Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
ALEC
We’re playing an afternoon game on Sunday, so even though it’s only ten AM, I’m already dressed and ready to head to the arena. With how we’ve been missing each other, I’m surprised to find Evie in the kitchen, drinking a mug of tea while she scrolls on her phone. Juno is in some kind of baby seat thing in the living room. It’s rocking back and forth, the colorful toys hanging over her head swaying from the motion of the seat.
When I step into the kitchen, Evie looks up, and her mouth falls open.
I’ve always appreciated the tradition of game-day suits—I like having a reason to dress up—but Evie’s expression makes it even more worth it.
“Wow,” Evie says. “You look really nice.”
“Yeah?” I slide a hand down my tie, then hook my thumbs on the edge of my pants pockets.
Evie is wearing her overalls again, and she’s barefoot, looking perfectly relaxed and comfortable. She has glasses on, and I don’t think she’s wearing any makeup. I like the glasses, and I like how at home she looks in my space. It’s a nice change from the big empty house I’m used to.
She stands and shifts around the counter, moving toward me. When she reaches me, she lifts her hands to my collar. “You really know how to wear a suit. You just need to tuck your tie in right here.”
I catch the scent of her as she adjusts my tie—apples and cinnamon—and I feel a sudden impulse to lift a hand and wrap it around the curve of her waist, tug her against me.
The desire startles me with its potency. I haven’t felt anything like it in a long time, which makes it easy to ignore the reasons I thought I had for staying away. I debated long and hard after Riley asked me if I’d met someone. So what if Evie is my sister’s best friend and a little bit younger than I am? Now that I’ve spent a little time with Evie, those reasons feel pretty thin. But she is still vulnerable. And she’s trusting me and living in my space, and I don’t want her to think I’m allowing her to live here because I’m hoping for something more.
I also don’t know how to stop my heart from pounding whenever she’s close.
“Thanks,” I say, forcing myself to stay still, to resist the allure of touching her.
“You’re welcome.” She slides her hand down my lapel then gives my chest a quick pat. “Now you’re perfect.” She holds my gaze, and my blood heats several degrees.
She’s perfect.
I clear my throat and take a step backward. “Right. I should head out.”
She nods and shoves her hands into her back pockets. “Good luck. I hope you guys win.”
I’m halfway to the Summit before I realize I didn’t check in with the twins before leaving. They have their own transportation—they can definitely drive themselves to the game. But it seems dumb to have left without waiting for them—without asking if they wanted a ride since we’re headed to the same place.
But I lost all sense of reason when I made eye contact with Evie, when I felt the heat of her gaze. I didn’t even remember the twins were in the house, much less members of my hockey team.
Clearly, I haven’t gotten my good sense back because before I head to the locker room, I find myself in the gift shop at the Summit, braving the crowds to look at infant-sized Appies merch.
It’s a ridiculous thing to do on so many levels.
One. I have no idea whether Evie would ever put her baby in Appies gear.
Two. I have no idea if our relationship—friendship?—justifies this kind of a gift.
Three. Even though it’s still hours before puck drop, already fans are hanging around, and I’m getting more than a few excited looks.
“Um, this is brave of you.”
I look up to see Summer, Nathan’s girlfriend, eyeing me, her expression curious. As part of the Appies’ in-house legal team, Summer is at the Summit all the time. But today, she’s swapped her business attire for an Appies jersey, one which I’m sure has Nathan’s name across the back.
“Yeah, I’m just…” My gaze lands on a pair of kids standing behind Summer, their eyes fixed on me. They’re both wearing Appies jerseys, and the size of their eyes tell me they know exactly who I am. I give them a brief nod, then look back at the baby clothes. I lift a hand to my jaw. “Do you know if any of this would work for a baby girl?”
Summer presses her lips together like she’s fighting a smile. “I think it’s all meant to be pretty gender neutral. Are you thinking of Evie’s baby?”
I look up to meet her eye. I haven’t had a conversation with Summer about Evie, but I shouldn’t be surprised that Nathan told her. He probably tells her everything.
“Nathan mentioned she was staying with you,” Summer says, confirming my suspicion. “How old is the baby?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Four-ish months, I think?”
