“Was she nice?” Brynn asks, and I nod.
“She always is.”
She doesn’t call me out on my bullshit. “You know, I think I’m going to have to go home and start looking at some apartments. I haven’t—” I cut myself off, not wanting to tell them how much I didn’t believe I was going to be here, with a contract. As much as I wanted it, my imposter syndrome was impossible to ignore.
“Yeah, I got you,” Brynn says, hugging me tightly. I wrap my arms around her, enjoying the comforting feeling. She seems really good at this whole captain thing. “Let me know if you need anything: roommate, ashoulder, a supper, whatever.“
I pull back, thanking her and ducking away from the rest of the team, thanking the few who pat my back and congratulate me as I leave.
It’s not until I step foot into my hotel room that the emotions of the day overwhelm me, and I gasp for breath.Fuck, it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and tears are flooding down my cheeks as I regulate my breathing.
I did it.
I have a home.
Nine
Taylor
It’s another frustrating practice with Eloise beside me. I know she’s good at her job; that’s why it’s so hard to play against her. She can pick up my cues when I’m communicating, and she can make some decent plays when we’re in a scrimmage.
I won’t say I love playing with her yet; she does drive me up the wall when she taps her stick to her skates, or when she refuses to get off the ice before me. Sometimes, she’ll breathe near me loudly, and my hackles are raised, and it’s nothing like the way that Rosie played with me.
We intertwined well,playing off of each other in a seamless fashion that allowed for us to be creative and read where the other needed us. It’s what made us such a powerhouse of a defensive pairing.
I’m wondering if the coaches are thinking we’ll do the same, that Eloise and I will be a better pairing than Rosie and I. Somehow, I can’t picture it.
Maybe I’m still clouded in my judgement; ugh, that feels like something a therapist would say.
Shit. I have to book that appointment soon.
Well, do I have to? Brynn wouldn’t know, and I feelmuchbetter. I can get through breakfast without thinking of the blonde woman that Frank was fucking, so that’s nice.
Eloise and I are the last two on the ice, and I know she wants to keep practicing, and I want to keep practicing too, but sooner or later we’ll both be spent. Someone has to give here.
“Ah, perfect,” Coach says gruffly, and I know he’s pissed. “You’re both still here, going against my direct orders to hit the showers,” he mutters something else under his breath; the only way I can tell that he’s speaking is the way his moustache moves with each word.
Eloise stops what she’s doing and skates over, looking a little sheepish that she got caught. I give him a smile, trying to force him to smile back.
He does not.
“Sorry, Coach, just wanted to practice my wrist shots a bit more before tomorrow,” Eloise says. He raises an eyebrow at me, and I shrug.
“I was waiting for her to get off the ice.”
He rolls his eyes, and I can see Brynn in her workout gear coming down the tunnel. She’s got a big smile on her face, one that thins her lips and makes her radiant. Her hair is up in a ponytail that swings behind her.
It brushes her shoulder, and my eyes get stuck on the way that it sits at her neck. I’m enthralled with the way her neck pulses before Coach moves in the corner of my eye and I have to blink back to awareness.
My cheeks feel warm, and I can’t help but… no, I don’t wonder anything. I’m just glad my cheeks are probably still red from practice. Eloise has her dark brown eyes trained on me, and my insides squirm.Jeez. What is she looking at?
“I want you two to spend more time together off ice,“ he says and I try to argue but Eloise beats me to it.
“Coach, you’ll have to forgive me, but I was told to give her some space when I signed.”
He comes up short, and I wonder who told her that. I mean, great. She hasn’t listened much, though, has she, because she’s been up in my grill since the beginning of camp. He grumbles something, and I think it has a lot to do with princess behaviour. I would prickle under the assumption, but I didn’t put the ordinance in place.
“Too fucking bad.” He turns to me, and I put my hands up, at least trying to look innocent. “You’ve had a few days to get comfortable around each other, but you’re going to be linemates, and I need you two to be able to converse on the ice without even looking at each other.”
