. I won’t have the weekend to rehearse. I can’t practice with my friends. Sometimes, you just have to jump into the fray.
Without a plan, without a strategy, without anything but guts, I walk into my boss’s suite.
Her assistant flashes me a bright smile from his desk outside the door. “What can I do for you?”
“Hi, Trevor. I need to see Zaire today,” I say, then add a smile. “Could I please get on her schedule as soon as she’s free?”
“She’s out of the office this morning at an appointment,” he says, and I have no idea what that means—if it’s personal, if it’s business, or if it’s something else entirely. But it’s not for me to know. I simply tell him I’ll take the next free slot on her schedule.
“That’ll be three-thirty,” he says. That’s a lifetime from now, but I take it. At least it’s before Elias has said he’ll drop his picture online.
I return to my office and text Max about what happened, telling him I’ll share the rest when he’s done with morning skate and we head to the interview.
I feel calmer—maybe because I’m not in this alone. Then, I flip open my laptop and get to work on a plan for that meeting.
53
THE REAL MAX LAMBERT
Max
The thing about hockey players is we’re known for fast reflexes on the ice.
But sometimes people underestimate us when it comes to how we react out of the rink. Reflexes matter, too, even if you’re not wearing a mask or holding a stick. The second Everly tells me what went down this morning, I think fast. My brain whirls with ideas as I drive us over to The Sports Network.
Along the way, she’s telling me her plans for her meeting with her boss this afternoon. And damn, they’re so brilliant, they’re beyond brilliant. They’re scorching hot.
But I can’t let her do all the work. We’re a team of two right now, and I know how to help a teammate out. Sometimes you need to block, sometimes you need to shoot, and sometimes you deflect. But a good hockey player also knows how to do something else—how to set up a shot.
When we reach The Sports Network offices in downtown San Francisco, Everly shifts into work mode. I get that. She doesn’t want to miss a step when it comes to her job. Erin is interviewing me for a piece in the pre-game show, so Everly’s reminding me of my talking points as we walk down the hallway to the studio.
“And now that your episode on The Ice Men has been given the go-ahead, Erin will ask about that. I told her this morning about it, so she’ll include a mention in her segment. What I want is for you to say something like—this documentary is a great chance to show the daily routines of a goalie, what it takes to get into the mindset to defend the net every game. All of those things are exactly what The Ice Men will want you to say.”
“Got it,” I say, and fact is—Everly’s right. Those are great points.
I’m not going to say any of those things though.
When we reach the greenroom for the studio, she looks me up and down, and with a smile, she says, “By the way you clean up nice.”
“A shower and fresh clothes help,” I say, glancing down at my slacks and royal blue dress shirt.
An assistant calls us into the greenroom and mics me for the interview. When I head onto set, Everly follows, standing backstage, watching in the wings in case anything goes wrong.
I join Erin, sitting across from her in a chair with the bright lights beating down on us. She asks me easy questions about the game tonight, our opponents, and how the season looks. Then she says, “You’re going to be featured in The Ice Men documentary. Can you give us a little preview of what to expect from that?”
I could use Everly’s lines right now, but I don’t. Instead, I say something else that’s true about goalies.
“It’s all about the ins and outs of being a goaltender, and the biggest thing we do is watch the game like a hawk. See plays before they even happen. And sometimes when you do, you have to set up the shot. Like this,” I say, then I barely pause before I say the next thing. “For a long time I never wanted to share my true self with the press, like you, frankly, or anyone else.” Erin’s eyes register surprise, but she nods quickly. That’s good, but I was barreling on anyway. This guy knows how to crash an event, after all. “I’m not a charming guy. I can be kind of unapproachable, but I think it comes with being a goalie. I don’t think people want to have a friendly goalie on the ice. I’ve been trying to change how I am off the ice though. I’ve been trying to be a little more accessible. A little friendlier. And there are a couple of reasons why I’m doing that. One is for my family. But mostly, it’s because of a woman. And that’s why I want to tell you a little bit more about who I am.”