She arches a brow.
“But we could cover some things.” I shrug, going for nonchalant. “Keeping it professional, of course.”
“Of course,” she agrees. “It’s just, we haven’t done that since…” She looks away, bringing her whiskey glass to her lips.
No. We haven’t done it since that night. The night that everything changed. And then it changed again.
“Fine.” She interrupts my thoughts, and with a deep breath, she says, “Working and living with you is harder than I thought it would be. I want to be there for Avery, but I don’t know how to do that without stepping on toes. I’m a better goalie than you ever were.”
I chuckle, a little levity flowing through me. “Well, we know the last one is true.”
She shakes her head. “No. That was the lie.”
Before I can wrap my head around what she said about Avery, she clears her throat.
“Now you go.”
I examine her in the moonlight. She’s rushing through this, but fuck do I want to slow us down. I don’t want to just get through things with Adeline. I want to know her again. I want her to know me. I want us to be friends. At the very least.
“You’re a better goalie than anyone in this league. I’m lucky you’re my coach. It’s impossible to not tell you my every thought.”
She snorts. “All lies, really?”
All truths, actually. But I don’t tell her that. “The coach thing was a lie,” I fib. “Because right now I’m a shitty goalie and you’re a shitty coach.”
With a hand to her heart, she says, “Ouch.” She takes another healthy sip of her whiskey and looks out over the skyline. “But you’re not wrong. I have been a shitty coach. But that changes tonight.”
I raise my brows. “Really?”
Tongue in her cheek, she nods. “It’s up to me not to blow this for myself. No one else can do that for me. So I need to get over this rivalry I have with you and Dirk.” She shakes her head. “You guys won, right?”
Fire flares inside me, and not from the alcohol. “Fuck him. That piece of shit doesn’t deserve to be on the same ice as you.”
She gives me a wobbly smile. “Thanks.”
I shake my head. “I’m serious.”
“So, um, truce?” Her brown eyes lock on mine, wary.
“One condition?”
She lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Jeez, you act like I’m the only one responsible for this little rift.”
Little rift.Like the jagged canyon that has existed between us for the last four years could ever be categorized as something so minuscule. But she needs us to figure out this working relationship, and I do want to move forward—need it, in fact—so I don’t press on that sore point. “We promised Avery that we’d teach her how to skate. Do that with me?”
Her eyes light up. “I will always keep my promises to Avery.”
I nod, my heart settling again. “Then I think you and I will be just fine.”
FOURTEEN
ADDIE
I wakeup earlier than usual to give myself time to get in the right headspace. While I focused on righting things with JJ last night, I need to deal with Dirk today.
The problem is, my head is still a mess.
I’d like to say that the two truths and a lie exercise helped get JJ and me back on track. But there’s no forgetting what he did with that piece of ice.
