AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was okay to want to cry but never okay to want to quit.
I refused to quit. And to cry.
I forced myself out of the building and triple checked that it was locked so I didn’t fuck that up.
Then it was off to the gym.
On a Friday night too.
Which wasn’t all bad.
I had the entire place to myself.
Living in a small town up north like this, the gym was only a block from the hockey rink.
Leon knew the guy who owned the gym.
Pete.
Pete was an old boxer who inherited a bunch of money from his family. He opened the gym twenty years ago and it looked the same as it did back then. Which was perfect. I loved that the equipment was old, beat up, and had that sweaty rust smell to it.
Pete sat behind the counter, watching a small TV.
He gave a nod without looking.
I went right to work.
The granola bars didn’t give me much energy.
I personally would have preferred a giant steak or a thick burger.
I made it work.
Each time I wanted to stop, I told myself the extra rep was the difference between pro hockey and some other career.
I couldn’t see myself doing anything but play hockey.
And if I got stuck around here in this town?
I’d end up working in a garage or here at the gym or somewhere without much of a future.
Now, was that such a bad thing?
Not really. Not if you had someone to share your life with and had a plan and the ability to really plant down some roots and make it all work.
Me?
I felt too wild.
I couldn’t help but see myself busting my ass for another year and getting into a college hockey program, then going right into the pros.
Or maybe I’d get picked up elsewhere and travel the world.
Imagine that.
Playing hockey across the globe!
Country to country. Continents.
