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He throws his fist, and I dodge it. There is nothing more I would like to do right now than to beat his ass. Well, I suppose there is one thing—winning this game and, if possible, for Macky to get a shutout. I’m not going to risk a penalty right now. He swings again, and I block it with my arm, swiping his arm away. It’s almost more embarrassing if he can’t land a punch while I’m not even fighting him.
“You’re a fucking pussy! Fight me!” He seethes.
Refs separate us, and I smirk at him.
“How’s that winning streak going?” I shout at him with a full and menacing smile.
He says something, but I can’t make it out as he steps into the penalty box. There is a pro to not fighting when a hothead comes at you—they get penalized, and you don’t. The best part? It makes them even madder.
He earned a two-minute minor for roughing. Now, we’re on a power play for basically the rest of the game. After a few shift changes, Burnsy is able to add a goal to the board from a breakaway, and the game ends 3 to 0.
The second the buzzer sounds, the shutout is official. Our team and the few Nighthawks fans in the crowd celebrate. We rush Macky and take turns bumping our helmet against his.
“Monster Mack out there tonight. Great game, buddy,” I tell him as I pull away from him.
“You too, babyyy!” Macky whistles at me, and I laugh.
Unfortunately, wins during away games don’t end with a party at The Penalty Box, the bar we go to after every home game win. Away games usually end with a night in a hotel room, if not an immediate flight to either home or a different city for our next game. But since we have a few days off before our next one, we are staying in a hotel tonight and heading home tomorrow.
Once we get to the locker room, we quickly shower and change, heading to the hotel right away. I’m so relieved when I can finally crawl into bed and chill.
Opening my messages, I shoot Charlotte a text, as she’s been pretty quiet today.
Me: Hey, baby. I miss the fuck out of you. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I hope you’re feeling better. I love you.
She’s probably sleeping, but I hope the doctor gave her some good meds today—or at least found out what she’s got. Is it the flu? A virus? Regardless, I hate seeing her sick and don’t want her to be in any discomfort or pain.
I wish she would just move in with me already. Hell, she practically lives there and pays for her lease with Josh at the same time. I have nothing against Josh—he’s a great guy—but I want my girl in my bed every night, simple as that. We’ve discussed her officially moving in before. But for some reason, we’ve just never pulled the trigger on it. What we have now is working great, and I think she just doesn’t want to mess with that. Hopefully, the surprise I have for her might help that decision. As long as she says yes.
3
Charlotte
Idon’t know how many times I can go through the roller coaster of my mind trying to convince myself that having cancer isn’t real and then remembering the conversation with my doctor like I’m there again.
But the worst moment so far was waking up this morning. Because for just a second, my life was normal.
A normal day would go something like this: Reed would be getting home, and we would hang out all day afterward, although at some point, he would want to go to the arena to get a skate in because hockey players rarely go a day without being on the ice. Then, we would make dinner, maybe watch a movie and cuddle.
Instead of that, I woke up and remembered that the normal version was far from what would actually happen. In the blink of an eye, my mind cleared, and my world crashed around me.
I don’t think I’m going to be able to bring myself to tell him. I can’t fucking do it.
Most of the morning, I was zoned out, trying to escape reality.
I feel like I’m in a permanent daze.
Have you ever had a day where you felt like you were outside your body, like you weren’t even in control, just moving through the motions? That’s how I feel right now. Trapped.
Ripping Reed’s laptop off of the coffee table, I throw it open and enter his password. I forgot my damn laptop last night when I came over here. But he lets me use his whenever I want or need to. I’m going to try to focus on work; maybe that will help pass the time, although I’m not quite sure what I’m waiting for. Thankfully, I don’t have to memorize all the passwords for my logins because I already saved them on his laptop from a previous time I used it.
One of my favorite parts of my jobs as a social media manager is making photo edits for our social media pages. Playing around with graphics and creating something beautiful from scratch always feels so satisfying and fulfilling—something I am desperate to feel right now.
It doesn’t take long for me to get lost in the groove. Before I know it, I have ten posts ready to go and saved in the Drafts, and almost four hours have passed.
Shit.
Reed is going to be here soon, and I have no idea what I’m going to do, whether I’m ready to tell him or not. Maybe I should leave before he gets home, and I can avoid it altogether for just a little while longer.
