Joelle Morrow has her focus set on the future. As an up-and-coming lingerie designer, she's overcome multiple setbacks on the road to achieving her dream of opening her own boutique but has yet to be knocked down, leaving her no time to think about...
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Juggling two coffees and a bag of breakfast sandwiches, I used the key I'd nicked off the counter a few hours earlier to ease Jo's front door open, trying to be as quiet as possible. Because while it was pushing ten thirty, I had no idea if she'd yet managed to haul herself out of bed, especially considering neither of us had gotten much sleep. Not after I'd scored the winning goal in last night's game against Chicago and had arrived late to see Jo waiting up to congratulate me.
I'd barely made it through the door before her lips were on mine and she was pulling me towards her bedroom, where we spent hours exhausting one another until falling asleep with our limbs intertwined.
Though my body had certainly chastised me when I snuck out before the sun had risen to make it to practice on time.
Leaving the food on the dining table, I heard nothing but silence as I made my way back towards Jo's bedroom, only to come to a halt and scramble for my phone as it's ringtone blared loud and obnoxiously.
"Henry, what is it?" I asked, my voice hushed as I circled the living room, noticing the sketches Jo had left strewn across the table.
"I wanted to call and make sure I have all the details for today ironed out," he started, jumping right into business. With this being one of the only times this season the team was scheduled with a home game Friday and Sunday, as well as a Saturday off, the front office had organized a charity skate to give back to the younger fans in the community. School groups and recreational hockey teams had been given a slew of tickets for one of four ice times throughout the afternoon, giving all the kids a chance to skate with the team. In addition, the Knights organization was planning to donate the proceeds from tomorrow's game evenly amongst the invited groups in hopes of giving them better access to resources and equipment. "From what I've been told, the event starts at noon, correct?"
"Yeah," I said, nodding despite knowing he couldn't see me.
"Then when are you planning to show up?"
"Uh... noon. Or a bit before, I guess. I'm bringing Jo along, so I don't want her having to wait around long before we can get on the ice."
"You're bringing Jo?" he asked, sounding thrown off by the news.
"Is that a problem?"
"Well, technically no, but you should be using this opportunity to try and get yourself out there, Seb. To talk to the press that'll be hanging around before and after the event. Especially after your goal last night; they'd be interested."
"The reporters aren't there to talk to me. They're there to talk to the GM. Or Coach. Maybe Jack or Nyberg if they want to get a player's perspective on things."
"And if you keep thinking like that, they'll never want to talk to you."
"Today isn't about getting noticed, Henry," I said roughly, my jaw ticking. "It's about giving back to the kids and making sure they have fun."
