Page 64 of Hockey Halloween

Teddy

After having been with the team for only a week, somehow Teddy had managed to pack her desk full of stuff.

Some of it was functional. Some decorative.

And a million random, neon sticky notes covered in ideas for the team were plastered all over.

As she peeled them off, each one made her heart ache for what could have been.

She’d been really excited about this job, and the creativity had flowed in a way it hadn’t in a long time for her personal social media career.

The Sinners had so much untapped potential.

“That is a serious office supply addiction.”

Teddy spun at the voice, and it took a second to place the woman. “Dr. Alexandra Kallen-Reese, or Kally as the team calls you. Sports Psychologist. Married to goalie Shane Reese.”

Kally raised a brow. “You did your homework on me.”

“On everyone in the organization before I applied for the job. Seemed like a good idea.”

Kally studied her quietly with something that looked like admiration mixed with amusement.

Teddy shrugged and glanced at the evidence of her addiction, the sea of hot pink, yellow, green, and blue notes waving from the surface of her desk and the cup of fun pens probably meant for children.

“And yeah. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right? They really must think I’m taking this hard if they sent a shrink for my exit interview. ”

Kally’s smile was empathetic as she dangled a bag of peach rings. “No one’s happy to see me until I bring out the candy.”

“That’s my favorite. How did you…” Was she really a psychic like everyone said? Wait. “Saralynn’s your sister-in-law. She saw me eating them a few days ago.” Family ties ran deep in this organization.

“I do my homework too. And actually, your boyfriend was the blabbermouth.” Kally set the bag of sweets on the desk then sat on a clean corner of it.

“He’s not my—it doesn’t matter anymore.” Teddy went back to peeling sticky notes, tucking them in her tote bag.

“Doesn’t it? By all accounts, you two have been pretty close. And I’m not talking about the video.”

Teddy bit her lip. “If I tell you something as a quasi-patient, you can’t tell anyone else, right?”

Kally crossed her heart with her finger.

“Archer and I weren’t really dating. I only met him a week ago, and it just seemed like we could help each other.

Me with him blending into the team because the man’s basically a shut-in.

And him with getting the guys to listen to my ideas.

But lines got blurred from the start, and last night, we erased them entirely.

And it was good . But then it was bad. You want to know the real irony?

The one thing I’ve built my professional life around is the thing that took it away along with a chance at a relationship with someone I honestly care about.

And no matter what is or might have been, I can’t be the one who gets between him and a second chance here. ”

“That’s very noble.”

Teddy shook her head. “It’s the right thing to do. Before I came here, nothing in my life was real. Not even me. But this past week, getting to know Archer…I feel like I know myself better. I know who I am and what I care about. He gave that to me. I can give this to him.”

Kally had as good a therapist face as anyone, but it seemed a little sadness tinged her otherwise steady, brown gaze. She glanced at the Post-its and picked on up that said DocTok. Tips from the sports psycho. She waved it with a raised brow and a smile.

Heat crept into Teddy’s face. “It’s shorthand. I thought fans would like hearing from you too, get some of the famous advice the team gets.”

“I like sports psycho. Lot of days in my office feel like that.” She paused, and her voice went from amused to gentle. “Don’t throw those away yet. No door is ever really closed until it’s locked.”

Teddy tried to puzzle that out and frowned. “They call you a Magic 8 Ball, but you’re more like a fortune cookie.”

“Finally, someone who gets me. All I’m saying is, this team has a way of coming through for each other. And you’re one of us, Teddy.”

The corner of Teddy’s mouth twitched. “You just met me.”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m all-knowing.” Kally winked and stood, walking toward Saralynn’s office. The woman might be an oracle. But she wasn’t a miracle-worker.

Archer was more or less useless in practice.

He tried to keep up with the drills but missed a lot of passes.

And shots on net. Normally this would result in an epic amount of teammate shit-talking.

Not today. It was like they all knew already and were pitying him, which just made it worse.

Even Coach Phlynn didn’t call him on half of his mistakes.

When he dropped heavy onto the locker room bench afterward, Cole sat beside him carefully on one side, Knight on the other.

Archer slid a hand through his hair. “Why does this feel like an intervention?”

“Did they fire her?” Cole’s voice was quiet, trying to keep the conversation private, which was a nice gesture but would ultimately be useless because secrets didn’t exist on this team.

“She quit before they could cut ties with me . And it was my fault. ”

His teammates absorbed that. Finally, Knight said, “She must really care about you.”

Archer’s stomach knotted. “She broke up with me too. Said it would be better for the team if we weren’t seen together.”

“You’re not just giving up, though, right?” Cole said it matter-of-factly, more a statement than a question as he removed tape and pads.

“What am I supposed to do? She was pretty clear. I have to respect that, don’t I?”

“You have to respect her ,” Knight chimed in. “But her whole thing is thinking outside the box, right? You gotta get creative. How would she fix this?”

Archer shrugged with a reluctant smile. “She’d probably make a video.”

The guys nodded. It clicked. There might be a way to fix what he’d broken. But it would require him to take a damn giant leap outside of his box. “I might need your help.”