Now that Ida Jane and Naomi were in my life, I’d realized the wrongness of my relationship with Marian—namely that it had never been a real relationship, which wasn’t that different from the problems with my previous attempts at romance.
I gave, and others took from me. Only now had I found people who supported me, who loved me enough to give back to me—to want my happiness as much as, and maybe more than, their own. Adjusting to that reality would take time, and I wasn’t completely there. But I was on my way.
Once Cormac and I talked…
As we approached the locker room, there were a few people milling around. Two of them kept shouting questions.
“Reporters,” Naomi muttered. “Ignore them.”
Chapter56
Cormac
Afull twenty-four hours after the terrible incident, I still didn’t know where my relationship stood with Keelie, and that unknown ate at me. I’d slept poorly. My usual aches from getting and throwing hits at opponents were amplified, and I groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Nik asked, peering up from lacing his skate.
He had some complicated practice that required starting from scratch each time. Growing a beard, wearing the same socks, undershirt, or even lucky underwear—washed, because otherwise athlete’s foot would eat the skin—I could understand. But a ritual that required re-lacing a skate, and measuring the length after each loop, was too strange for me to grasp.
“Lace up,” I said. “We have a game to win.”
“Hell yeah!” Cruz bellowed. But once he got a good look at my face, his happy expression—which meant he looked like a crazed serial killer—disappeared. He now seemed more like an angry bear, a much better look for him. It fit with the bushy facial hair and wild mane that exploded from the bottom of his helmet.
“She didn’t call you?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“But…”
Coach strolled in, his assistants fanning out behind him. I smiled at this display because Silas Whittaker wasn’t big on the power trip. Still, he needed a staff to fill the gaps he couldn’t attend to in real-time. Houston’s team wasn’t flashy, but we were a cohesive bunch, and that started with the man who now tugged his glasses up on top of his head with a grimace of annoyance.
“All right, settle down.” He waited, but not long. Even Luka, the rowdy rookie, turned his face toward Coach, expression expectant.
“Last night, you played well—like a team.” He met each player’s gaze. “I want more of that tonight because that’s how we’ll win the Stanley Cup next month. Sure, stats pad your personal résumé, but by playing smarter, by playing together as a unit, we break through their defense. Did you know that chimps hunt in packs? They have blockers, a decoy, and a hunter. By all sticking to their roles, they’re successful eighty percent of the time.”
“I didn’t know chimps ate meat,” Cruz muttered.
“Now you do,” Coach said, pointing at him. “I watched the show with Trix. So, tonight, we go out there and fight.”
“Guess it’s time to be a chimp,” Cruz added, put off by the analogy.
“Better than a bonobo,” Adam said, coming over to wrap his arms around one of Cruz’s shoulders and one of mine. “They’re peaceful. We don’t need a kumbaya circle. We need to kick ass, and chimpanzees are vicious little fucks.”
“I thought that was gorillas,” Nik said, frowning.
“Nah, man, they like to enjoy their ladies and sleep,” Adam clarified. “It’s the chimps you got to worry about.” At our looks, he shrugged. “I watched that documentary, too. It was interesting.”
He dropped his arm from Cruz’s shoulder and swung toward me, putting both hands on my shoulders. “Your girl’s outside the locker room.”
“What?”
“I’m sure it’s supposed to be some big surprise-reveal bullshit—like those dumb gender parties for babies where people burn down forests.”
“That shit’s weird. As weird as comparing us to a chimp hunt,” Cruz said, shaking his head.
Adam grinned. “Be sure to tell her she looks cute in her Wildcatters gear.”
I groaned. Like Adam, I loved seeing my girl in my sweater. There was something so primal, so right about it.
