I walk them to her car, making sure she’s steady.Joey is still babbling about the game, mimicking my saves, acting out each goal like he’d personally scored it.When she clicks the doors open, Joey gives me a wave before getting in and buckling up.Eddie exhales shakily, bracing herself on the car door.
You okay?I murmur.I can call an Uber if you don’t feel well enough to drive.Or I could drive you.
No, thank you.I’m okay.Just tired,she whispers.And overwhelmed.
I understand her meaning.Taking a step forward so that we can speak in softer tones, but not too close that I invade her space, I tell her honestly,I really like you, Eddie.I haven’t hidden that.But if you need me to back off a bit, that’s fine.It’ll suck,I chuckle with no humour,but I can do it if that’s what you need.You set the pace.
Her hand comes out to play with the button on my jacket, giving the material a tug.Her throat bobs.
I like you too,she admits for the first time, and I feel like I can fucking fly.I want to jump around, holler, and swing her up in my arms.I’m so happy!
I don’t do any of that—because that would absolutely scare her off and stop her moment of honesty.
But my life is complicated.Not just as a single mom.She stops talking for a moment, needing a deep breath.My family…She brings her hands up in a helpless gesture.And Joey’s biological dad.It’s all a mess.And while that mess hasn’t bothered us in a long time, it may change the way you feel about me.About possibly, maybe starting a more-than-friendship thing.
Oh, I most definitely want a more-than-friendship thing.All that other stuff, we can talk about it when you’re ready.Just know I’m here, for the good and the bad stuff and whatever falls in between, if it means I get you.
She rolls her lips inward, letting my words wash over her.Her eyes go watery—I’m not sure whether it’s from the cold wind or my declaration—but either way, it’s time for her to get warm and head home.
I open her car door, gently nudging her toward the opening.Good night, Eddie.
Good night, Sidney.
I help her get seated, close the door, and stand back as she starts the car and pulls out of the lot.I watch them go, knowing, deep in my gut, I’ll be seeing her again.Very soon.
I just have to survive this next team travel week.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SIDNEY
Being on the road used to make me restless.
Different hotel pillows, different restaurant menus, different fans waiting outside team buses for autographs.A blur of sameness disguised as variety.I used to spend these stretches pacing mentally, sometimes literally, hanging out with the rookies until late into the night to stay distracted or hooking up with the first woman who flashed an interested smile my way.
All in the hopes that I could make time go quicker until the next game or the next arena.The days on the ice had felt short and the nights like an eternity.I didn’t want to sit in my room and dwell, so I found other, sometimes reckless, ways to stay mentally and physically busy.
Now?
I need the nights to crawl.To last an eternity.Because it’s only after the games or practices when I’m back in my room, winding down, that Eddie texts me.Or, amazingly, calls me.
I keep checking my phone.Not obsessively.Just…periodically.Enough that Max eventually thwacks me with his hat during breakfast and groans,Crane, put the damn phone down before it fuses to your hand.I’m trying to have a conversation with you, and all I’m getting are grunts.
Yeah, in a second,I tell him, smiling down at my cell as I type a message to Eddie.
SIDNEY:Morning, beautiful.Hope your shift isn’t too chaotic.Please remember to drink water and take your puffer.
She doesn’t answer right away like I was hoping.
Old me would’ve spiralled and thought the worst.Like that she didn’t like me or didn’t want to lead me on.Old me would have made it all about him.
I know better now.Eddie is interested, but she’s got other responsibilities and commitments besides texting me back.She may not have said it out loud the other night, but she’s open to seeing where this thing between us goes.
She just has past demons and past letdowns to battle in her own time.I just have to move at her steady pace and not my now-now preference.So her not texting me back right away doesn’t alarm me.
There are a dozen different reasons that she might not have her phone on her or saw the message but couldn’t reply back yet.I’m not worried about it.
It helps that shehadbeen answering since we last saw each other in person.Maybe not instantly, but steadily.Opening herself in careful increments and letting me in.
