Page 8

Chapter Eight

D rills had lasted for fucking ever on account of my shitty start to the night. Somehow, I managed to pull it together for the second half of practice, but even still, Coach really wanted to send the message home that half-hearted playing would not be tolerated.

I got it. It was how we upheld our status as one of the best teams in the NHL. It was good for us to be broken down mentally and rebuilt stronger. Tougher.

But I’d be lying if I said that my body didn’t feel like it was on the brink of collapsing. The guys blamed me, some for not being able to get home to their families. The younger ones for not being able to make the dates they’d had scheduled.

Little did they know that I had just as much reason to want to get home as they did.

And I’d tried to get us out of there. I really had. The entire rest of practice, I’d been able to lock in, feeling a sense of relief that Cassie had somewhere safe to stay for the night.

But when I walked into my condo later in the night, the darkness made me pause. Had Maggie ignored me? Left Cassie to fend for herself somewhere else?

Then I saw the faint light of the television coming from the living room, and I felt the tension evaporate.

I dropped my duffel bag by the door and walked over to the couch to find her sleeping beneath a blanket. I couldn’t help but stare, finding an odd sense of ease in the presence of another person in my usually desolate space.

I hadn’t really known what to make of the worry I’d felt at the thought of her not being here. And I sure as hell didn’t expect to feel so relieved when I saw that she was.

As if sensing me, she stirred, blinking up at me with bleary blue eyes. Immediately, she shifted into a sitting position as if caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Hi,” she whispered, rubbing her eyes.

“Hi,” I said, dropping down next to her.

“I’m here again,” she murmured, voice guilty.

“I can tell.” I smirked to myself, amused.

I sank into the cushions, not able to help the exhale that escaped as my body finally relaxed. I hadn’t realized it, but I must’ve been carrying around an unspoken tension for longer than I thought.

“Sorry for being in your space,” she said, voice still thick with sleepiness.

“Sorry you had a shitty day,” I responded, grateful for the darkness that would hide the faint smile tugging at my lips.

She sighed, glancing back at the TV. “Nothing a few episodes of Friends can’t fix,” she stated wearily as if trying to force herself to believe it.

I stared at the screen, content to just sit in silence with someone. It was nice. Peaceful, even. We watched for a while, nearly reaching the end of an episode when she broke the silence.

“Who’s your favorite Friends character?” She stared over at me expectantly.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I never watched it.”

This, apparently, was too much for her to handle.

“What!” she screeched, her posture going rigidly straight. “You’ve never seen Friends ? How could you be a—How old are you?”

“Twenty-six,” I answered.

“How could you be a twenty-six-year-old who has never seen Friends ?” she cried in outrage.

I felt my lips threatening to pull up into a smile again and found it odd that, after all this time, this girl, of all people, was the one who was able to pull them out of me.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’ve always been busy doing other things.”

Like training, watching hockey, playing hockey, and working out, it kept a guy busy.

She scoffed as if my words offended her. But then, the scene playing out in front of us caught her attention, and her eyes were back on the screen.

Two of the characters were fighting, yelling at each other about how maybe they just needed to take some space from each other. The guy, evidently pissed, stormed off. Cassie, apparently invested, started to get teary. This time I figured, instead of being an asshole, I’d just let her ride out the feelings. Besides, it was a comedy show. I knew that much. It wasn’t as if it would end on a sad note or anything.

Then, it got worse. The guy went to some bar and started dancing with another woman. I thought to myself, This is right when he’s going to call his girlfriend. I mean, that’s what I would do if I had one. But instead, he took it a step further and kissed the new girl.

I looked over to the spot next to me, knowing this was probably hitting too close to home for Cassie. Sure enough, there were tears welling up in her eyes. I shifted awkwardly, not knowing what to do if she started crying again. I was sure that pulling her in for a hug would be overstepping, and I had never been one for physical contact with people, anyway. But for some reason, I had the most bizarre urge to reach for her and tell her it would be okay.

Of course, being sane, I didn’t.

“I thought Dave and I were Chandler and Monica, but we’re Ross and Rachel,” she said, starting to blubber. “And I hate Ross and Rachel.”

Lost, I scrambled for words of comfort. “You’re not Ross and Rachel,” I said, trying to follow her analogy. “You can be Monica or whoever it is you want. Dave’s just a dick. Not part of the equation.”

She wiped the tears away from her face. “Yeah.” She sniffed. “You’re right. I mean, I’m the same age as they are in season one. My whole Friends arc is just starting. I should thank Dave because he probably started my plot line for me.”

I nodded along in confusion, but hey, if it was making her feel better, I could go along with whatever code she was using. “Right. Exactly.”

“I should get to bed,” she said, standing up from the couch. “Don’t want to be tired for work tomorrow. I already missed a day.” She bit her lip guiltily.

“Okay,” I said, feeling a strange sense of regret at the loss of her presence. “Goodnight.”

She stood, gathering the blanket around her shoulders as she turned to go, granting me a smile more like sunshine than anything else I’d ever seen in my life. Then she left, leaving me there to linger in the darkness.

I rubbed a hand over my face. I must’ve been lonelier than I ever imagined. It was the only way to explain why I was so unbothered by her being here. I liked knowing that while she was sleeping in my house, she’d be comfortable and kept safely away from dickheads.

She might be upset right now, but I saw what she couldn’t. That the loss of that guy wasn’t a loss at all. Unless you counted the dead weight being lifted off her shoulders, I knew before long that guy would be a thing of the past. A blip in her rearview mirror.

I sat there in the darkness of the living room as the next episode started to play. To my surprise, I found myself snorting out a laugh at some of the corny jokes. Not the kind of humor that usually landed with me, but somehow, it didn’t seem so bad tonight.

It wasn’t going to be so bad having her here, either. I was just being a good guy, helping out my sister’s friend who’d had a rough time. I had the space. It’d be selfish not to share it, right? Anyone would want to help out a good person who had already been through enough. That’s all it was.

When I finally dragged myself to bed, I found sleep came easier than usual. I told myself it was just the satisfaction of knowing I’d done the right thing. Nothing more than that.