Around us, several other groups have gathered, all of them looking like they’re waiting for an opportunity to approach. Summer looks around, clearly noticing the same thing I am.
“Are you in the mood to sign some autographs?” she asks quietly.
I push my hands into my pockets. “Yeah, probably not. But I’m not sure I can avoid it at this point.”
She nods and moves her hand to my arm, gently nudging me toward the door, placing herself between me and the waiting fans. “We can at least get you out of the baby aisle,” she says. “What if you let me pick up something for Evie’s baby? I’ll make sure it’s in the locker room for you by the end of the game.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you kidding? You’ve just given me an excuse to shop for baby clothes.” She pauses and frowns. “Maybe don’t tell Nathan how excited that just made me.”
I grin. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
We make it out of the gift shop, and I stop in the concourse outside the arena, where I spend a few minutes talking to the fans who followed me out and signing jerseys and hats and team posters. The longer I stand here, the more people will gather, so I need to go before things get out of hand, but it’s hard to turn away from fans, especially the kids.
Finally, Summer holds up her palm like she’s my handler. “Thanks, everyone. Alec needs to get down to the ice for warmups.” She steers me out of the crowd and stays beside me as I head toward the stairs that will take me below.
“You’re good at that,” I say as we hurry past watching fans.
“Nathan’s given me a lot of practice,” she says. “I can’t take that man anywhere without a crowd gathering.” We reach a locked door into a stairwell, and Summer swipes her ID badge, allowing us to pass through. “I don’t know that Nathan would ever just wander up to the concourse right before a home game though,” Summer says, eyeing me as we start down the stairs.
“Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
She smirks. “I’m pretty sure I know exactly what you were thinking.”
“I wasn’t—it’s not like that,” I say a little too quickly.
Summer only shrugs. “Okay. But if it is like that, you wouldn’t have to justify yourself to me.”
“She has a baby,” I say as we reach the rink level of the Summit and step into the hall outside the stairwell.
“Fine,” Summer says, her voice still totally neutral.
“And she’s my little sister’s best friend.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Which means she’s…young,” I add.
“Okay,” Summer repeats, her tone telling me she still thinks this is no big deal.
“Okay?” I ask. “That’s all you have to say?”
“Age is just a number,” she says. “If you like her, you like her.”
Down the hall, Felix and Logan push into the locker room, followed by Coach Davis, which means I need to get myself in there sooner than later. Especially if I want to heat wrap my knee before the game.
I look back at Summer. “You’ll get the…?” I lift my head in an upward motion, gesturing in what I think is the general direction of the upstairs gift shop.
Summer nods. “I’ve got you. Now get in there with your team and have a good game.”
We do have a good game. We dominate the first two periods and start the third with a two-point lead. Halfway through the third, Coach adjusts our defensive rotation and pulls Nathan and me, adding the twins, who are eager for as much ice time as possible. I’d normally hate to sacrifice the minutes played, but this time, I’m happy to let them have it.
My knee keeps locking up, and a locked-up knee on the ice could mean jacking up my hips or messing up my good knee.
I pull off my helmet as soon as I’m on the bench and reach for a water bottle. Nathan drops down beside me. “You’re off, man,” he says. On the ice, Camden flies past us, then hits the puck to Logan who scores, increasing our lead to three.
“We’re winning, aren’t we?”
“Not because of anything you’ve done,” Nathan says. I know better than to be insulted by Nathan’s assessment. He won’t mince words to spare my feelings, something I usually appreciate. He knocks his stick against my skate. “Is it your knee?”
“I’m fine,” I say, eyes on the game. The other team is in possession now, and Carter and Theo move toward each other, crossing in front of Felix as the opposing offense moves closer.
“You aren’t fine,” Nathan says. “And when you aren’t fine, I’m the one who has to pick up the slack. You know I’ll do it.” He whacks my skate one more time, and I finally lift my eyes to meet his. “You know I’ll do it,” he repeats. “But you gotta tell me what’s going on so I know what we’re dealing with.”
My jaw clenches, pride making my anger flare, but Nathan’s right. He’s my other half when we’re out there. If I can’t play the game like I usually do, he’s the one impacted the most. “It keeps locking up,” I say. “But I’m on it. I’m taking care of it. It’ll be fine by next game.”
