Connor Grieves:You were asking for it wearing those tight-ass pants.
Billy Callahan:These thighs are a public service.
Theo Cramer:I hate this team.
Connor Grieves:You love us. Especially when we’re sweaty and angry.
Theo Cramer:Don’t flatter yourselves. I’m only here for the adrenaline and unresolved tension.
Wilder Ranslavic:Same. And the post-game showers.
Connor Grieves:Wow. Straight to jail.
Theo Cramer:Says the guy who stripped his jersey off the second the buzzer hit.
Connor Grieves:It was hot. Physically. And emotionally.
Billy Calhahan:Refs screwed us, but at least we looked good losing.
Wilder Ranslavic:That’s the real win.
Connor Grieves:Hey Patty, you alive?
Billy Callahan:Yo, Patty. You would have shit yourself if you were there tonight.
Theo Cramer:I miss Patterson. He kept you idiots in check.
Wilder Ranslavic:Same.
Jamie Patterson:I leave for ten minutes and the team goes to shit.
Billy Callahan:We need you, daddy.
Jamie Patterson:You are seriously mentally ill.
God, I miss those guys. When I joined the team six years ago, I never thought I’d be this close to my teammates, but we really are like brothers. Callahan and I were drafted together, Theo and Wilder were on the team before I got there, and Connor is the rookie. We get along great on and off the ice. It’s better that way when you’re constantly travelling together.
The guys don’t know about Ellie or the life I had before coming to the Storm. It was never really a topic of conversation. All they know is that I never wanted to be tied down. Theo and Callahan are married men, and Wilder has a long-term girlfriend that he’s been with since high school. It’s only Connor and I that are the single ones, and Connor is probably going to fuck his way through his rookie year anyway.
When I went out on LTIR, I thought I’d be sitting at home alone wallowing in self-pity. I never expected to end up coaching.
The last thing I expected was Ellie. No, correction. The last thing I expected waslivingwith Ellie.
How is it possible that I haven’t seen her in years, and the minute she’s in front of me again, I feel like I need her?
There’s gotta be some psychological word for that right? I mean, yeah. She looked like a goddess, and seeing the way she’s turned into this… this woman. This accomplished, beautiful woman. I’m actually proud of her.
She’s doing what she always wanted to do, and I know she worked her ass off to get here. Her perseverance always impressed me. It inspired me.
She never knew that, and she probably never will. But Ellie Monroe, she helped me keep going even when I wanted to quit. She thought I was training so hard to keep my mind off my dad, but I was only trying to be more like her.
And then I left her.
What a fucking idiot.
Chapter 8
Ellie
