Almost everyone on this team has found a significant other. Four years ago, I wouldn’t have believed that was possible, but I’m glad for it. It makes my job easier. The press wants to hear about our game play these days, not what supermodel someone is sleeping with.
Even Liam, our resident asshole, isn’t as grumpy and bent out of shape as he used to be. Last week he did an interview with ESPN after a shutout, and he didn’t drop a single curse word during the conversation. I was shocked.
Riley’s rehab has been the most important item on my agenda, and I see the effort he’s putting in. I know how much time Lexi has dedicated to individualized therapy and research on athletes with prosthetics. I hear them leaving the training room long after the other guys have gone home, and it’s evident why she’s one of the best athletic trainers in the league. She gives a shit, and it’s a huge part of why he’s been able to get to this point.
“Are you serious?” I grab the top paper off the stack, reading through it. The wordsclearedandvigorous physical activitypop out at me, and I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Holy shit, Armstrong. You did it.”
“Riley did it, but it was a collaborative effort. I hope this is the start of a new era in professional hockey. One that’s inclusive to all athletes, no matter what their bodies might look like.” She turns her head at the knock on the door and offers a smile to Darcy, the team’s intern. “Hey, Darce. Who is the pizza for?”
“Coach.” She hands the cardboard box my way. “It just got here, and it’s very hot.”
“Since when do you order pizza to the arena?” Lexi asks.
“I have an afternoon meeting, and I’m not sure how long it’s going to last,” I explain. “I wanted to make sure the person joining me has a chance to eat.”
“A meeting, huh?” Lexi grins. “That’s very accommodating of you.”
“Out, Armstrong,” I bark, ignoring the girls’ laughter when I shut the door behind them.
I stare at the box, positive this is way too fucking much. Asking Hannah to come here is a business meeting. We’re not two friends catching up—I ruined any chance of that being a possibility—and I’m tempted to hand off the food to the custodial crew cleaning up the locker room down the hall.
There’s no time to stew over it though, because there’s another knock and the turn of the doorknob. I blink and Hannah is standing in front of me wearing dark jeans, white sneakers, and a sweater that slips off her right shoulder.
Sixteen months without seeing her, and my first look at her has me forgetting where the fuck I am.
“Brody.” Her voice is smooth. Rich with a touch of heat. It’s just like the whiskey we drank at her house, and I have to blink again to stop my vision from turning fuzzy. “Sorry I’m a few minutes early. If you’re busy, I can wait out in the hall.” Her attention flicks to the pizza I’m still holding. “Or if you want to finish your lunch.”
“No. Come in.” I gesture her inside, making sure to give her a wide berth. She closes the door behind her. “It’s pizza.”
“I’d be concerned if it wasn’t. It is pizza-shaped.”
“I ordered it in case you were hungry.” The tips of my ears burn. “Since it’s lunchtime.”
Hannah lifts an eyebrow but doesn’t miss a beat. “Let me guess. Boring cheese?”
“Only half of it. The other half has pineapple and ham. Extra pineapple, in fact.” I set the box on my desk and grab a stack of napkins from one of the drawers. “Rumor is it’s not half bad.”
She snorts and sits in the chair across from me. I hand her one of the slices, careful not to brush her fingers with mine when I pass over the pizza.
“I—”
“Tell—”
We talk at the same time, and I almost choke on my bite of food. She tips her head to the side, assessing me while I pound my chest and swallow.
“Go ahead,” I rasp, wondering why the fuck I don’t have any water in here.
“It’s your office.” Hannah motions to the jerseys in frames hanging from the walls. “You first.”
“I know we’re here to talk about my daughter, but I need to say something else first. About that night at your place.”
Her inhale is sharp. “We had fun. You left. I’m a big girl, and I’m not sitting around writing your name in my diary, Brody.”
“I wanted to apologize for acting like a piece of shit,” I say in a rush of words, and she pauses mid-bite. This isnothow I practiced this earlier, but I roll with it. “For how I left. For the things I said. I was panicking, if we’re being honest. I had tunnel vision, which lead me to being selfish. Running out of there was inconsiderate. Telling you to forget it ever happened was even shittier. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I need you to know I understand how my behavior was… really fucking lame. I’ve never cared what other people think about me, and I don’t know why I cared then. Deep down, maybe I thought that if I pretendedthatdidn’t happen, the rest of the night didn’t happen too. It wasn’t fair to you.”
“You sent me flowers.” Hannah sets her pizza down on the napkin in her lap. She adjusts the sleeve of her sweater, pushing it back over her shoulder. “Right?”
“I did.” I tear off a piece of crust and pop it in my mouth, not mentioning the hours I spent researching different floral arrangements from the hospital waiting room. The websites I read until my eyes burned with tears. Until I found a bouquet I thought would maybe,maybeconvey a sliver of how sorry I was. “I recognize it’s a cop out from an actual apology, but I needed you to know I was thinking about you even when my actions proved differently.”
