For the first time all day I lean back and let myself relax.
Tomorrow is the final.
Wolves again.
And we already proved once this weekend that they’re beatable.
Hopefully we can do it again. And with Shaw still in one piece.
28
ZANE
I don’t plan to go to her room the next morning, but I want to tell her about the conversation I overheard before we play the final today.
She looks better than she did yesterday. Still tired, still a little pale, but steadier. The bandage at her collarbone is hidden under a loose top, but I know it’s there.
“Morning,” she says.
“Morning.”
I step inside. Her room feels… contained. Separate from the rest of the team already moving through their routines downstairs.
It hits me again how removed she is from all of it.
Fromus.
“I came to tell you something,” I say.
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not,” I say quickly. Then, “Well… maybe a little.”
I step further into the room, running a hand through my hair.
“I was at the bar last night. Couple of scouts were there.”
That gets her attention.
“They were talking about you,” I add.
“What about me?”
“That you’re good,” I say simply. “Really good.”
She huffs out a quiet breath, almost like a laugh.
“It doesn’t matter,” she says. “It’s not like I can get scouted for a pro team.”
True.
And not.
“People are asking questions,” I say. “About where you came from. Why you don’t do interviews. Why you’re never with the team.”
She looks away.
“That’s going to get harder to explain,” I add quietly.
