Page 12

I’m about to make Monday my bitch.

The team reports to camp next week, which means we need to get our asses in gear if we want to have a shot at making the playoffs this year.

This week will be full of meetings—some with players who are already in town, but even more will be meetings with the coaching and training staff to get everything dialed in before camp.

That is exactly why I need Lincoln Scott to stop being a major pain in my ass.

This whole avoidance thing he’s got going on isn’t going to get us anywhere.

To be honest, it’s a recipe for disaster, which is exactly what I plan to tell him today.

I make a quick stop at this cute coffee shop I found downtown this weekend.

Gold Coast Coffeehouse is quickly becoming a favorite spot of mine.

Not only does it serve amazing coffee and food, there’s also live music.

Sadie about lost her mind when I told her they serve vegetarian and vegan breakfast foods.

I have a feeling she’ll be visiting sooner rather than later.

The apartment I found was vacant, so I was able to move in over the weekend.

And by move in, I mean I set up an air mattress and unpacked my suitcases while I wait for the furniture I ordered to arrive.

One of the perks of finding an apartment so close to the rink is that I’m within walking distance of downtown and can get my favorite coffee on the way to work daily.

With my caramel pistachio espresso in hand, I make my way to Satan’s office.

“Knock, knock.”

Link looks up from his desk and motions me inside.

“You know, you don’t need to say ‘knock, knock’ as you actually proceed to knock on my door, right?”

Of course, the first thing out of his mouth is a smartass comment.

Ignore it, Ellie.

Focus.

I take a few steps into his office.

“Duly noted. Mind if I sit? I want to go over some personnel changes I have in mind for our penalty kill.”

Link looks at me skeptically.

“This isn’t something that can wait a couple hours? We have a coaches’ meeting scheduled at eleven.”

I take a seat even though he never answered my question.

“Well, under normal circumstances, this could totally wait. Unfortunately, this isn’t a normal circumstance.”

With a long exhale, Lincoln drops his pen and leans back in his fancy leather chair.

He rests both hands behind his head and his ankle up on his other knee, but says nothing.

I guess that’s my cue to continue.

“Please don’t sit here and pretend things are all hunky-dory between us.”

With the speech I rehearsed at the ready, I try to continue but he interrupts me.

“I’m sorry. Did you just say ‘hunky-dory’ and expect me to take you seriously?”

I scoff.

“What’s wrong with ‘hunky-dory’?”

“What’s right with ‘hunky-dory’?”

Is he serious right now?

Is it his mission in life to get under my skin every chance he gets?

Actually, it probably is.

He’s that type of person .

“Sorry. Let me try again. Please don’t sit here and pretend that you haven’t been avoiding me since I found you on the ice last week. I understand why you’d be embarrassed. No one really plans for anyone to witness them during a vulnerable moment. But I wasn’t judging you. I’d never do that.” I’d never tell Link, but seeing him like that had me pretty worried.

He must be carrying some heavy shit for it to come down on him hard enough that he had a panic attack.

I watch as his jaw tics and I think I can actually hear his teeth grinding.

“Montgomery. I’m not sure what you think you saw, but I just worked myself a little too hard on the ice and couldn’t catch my breath. Nothing more.”

He has got to be kidding me.

There is no way that this beautiful specimen of a man was out of breath after skating a few laps.

Obviously, I can’t say those words out loud, but he clearly thinks I’m an idiot if he thinks I’ll believe him.

“Link, come on. You don’t want to tell me what you’re battling? Fine. But don’t sit here and lie to my face. I won’t be treated as less than and I sure as hell won’t be taken for an idiot.”

He opens and closes his mouth.

That seems to get his attention, so I keep going while I have the chance.

“You know as well as anyone that I’m not going to give anything less than my all. I can’t do my job if you won’t let me. I can’t be your assistant coach if you can’t even be in the same room as me. I want to do my job, Link. I want to prove to every asshole out there that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. You think you can let me do that?”

Link sits up in his chair as if he’s starting to take me seriously.

