Like I could lose my edge after a month.
* * *
There isa slight possibility that I’ve lost my edge. I can’t remember being laid on my ass more or missing more wide-open shots than I have today.
“Your ass take enough of a beating?” Grady asks, looming over me as I lay splayed out on the ice for the fifty-millionth time.
“Yeah.” I moan, the chill of the ice seeping into my spine.
He extends his hand and helps me get up. “Is there a weight room in here?”
“No, I haven’t been doing that, just some bodyweight exercises at home.”
“Explains why I could move you so easily.”
Unfortunately, all the work I poured into the off-season to gain a few pounds of muscle has gone to waste. I’m like a freaking leaf blowing in the wind out here.
“I’m sorry, but you’ve gotta come back early, bud. If you step into a game and play like this, you’ll get destroyed—on and off the ice.”
I nod, skating toward the bench and wincing as my MCL screams in my leg. It would probably be best if I were near my trainers and they could massage that out.
Unfortunately, that means tearing myself from Aulie—a thought I don’t want to entertain.
Maybe when the fair is over and she’s feeling better, she could stay with me in Boston for a while.
She did it over the summer when we were just friends, so it’s not too soon for me to ask now…I think…I don’t want to look like I’m coming on too strong too soon. Even if this doesn’t feel new to me, it feels like I’m five years in.
“Do you want to grab breakfast across the street? That café looked decent,” Grady asks.
I shake my head. One of the weirder things about being in Chawton Falls for a month is you learn more about other people and their habits than you want to. On Mondays, for example, because Aulie and Bridget usually meet at Cup of Joe’s,she’s still sent me in there for a pain au chocolat (sent, I beg her to tell me what she wants for breakfast as a treat, same thing). Bridget, another creature of habit, still works in the café, even though Aulie can’t join her. We should find another place to eat for Grady’s protection since she kept shooting daggers his way after what Grady referred to as their meet-disaster last night.
“Not a good idea. Bridget gets coffee there on Mondays. I doubt she’s over you pouring a massive amount of beer and pumpkin guts on her last night.”
Grady scrubs his hand over his face. “Don’t remind me. Seeing her again—and like that, god, she was like a wet fucking dream.”
“What do you mean again?”
“She graduated with us at Wentworth College.” Grady shrugs. “I was in the same English class with her, but your paths probably never crossed. No big deal.”
Grady glances to the side, and his Adam’s apple bobs with a nervous swallow. He’s not telling me the whole truth, which is weird—he’s usually an open book.
I’ve also never seen a woman fluster him quite like Bridget’s managed to. I thought he was about to have a heart attack when she unbuttoned her shirt. It was like the man had never seen boobs before.
“Let’s try Anne’s. It’s a little further down the road, but Aulie likes their coffee just as much.”
Grady flicks his wrist, making a whip-cracking sound as I untie my skates.
“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him off. I don’t care what he thinks about Aulie and me. As long as Aulie is happy with us, whatever, that’s all that matters.
Although, it’d be nice not to suck at hockey too.
“You need your edge. You’re too fucking soft,” Grady says, standing.
“You annoying me can be my new edge.”
“I’m serious. You need to come back.”
“I know, I know. I’ll gather my shit and drive back tomorrow. But I’m not giving Aulie up. She’s my dream.”
