Today, it’s smaller. Distant.
“Morning,” I say.
She glances up, voice soft. “Morning. You ready?”
“More than ready.” I pause. “Is everything okay?”
She nods, smiling too fast. “Just tired. Big day.”
Dr. Patel calls her name from the next room, and she slips away before I can say more.
Everything’s supposed to feel like it’s falling into place, but watching her walk down that hall, something in me tightens.
The locker room smells like tape, coffee, and adrenaline, and I couldn’t be happier to be in the middle of it again.
Almost ten weeks away, and somehow it feels like no time’s passed. The guys are loud again, chirping like they’ve been saving every joke just for me.
Dalton grins when I walk in. “Look who finally decided to show up.”
“Couldn’t let you guys have all the fun,” I shoot back.
Tyler claps me on the shoulder. “Good to have you back, Cap. Ice didn’t feel the same without you.”
“Glad to be back,” I say, meaning every word.
Once we hit the ice, everything clicks: the scrape of blades, the pop of pucks off the boards. It’s like muscle memory waking up.
My knee holds steady through every stride. No hesitation, no pain. Just rhythm. By the end of the warmup, the ache in my chest isn’t about injury anymore. It’s pride.
McCarthy calls us in for a quick huddle, his voice carrying through the rink. “Good to see you back, Tremayne. Boys, the captain’s home. Let’s make it count.”
David’s beside him, arms crossed, grinning. “Let’s finish this at home. No reason to fly back to Vegas.”
The stick taps and shouts echo around me, and I feel it. That pulse that’s been missing since the injury.
After practice, I shower fast, the buzz still humming through me. I walk over to the training room, where I spot Charlotte.
She looks up when she sees me, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I say, matching her pace as we start down the hall toward the admin wing.
The HR office is down the hall, tucked behind a frosted glass door that hums faintly with the sound of a copier.
The HR Director greets us with a polite nod. “Thanks for coming in. Have a seat,” he says, gesturing to the chairs across from his desk.
Charlotte starts, steady and composed. “Declan’s been cleared, and I’m no longer assigned to him,” she explains.
The Director nods once, typing into his laptop. “Good to note. And what brings you both in today?”
I glance at Charlotte, then back at him. “We wanted to disclose that we’re in a relationship,” I say simply.
Charlotte adds, “We just wanted to make sure everything’s handled properly.”
The Director nods, typing something into his notes. “Thank you for coming forward. These situations aren’t unusual, but we do need to document the relationship and review any potential conflicts. Given your roles, we’ll take a look at current assignments to make sure there’s no overlap.”
I nod. “What needs to happen next?”
He leans back slightly. “It’s usually a few business days once Legal and management sign off, but we’ll notify you both by email once the review’s complete. For now, we’d ask that you keep this confidential within the organization until everything’s finalized, mostly to manage optics and timing.”
