Sadie steps away from me and reaches her hand out to me.
“Let’s go fix that problem, shall we?”
I take her hand and follow her to the back of the bar where it’s a bit quieter. Most of my teammates are gone and the table we were sitting at is empty. Sadie takes a seat first and, instead of sitting across from her, I pull a chair up right next to her.
She smiles and starts playing with the necklace she’s wearing. “Where’d you learn to dance like that?”
“I took dance classes when I was a kid.” I can tell Sadie isn’t expecting that answer by the way her mouth drops. “My dad told me it would help me with my hockey.”
“How so?” Sadie puts her elbow on the table and rests her chin in her hand. She leans forward like she wants to know more.
“It helped improve things like my agility, balance, strength, and stamina. Not to mention the concentration and discipline it takes to learn a routine.”
Sadie’s eyes go wide in wonderment and she shakes her head in awe. “That’s amazing.”
I shrug and then do my best to shift the conversation awayfrom me to her. “Tell me about yoga. Have you always known you wanted to be an instructor?”
Sadie looks shy for a moment, looking down at the table. I watch as she takes a breath and turns her attention back to me. “Not really. It wasn’t until college when I really started to get into it. I even went on a retreat where I learned about chakras and cleansing your body. It changed my life.”
The way she talks about yoga is similar to how I talk about hockey, like it runs through her blood and she was born to do it.
“That sounds amazing. I didn’t even know there were retreats like that.”
Sadie nods and scoots closer to me in her chair, seemingly excited to be talking about her favorite thing. “Oh yeah! It’s quite the experience. Ever since then, it’s been my dream to run a place like that of my own.”
She’s leaning in close, and my body does the same, as if being pulled together by some invisible force. Not only did I feel a major connection on the dance floor, but there’s also an energy between us now that’s hard to ignore.
“I bet you’d be amazing at that.”
Sadie inhales sharply. She seems shocked to hear me say something like that, but it’s clear to me she has a passion for what she does. I’m about to ask to tell me more when Mack and Jefferson take a seat at the table.
“Holy shit. I’m dripping in sweat. Who knew dancing could be such a work out?” Jefferson is out of breath and he slumps in the seat across from me.
“Literally everyone, dude.” Mack shakes his head at Jefferson.
The bartender announces last call, and Mack excuses himself to go get one last drink from the bar.
Jefferson perks up as soon as he’s gone, as if he just noticed Sadie sitting at the table with me.
“Sadie! Did you see Cap out there tonight? That pass was the perfect assist.”
Sadie smirks and then looks at me. “What was so perfect about it?”
Jefferson’s about to explain, but I glare at him before turning to Sadie. “Everyone always talks about the pretty goals or outstanding saves a goalie makes. No one ever talks about the assists. It’s a shame really. They’re called ‘helpers’ for a reason. They help us get the win. Tonight’s assist was particularly perfect because not only was it the game-winning goal, but it was also perfect timing and placement. Without that assist, we would’ve never gotten the goal. It was the perfect assist.”
The bar lights up and the music stops, signaling the end of our night.
Hunter finds his way to the back of the bar where we’re all sitting. “You ready to go, Sadie? I booked us an Uber. It should be here any minute.”
She’s about to slip off her chair when I wrap my hand around her wrist. As soon as my fingers touch her skin, a spark shoots through my arm. Sadie’s eyes widen, almost as if she felt it too.
“Let me put my number in your phone.”
She raises her eyebrow at me. I can feel my teammates looking on from behind me, and I’m afraid to look at my assistant coach to see his reaction. It’s too late to take it back so I push on.
“So you can text me and let me know you made it home okay. You know, captain duties.”
It’s true. I make all the guys on the team text me when they get home after a night out together. Maybe it’s the dad and captain in me, but I like to know when my people get home safe.
