Page 52

Brooke

We left the rink at about four in the morning, with five trash bags full of wet and torn-up clothes.

We all trudge up the apartment stairs silently and head into our respective apartments with little more than a wave.

Cami and I chuck the bags into the living room, and she heads to her bedroom, mumbling about sleep deprivation.

Looking at the bags, I know I don't have the luxury of time and start ripping into them, filling the sink to rinse them and figure out what I'm left with.

I quickly change into shorts and one of Grant's hoodies and get to work.

I'm about half a bag in when I see someone move out of the corner of my eye, making me jump, and I yank my AirPods out of my ears.

Standing in the middle of the living room is Grant, holding up two iced coffees and what looks like a greasy bag of heaven. We just stare at each other for a minute, and I bite my lip nervously.

"I knew you wouldn't go to sleep." He shrugs and steps forward, passing me a coffee.

"Cami's still asleep." I nod to the other coffee in his hand while fiddling with the straw of mine.

"Um, actually, this one's for me." He looks sheepish. "Figured it would be quicker if I helped."

We can blame the lack of sleep or the past two weeks, but I immediately burst into tears, and he rushed forward, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm just exhausted, and this night was really weird." I sniffle into him, gripping the back of his shirt, having missed being close to him.

"It's okay, I've been a dick, and I should have been here for you," he rushes out, stroking his fingers through my hair, soothing me.

"I told you to go leave me alone," I sob out, tears staining the front of his grey hoodie.

"Before tonight, Brooke. I should have listened to you on New Year's.

" He pulls back and brushes my hair out of my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb "You were struggling with The Drop, and Cami was ignoring you, and then I ended it because I thought you were ashamed of me and people knowing we were together. "

"I wasn't ashamed of you, I just needed time to make sure Cami was okay with it, but I should have spoken to you about that before." Rubbing my nose with the sleeve of his hoodie, looking up at him. "I felt lonely; I had all of you and then none of you."

"Shit, I'm so sorry Brooke." He brushes my cheek again, and I lean into his touch, instantly clicking back into how we were, and I see him lean in, but I know I'm not ready yet.

"Can we get through today, and then maybe we can talk it through?" I smooth my hands down his shirt against his chest, not pushing him away but creating some space between us before I make a mistake and let him straight back in before we talk this through.

"I would like that." He slips his hand from my cheek down to my hips, and I can feel myself getting lost in him again. I take a step back, nodding before I grab my coffee, taking a long sip, and sighing as the caffeine feels like it's kicking in.

"So, what are we looking at?" he asks, moving toward the dyed stuff I had already rinsed.

"I think it's going to come out a purplish colour." I sigh, brushing the back of my hand over my forehead, but it's splotchy on some items.

"Okay, so let's get them washed and dried?" he asks, holding one of them up. "But we are going to have to do this with machines. It's going to take too long by hand."

I groan at the thought of how long it's going to take to get these to the laundromat and washed. Grant pushes my iced coffee under my nose and grabs his own.

"We've got this." He knocks his coffee against mine, and I laugh. "Fuel yourself up."

"Yes, Captain."

Grant

We’ve finally washed everything and brought the bags back into the apartment. We salvaged what we could from the torn items, and Brooke has a plan in place.

“Hey, Sav,” she says into the phone, wedging it between her ear and shoulder as she lays the now washed and dried clothes out on the living room floor to see what we’ve got. “I’m sorry it’s early.”

It’s eight o’clock, and we’re both taking turns yawning and encouraging each other.

“I have a problem with some of The Drop, and I need someone who can sew?”

I’m pulling out the collection of sweatpants. Weirdly, whoever cut them only snipped them at the calf, but they’ve still ruined thirty pairs of perfectly good sweatpants.

“Lifesaver, could you get here at noon?” After hanging up with Savannah, she puts the phone down and surveys my work.

“Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but what about his and hers shorts?” She bites her lip while tucking the legs of the sweatpants under to make them look shorter. “I can get Sav to take some of them in.”

“That’s a great idea that could work; half of them are dyed the same colour.”

“Okay, and what about all the scraps?” I nod encouragingly, waiting for her to continue. “Scrunchies and headbands?”

Again, that’s a perfect use of the torn-up Drop.

“Drop it in February for Valentine’s,” I say, an idea forming in my head. “His and hers, and it gives you more time to fix it?”

“Only like a two-week extension, but it could work.” She sighs, dropping to the floor and lying back with her hair fanned out around her.

“Okay, we’ve got a plan.” I clap my hands together as I stand over her.

“I’ve got a plan, and you’ve got hockey.” She sighs, looking up at me.

“I can do both,” I say instantly.

“Grant…” she groans.

“I’m committed to hockey, Brooke.” I crouch down next to her. “But I’m also ready to be committed to you; I promise I can do both.”

She stares up at me for a moment before sighing, sitting up and crossing her legs. “You’ve never been able to do it before, though, right?” She plays with the hem of what I’m fairly sure is my hoodie.

“I can do it with you.” I reach out and take her hands. She's right; I didn’t want to do it before, but that was because of Grace. I had been made to feel like I needed to stretch myself, and even then, it still wasn’t enough.

It's not like that with Brooke; this is different.

“We weren’t on the same page, but we are now.

I want this. I want you.” Her eyes widen, staring at me, and then she leans up and wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me.

I lose my balance and try not to crush her as we end up lying on the floor.

I smile, pulling her closer, knowing sometimes she just needs physical touch to feel safe.

“Maybe we can start with a nap?” she mumbles into my neck, and I nod, not wanting to push her too far too quickly.

“Okay, I’ll head back over when you wake up,” I say, pulling away. She smiles up at me and shakes her head before standing up and pulling me toward her bedroom.

“Are we napping together?” I ask as we walk into her room. She crawls onto the bed, and I follow, wrapping my arms around her.

“I sleep better with you here, and I need a good sleep,” she murmurs into the pillow, and I smile into her neck.

“Yeah, me too.”