“That’s not the point,” I said, defeat slowly creeping in.
Which was absurd, of course. My boys never gave in to defeat, so there was no reason for me to give up. There was still time.
I pushed into the nurses’ lounge and sank onto the bench in front of our lockers. Rosemary was halfway through getting changed out of her scrubs.
“I take it you didn’t win?”
The pout barely gave way when I replied, “Does it look like I won?”
“It’s just a—”
“Don’t.” I snapped upright, fixing her with a warning look. “It’s not just a game to me, and you know it. We’ve had the worst start to the season of any defending championship team in the history of ever. Every game is like a final, and the closer we get to April, the more it counts.”
She bit back a laugh and pulled on her cardigan. “I love how it’s always ‘we’ and ‘us’. You’re hilarious.”
“I bet you’re relieved you’re not being dragged to watch the game with me.” I kicked against the bottom of the locker, a low, constant, bang drumming through the lounge. Otto looked up from his charts to shoot daggers at me, but he didn’t deserve my mercy.
“These things are going to happen,” she said then, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “And you know how it gets over the festive season.”
Then a wild idea struck me, and I jumped up to block Rosemary’s path out of the lounge. “You’re my best friend.”
“Nic—”
“You’re my best friend, and you love me, and you don’t have any plans tonight.”
“I’ll have you know there’s an almost-expired box of Winnie Wong’s chop suey waiting for me at home,” she said.
“Please?” I dropped to my knees, hands folded, all dignity out the window. Otto huffed a laugh and went back to his admin. “I’ll do anything. I’ll— I’ll take Thanksgiving.”
Rosemary folded her arms over her chest. “We both have the day off on Thanksgiving.”
“Then I’ll take Christmas Eve,” I countered instantly. “I know you hate that one. Remember last year? Think about it. Your couch and a steaming mug of hot chocolate, instead of bed pans overflowing with—”
“I’ll cover for you, Nicole.”
We both turned to see Alice standing there, dark hair pulled back, fresh face, new-badge energy. She’d started a couple of months ago and still wanted so badly to impress everyone. Ivaguely remembered what that felt like, but I was in no state to have any kind of sympathy for her cause.
I leapt to my feet and crushed her in a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re saving my life. You have no idea. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
She blushed and hurried out of the nurses’ lounge, muttering something about it being no problem. Otto stared at me and shook his head slowly.
“You’re shameless.”
“Nobody asked you,” I said, already tearing off my scrubs.
*
Rosemary hovered by my door, eyes flicking to her phone. “Explain again why we had to stop here when warmups are about to start.”
I crossed the living room and grabbed the Surge jersey off the back of the chair, the fabric familiar against my hands. “Can’t catch a game without my lucky shirt.”
She watched me tug it on, mouth twisting. “Are you allowed to launder the shirt occasionally?”
I stared at her, genuinely concerned for her cognitive health. “And wash all the luck out of it? Are you insane?”
“Sure. I’m the one who’s insane,” she said, lifting her hands in surrender.
A dull thud carried through the wall, followed by the scrape of something heavy on the tile. Rosemary’s attention snapped to the shared hallway. “What was that?”