“Alec. You can’t?—”
“Just leave it,” I say, and Nathan clamps his mouth shut. “I’m fine,” I repeat.
It’s a lie, and I’m pretty sure Nathan knows it’s a lie. When we’re back on the ice, I fight through more pain than I have in a very long time.
We take the win, but for me, it’s tainted by a nagging realization that at this rate, I may not have the luxury of playing out a full season. My knee may force me to quit long before we get there.
Felix tells the team he’s got a pot of chili big enough to feed anyone who wants to stop by his place, but I stay back at the Summit and treat myself to an extra-long ice bath instead. Theo and Carter are planning to go, and I’m glad about that. They need to spend time with the rest of the guys, but right now, I’m happy to let the others take charge of the teambuilding.
Nathan gives me a knowing look on his way out, but I ignore him. At some point, I’ll have to have a longer conversation with him about what’s happening with my knee and how it might impact my play. But I’m not ready to do that yet.
Talking about my knee means talking about what comes after hockey. And save the one conversation I’ve had with Evie, I haven’t really worked my way through that yet.
I sink deeper into the ice bath and duck my shoulders so the water is over my head. The cold is bracing, but it feels good on my sore muscles. When I emerge, Eric, the Appies head trainer, is standing at the foot of the tub.
“Hey,” I say, rubbing the water from my face.
“Dr. Samuelson’s here,” he says, his voice calm.
I breathe out a sigh. I should have expected as much. If Nathan noticed me favoring my knee during the game, Eric definitely did. I can hide the pain I’m feeling from my teammates, but I can’t hide it from Eric. Or from the sports medicine doctor who takes care of the team.
“Go ahead and shower,” Eric says. “Take your time. He’ll be in the med suite waiting for you.”
I’m the only player still around when I leave the shower, which is better because when I make it back to my stall in a towel, I find an Appies merch bag sitting on the bench. I peek into the bag enough to see something that looks small and soft and Appies turquoise, but I don’t pull it out. I trust Summer, and I don’t know enough about baby clothes one way or another to have an opinion. I’m sure whatever she picked out is great.
As soon as I’m dressed, I leave the locker room and head down the hall to the Summit’s medical suite. I pass a room on the right where players typically meet their families after games. It’s empty now, except for Dominic, one of the younger guys on the team, who is sitting with his girlfriend in the corner. He played a good game and seems to be celebrating by swallowing her face.
A beat of restlessness pushes through me.
I don’t fault the guy. Or any of the guys who have wives or serious girlfriends. But I’m getting tired of the reminders that everyone seems to have found someone but me. When Evie straightened my tie this morning, my brain jumped all the way to imagining her here, waiting in this room, wearing an Appies jersey with my name on it. The woman has been in North Carolina less than a week, and I’m already imagining her as my girlfriend. I can’t decide if that makes me really confident or just really pathetic.
I think of the merch bag Summer left for me in my stall and wonder if I should take whatever she bought back upstairs to return it. But I’m at the med suite now, so I ignore my waffling thoughts and push my way inside.
“Hey, Doc.”
Dr. Samuelson is leaning against an exam table, studying an iPad. He looks up and offers me a friendly smile. “I wish I could say I’m happy to see you.”
I run a hand across my face as I drop into an empty chair in the corner of the exam room. “Yeah. Same.”
“Talk to me about your pain, Alec,” the doctor says. “What are we dealing with?”
Fifteen minutes later, I’ve been scolded and humbled and gotten both a cortisone injection and an injection of hyaluronic acid—a combination we’ve never tried before.
“I can’t make any promises,” Dr. Samuelson says. “But this might buy us a little time. Just keep me in the loop, all right? And listen to your body. You try to play the hero on that knee, you’re liable to wind up in the OR again.”
I nod. “You think I’ll make it to the end of the season?”
He frowns. “You want me to be honest here?”
“Always.”
“Your inflammation is the worst I’ve seen it. Which makes me think you’ll be lucky if you do,” he says. “Alec, it’s time to start thinking about what happens next.”