He rests his arms on his desk and folds his hands together in front of him.

Finally, he nods.

“You’re right. I’ve been avoiding you. I was embarrassed you found me the way you did, but I can’t avoid my assistant coach. That was extremely unprofessional of me. I know you don’t owe me anything, but I sure as shit owe you an apology for how I spoke to you that day. Let me start there. I’m sorry I lashed out at you. It won’t happen again.” He hesitates for a second and drops his eyes to his hands.

Looking back up at me, he takes a deep breath and asks, “Could you do me a favor and not tell anyone what happened last week on the ice?”

I pick my jaw up off the floor as soon as I realize my mouth is hanging open.

Did Lincoln Scott just take responsibility and apologize to me?

I was expecting more pushback, maybe a few insults, but definitely not an apology.

What is even more surprising is the sincerity in his eyes.

Link has given me a lot of looks with those eyes, but sincerity is a first.

What’s a girl to do when those gorgeous green eyes are peering into my soul?

So I do the only thing my brain can muster.

I nod and say, “Okay.”

After Link apologized, we were able to go over the penalty kill changes I had been wanting to try out and he was 100 percent on board.

When we went into the meeting, it felt good that we were on the same team for once.

The rest of the staff was completely supportive of the changes too.

Well, except at one point, I could’ve sworn I saw Grayson roll his eyes.

He’s still salty that I’m in charge of special teams even though everyone and their mother knows I’m far more qualified than he is.

It’s finally lunchtime.

I’m about to head out the front doors to the parking lot when I hear Hunter call out, “Coach Ellie, wait up!”

I wait and hold the door open for Hunter as his arms seem to be full of…

what is that?

“Hunter, is that a boombox from the ’90s? And how many yoga mats could one man possibly need? ”

“It’s actually from the ’80s,” he says, pushing his black-rimmed glasses up on his nose.

Hunter is totally one of those guys you’d have a glasses kink for.

His eyes are a light brown, almost golden in color, and they pop in contrast to his dark hair.

A five o'clock shadow covers his chiseled jaw. I’m sure girls were throwing their panties at him left and right in college.

He falls into step next to me. “A guy can never have too many yoga mats. I always bring a backup. I had a very unfortunate incident that involved a tall glass of green juice and my favorite yoga mat. It had the constellations on it and it was never the same after that.”

I can’t help it. I snort. He is a clone of Sadie. I mean, it's freaky how similar the two are.

“Hunter, do you have a long lost sister by chance?”

He stops and contemplates my question for a bit too long.

I’m starting to wonder if they actually were separated at birth or something.

After far too many seconds pondering this, he finally answers, “No, I don’t think so. My parents claim I’m an only child but I do feel lost some days. Like I have a connection that’s missing in my life.”

My god.

They are twins.

I shake my head.

“Well, Hunter, I have a feeling you won’t be feeling so lost after you meet my best friend, Sadie. I think she’s your missing piece. Did you need me for something? I’m about two minutes away from turning full blown hangry and nobody wants to be around for that.”

He picks up the pace next to me and asks, “Well, I was hoping maybe you’d want to get lunch together? Grayson is a total dick and I want to avoid the arena kitchen area at all costs if possible. If I have to hear him bitch about another unsuccessful date, I might need a lobotomy.”

I walk with Hunter to his car and help him open his trunk.

Would you believe me if I told you there were two more yoga mats in his trunk?

“I’d love to get lunch with you. I get a salad and coffee from Gold Coast most days, but today I don’t think that’ll be enough. Any ideas?”

He puts his boombox—this guy is seriously carrying around a boombox like John Cusack in Say Anything .

I can’t even handle it—in his trunk, and drops his yoga mats down after.

He turns to me as he’s closing his trunk.

“Well, there’s this new Mexican place that just opened up downtown that I’ve been dying to try.”

“ Tacos! ” I say, just a tad too enthusiastically.

Who am I kidding?

There’s no such thing as being too excited for tacos.

