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“All this over a girl? I should’ve known.” Coach Young groans. “You two are both under contract with this organization. End of story. I don’t care if you’re friends outside of work, but when you’re on the ice, you are teammates.”

Tom steps forward, the tension in his stance tells me he’s pissed. Luckily, he’s not as hot-tempered as Coach. “If this fight had happened in a more public space, we’d be up all night with the PR team handling the aftermath. It would be smart to remember to act professional and uphold the reputation of this organization.”

“Yes, sir,” I say.

Travis grunts, seeming inconvenienced by this whole meeting.

“I don’t want to have you two in my office over girl drama again. Get your asses out of here and behave like adults,” Coach says, then points to the door, dismissing us.

As soon as we’re out the door, Travis takes off in the direction of the parking lot. As I walk toward the main hallway where I’m hoping Noel waited for me, I have a minute to cool down. I’ve never hit anyone outside of a hockey game, and even during games, I’m not a fighter. I’m usually the one encouraging everyone to get along, lightening the mood. But something came over me when that jerk was saying things that I knew would hurt Noel.

I flex my hand; my knuckles are red and sore from punching Travis’s face. But I have no regrets. He deserved it. I hate that I have to play nice with this guy and learn to get along with him. Maybe I’ll imagine someone else’s face whenever I see him from now on.

When I finally enter the main hallway, Noel sees me and comes running to greet me. She throws her arms around my neck and whatever anger that was seething through me, is soothed away by the contact. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper.

“Are you okay?” She asks quietly, I can feel her lips against my neck.

“I am now.” I pull back so she can see that I’m smiling.

“I waited to say goodbye, but I have to get Gram home. She puts on a brave face, but this is pretty late for her.”

Glancing at the clock above the locker room door, I see it’s almost eleven. I ignore the feeling of disappointment that she has to head out and we can’t talk more about this.

Noel takes in my expression. “I know it’s late, but you could come over in an hour. After I’ve dropped Gram off.”

I’m exhausted from the game, but the relief that we don’t have to say goodnight yet overpowers it. “Yeah, I’ll come over. I don’t want to end the evening like this.”

“Me either.”

* * *

An hour later, I’m standing at Noel’s door dressed down in black joggers, tennis shoes, and a grey long-sleeved Eagles tee. I hear a door creak behind me, and glance over my shoulder. Sure enough, her creepy neighbor is peeking at me through a crack in his door. It’s past midnight, why is he even awake?

She needs to find a new apartment.

Better yet, she can live at my house… as my wife. Too soon, Colby, too soon.

Noel opens the door, grabbing my wrist and dragging me inside similar to last time I was here. We stand right inside her apartment and gaze at each other for a moment. It feels like we’re both looking at each other with new eyes, like something has changed, something has pivoted. The tension between us feels thicker tonight, the way she’s looking at me seems different. She’s looking at me like I’m her hero. I could get drunk on that look.

“Hi,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say.

“Hey,” she whispers back.

She’s wearing black, silk, button-down pajamas and her face is free of make-up. The lights in her apartment are off except for a lamp beside her couch where a book is laying open. I wonder if she was reading while she waited for me to arrive. I wish I could be here with her all the time, that we could lay on the couch curled up together, reading our books. She’d give me commentary on The Fellowship of the Ring right as I was reading it and tell me little tidbits and historical facts about J. R. R. Tolkien. Then I would appreciate the stories even more, because I’d have that memory forever.

Finally, she takes a step away from me into the living room.

“Come on in, let’s sit down.”

I follow her into the small living room. Her entire apartment could fit inside my kitchen.

She takes a seat on the couch, folding her legs beneath her.

I sit beside her, resting my hand on her thigh, needing to touch her. “So, uh… that was intense.”

“I can’t apologize enough. Obviously, I haven’t kept tabs on Travis, but last I knew he was in the minor leagues. I had no idea he was in the NHL, and I still can’t wrap my head around him being your teammate.”

“I’d apologize for hitting him… but I’d be lying,” I admit, making her laugh.