Chapter 13
Ethan
My body aches from the lack of sleep. The gnawing pain that sometimes haunts me is shooting down my arm and leg.
Drawing my stick back, I slap the puck, but my aim is off.
It hits the boards behind the net, and Tyler Kane retrieves it before the other team has the chance.
Kane dodges the defenseman, attempting to block his shot, and taps the puck between his legs to Will.
This time, Will reaches the net. The puck sails past the goaltender’s skate, and the goal horn sounds throughout the arena.
I slap the helmets and backs of my teammates, celebrating our first win of the postseason.
Less than a minute is left on the game clock.
The chances of the Capitals beating us are slim to none, though not entirely out of the question.
I had nothing to do with this win. My shitty playing could’ve cost us.
Luckily, it didn’t.
Over five years ago, Alex Parker was traded to the Flyers from the Caps. He exchanges a few words with one of his former teammates, a guy he used to live with back in D.C., before he skates back to the bench with us.
“Nice shot, Romeo,” Parker says to Will, nudging him with his elbow.
Will grins. “Thanks, man.”
We look up to Kane, Parker, and Donovan more than the other players on the team. They have more experience and time in the league, and their close relationship has helped build our young team up to secure our position in the playoffs. And I feel like I’m blowing it for my team.
Will skates alongside me and taps my arm with his glove. “Dude, what’s up with you?”
I shrug off his concern. “Nothing.”
“Your head wasn’t in the game,” he counters.
We take our places on the bench and drop our sticks.
I strip off my gloves and then my helmet, wiping the sweat from my brows. “I’m just tired. I haven’t slept much since the apartment flooded.”
After the other night, thoughts of Mia have taken over my mind. No matter how much I try to shake our encounter in her kitchen, I can’t seem to find my focus. I never allow distractions to get in the way of my game. But Mia is a hard woman to forget.
“Me, too,” Will says, dropping his gloves on the ground. “The bed in Mia’s guest room is hard as a rock. Remind me to get her a new one.”
“Try sleeping on the couch. We were supposed to switch up every other night, and you’ve been hogging up the bed.”
He wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead and snorts. “No, I haven’t. I offered it to you last night, and you went out instead. Where did you go?”
“I needed some air. Went for a walk.”
While that part is true, I had to leave the apartment.
Mia was wearing spandex shorts and a tight tank top that made me so fucking hard I couldn’t stand being around her, not with Will in the same house.
I walked around Center City for so long that I hadn’t realized I was gone for over two hours until Mia texted me, asking me where I went.
I slipped into the apartment with the key she had made for me and crashed on the couch.
Will had already passed out, though I kept my distance from Mia.
I made a stupid mistake that almost cost my team this game.
Sneaking around with Mia behind Will’s back produces intense guilt inside me.
I should tell him how I feel about his sister and stop acting like a pussy.
My feelings for her are interfering with my game and my friendship.
But how will he respond when I tell him?
Will is like family, and after losing my brother, I can’t take the risk of losing him, too.
“We get to sleep in a hotel tonight,” he says.
I nod. “Yeah, thank God for that. I need to sleep on a decent mattress.”
“What are you two over here bitching about?” Parker asks with a smirk on his face.
“We’re crashing with my sister until our condo is fixed,” Will says, peeling off his helmet with a loud sigh. “Her apartment is small, and the bed sucks.”
“And Will thinks he’s too good to sleep on the couch,” I add.
Parker smirks. “Sleeping at someone else’s house sucks. I remember when Charlotte forced me to live with her.”
He’s referring to my agent, Charlotte ‘Coach’ Coachman—now Parker and his wife. Coach represents most of the guys on the team. She’s one of the top agents in the business and aggressive as hell.
Will cocks his head in Parker’s direction. “Coach forced you to live with her?”
He nods. “Yeah, when I was drinking all the time. She wouldn’t help me unless she could keep tabs on me. But she got my life and career back on track. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if not for her.”
Interesting.
I knew Parker had a puck bunny problem and an alcohol addiction a few years back. But I had no idea Coach was the reason for his sudden change of heart. With Mia back in my life, I want to be what she needs. But ten years ago, my addiction forced us apart.
Knowing Coach helped Parker get his shit together makes me want to confess to Mia why I left her ten years ago without as much as a goodbye.
She deserved so much better than me. I knew it then, and I know it now.
Mia could have anyone, and yet she wants me for some reason.
I’m broken, unable to overcome the past that still haunts me.
She has no idea how much of a mess I am on the inside.
I can’t offer her anything more than sex.
When the horn blares, signaling the end of the game, the area erupts into a mixture of boos and cheers. We beat the home team and weren’t expecting a standing ovation. My performance doesn’t deserve one. I have to do better. I need to be better for myself and my team.
After I shower and change, I grab my cell phone and text Mia.
Ethan
We won our first game.
Mia
Congrats! So happy for you, E.
Ethan
Wish you were here.
I miss you.
This time, the chat bubble doesn’t pop up on my screen. And after a few minutes, there’s still no reply from Mia.
Shit, what did I just do?
It’s the truth.
I do miss her.
I’ve wanted to spend time alone with Mia for days, but it’s been a challenge with Will around.
“Waters, you ready?” Kane says from behind me. “Time to go.”
I glance over my shoulder at Kane, Will, and a few other players waiting for me to leave for the hotel. Nodding, I shove the phone into my pocket, wondering if my feelings for Mia are one-sided.
I sure as hell hope not.