“I’m so in. You want to drive together? We can take my car or yours. It doesn't matter to me.”

Hunter walks to his driver’s door and smirks. “Ellie, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t drive you to our first lunch date?”

I smile. “No gentleman at all, Hunter. Let’s go.”

We order a flight of tacos each. That’s right. They sell flights of tacos. This is the greatest thing to happen to me since moving here.

I’m about halfway through my flight when I notice Hunter looking down at his phone. He doesn’t look happy. I’m not sure what that look is, but I’ve never been good about minding my own business.

“What’s staring back at you on that phone? Did Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfield break up? No, wait, don’t answer that. If you say yes, I’ll need tequila and it’s only lunchtime. So maybe wait until the end of the day if that’s what’s got your face lookin’ like that.”

Hunter drops his phone and gives me a peculiar look. “Who?”

Shaking my head, I pick up my pulled pork taco and take a bite. I moan. It may have been a little inappropriate but this taco is that good. This taco is making me feel better than any man has in a very long time .

Sigh. Don’t go there, Ellie. It’s too depressing to think about.

I look back at Hunter who is still staring at me with his curious eyes. “Sorry, never mind. But seriously, what’s up? You were staring at that screen with this weird look on your face.” I gesture to my own and try to mimic the look he had. “Everything okay?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. After I landed this job, my girlfriend—well, I guess I should say my ex-girlfriend—gave me an ultimatum. It was either take this job and lose her, or stay where I was, completely unfulfilled in a job that was sucking the life out of me, and keep her.”

I take a sip of my water and give him a minute to sort out his thoughts. I feel like he has more to say so I stay quiet.

“Well, as you can see, I took this job and lost her. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows before that anyway. It was a long time coming and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I just saw she’s already dating someone new. A coworker we spent a bunch of time with, and I can’t help but wonder if something was going on there the entire time. I don’t know. Just feels really shitty.”

He seems to be done talking, so I tread carefully when I give him what little advice I can about a failed relationship.

“Hunter, you can’t go there. It’s just going to eat you alive. The fact of the matter is you’re here now, and you’re clearly better off without someone like that in your life. If she couldn’t see how unhappy you were in your last job, she clearly didn’t know you well. If she did see how unhappy you were and she didn’t care, well…that’s toxic. Whether she was seeing that guy while still with you or not, it’s over. My dad always tells me, ‘You can’t keep looking back. Keep moving forward.’ I have a feeling good things are going to come for you, Hunter. She’s not worth it.”

He nods once, seeming to let my words sink in, then takes a bite of his taco and moans .

I snort and ask, “Is that the pulled pork?”

“Yes, oh my god. It’s almost as good as sex. I mean…not all sex.”

And now I’m choking on my water.

“Shit, Ellie. I didn’t mean to go there. Let’s forget I said ‘sex’ in front of you. Back to what you were saying. You’re right. I need to just focus on the here and now. Thanks. I think I’ll block her on my socials. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that, right?”

I’m attempting to wipe up the water I regurgitated all over myself but give up. I’m going to need a new shirt. “Right.”

He swallows the food he’s chewing then asks me a question I’m less than prepared for, “What’s going on in your dating life, Ellie? Got a lucky man waiting for you at home?”

Thank god I’m not taking a drink of water again or I think I would’ve spit it out in his face. “No, no. No time for that. I’m only the second ever female coach in the NHL. That’s about all the pressure and commitment I can handle right now. I like being alone.”

Hunter laughs. “Yeah, I get that. But don’t get so wrapped up in it that you forget there’s more out there. This job could be even better if you have someone you can come home to after a long day. Especially on long days you have to interact with Grayson. You deserve a teammate outside of work too, Ellie.”

He isn’t wrong there. Grayson sucks.

I pick up my last taco and attempt to enjoy every last bite, but I can’t stop thinking about what Hunter said. Am I so wrapped up in proving people wrong that I’m not actually living a life outside of work?

Do I actually like being alone?

I don’t think I do.