After a one night stand on New Year's Eve, Lia and Derrick don't expect to see one another again. After all, she's a Harvard PhD student and he's a professional hockey player for the Boston Knights - there's no way their paths should cross again.
E...
Oups ! Cette image n'est pas conforme à nos directives de contenu. Afin de continuer la publication, veuillez la retirer ou télécharger une autre image.
While some coaches eased up on practices and conditioning after landing a spot in the playoffs late in the season, the Royals certainly didn't. Sure, if someone wasn't feeling one hundred percent—whether that be a new injury or old—they'd sit out, but getting the best seed possible was just as important as getting into the playoffs in the first place.
Which meant that as the season wound down, I was watching game tape with my new teammates, hitting the gym for longer than normal, and working with the offensive coach after practices on ways to even better amalgamate myself with my line mates.
It was hard work, but hopefully it'd pay off in the form of a Stanley Cup come June.
But before that, there were still three more regular season games to play, and since the team was flying up to Edmonton early tomorrow morning, Coach had more or less instructed us all to relax tonight. For the first time in over two weeks, I was ready to leave the arena before five 'o'clock.
"Yo, Wellsley," Quinn said, stepping out of the showers with a towel wrapped around his waist. "You up for pizza and video games at my place in an hour?"
Having already dressed, I nodded, digging through my bag for my phone. "Sure, man. I'll just—" I paused as I glanced down at my phone, which had been tucked away all day, to see two back-to-back phone calls from Lia around eleven this morning. And considering we mostly texted while she was at work, a bit of an uneasy feeling slithered into the pit of my stomach. "On second thought, I might take a rain check on that."
He lifted a brow. "Everything okay?"
"I'm not sure," I replied, raking a hand through my damp hair. "I have a few missed calls from Lia this afternoon, so I'm gonna head home and try to get a hold of her."
Another one of my teammates nudged me playfully in the side. "What'cha do that could've got you in hot water?"
"Nothing."
At least I was pretty sure I hadn't done anything that could've upset her.
"Don't worry," Quinn said, shoving my other teammate away to clap me on the shoulder. "I'm sure it's nothing. Or she could just be struggling with the long-distance thing. What's it been, like two or three weeks since you've seen each other?"
"Going on three, yeah."
"Then if it's anything, and I'm not saying it is, she probably just had a spare minute at work and was missing you."
"You should take this one's word on it," Ruderman said, jumping in as he passed us on the way out of the locker room. "After all, he's been tangled up with a woman in Texas for three years."
"I'm telling Bree you said that," Quinn mused, watching as Ruderman shrugged and waved goodbye.
"Your girlfriend lives in Texas?" I asked.
"Fiancée," he corrected.
"No shit."
He chuckled. "Some of the guys give me shit about it, especially because, other than a handful of weekends and holidays, we only really see each other on the off season. But we've made it work. Besides—" He shrugged. "—I know I'm not going to be in the league forever, she has a great job, and I know that she's the one for me. Every relationship is different, and when things are long distance, it just means communication is all the more important."
