Annie popped her head in. “What’s going on? Why are you packing?”
“I’m done.”
“No, you can’t be done. If you just calm down a bit and—”
“I told Stan to go fuck himself.”
“Oh. Yeah, you’re done.” Annie stepped fully into the office and closed the door behind her. “We have so many contacts and you’re freaking awesome, so you’ll get a new job in like seconds, but I’m going to miss having you here.”
“I’ll miss you, too. The rest of it? Not so much.” She couldn’t find anything else she was taking with her, so she gave her friend a hug. “We’ll get together in the next few days, okay? But right now, I’m walking out of here.”
There were a few other people she said goodbye to on her way out, but judging by the ripple of conversation through the office, Stan was recovering from the shock and the shit was about to hit the fan.
In the elevator, the emotions started rolling through her, though. Anger at Stan, though that was familiar enough. The realization and accompanying horror at finding herself suddenly unemployed, and in such a way that wasn’t going to garner a great reference, to say the least.
And utter disgust that she’d wasted so many years of putting up with Stan’s shit because the job was a part of her journey, not her destination, only to blow it all up and derail everything in a fit of temper.
But, really, he was a dickhead, and it was a miracle she’d put up with it as long as she had.
There was a possibility that promotion was never going to come, she admitted to herself. If Stan couldn’t value her when was giving almost everything to the job, he wasn’t going to value her in the future. Eventually she was going to meet a guy and finally feel the urge to settle down and start a family. And Stan knew that.
By the time she stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind her, she’d experienced the full range of emotions several times each, and she was exhausted.
She wanted Will.
As shitty as her day was, all she wanted right now was to climb onto Will’s lap and let him wrap his arms around her. It wouldn’t help her situation any, but for a few minutes, she’d be able to let everything go and just feel warm and safe and cared for.
She actually had their existing text chain pulled up on her phone screen, with her thumb ready to type, when she caught herself.
He had practice today, and they were preparing for a road game tomorrow. They played regionally, and it was a matinee game to benefit a local fundraiser, so he wouldn’t be gone overnight, but it didn’t matter. He had hockey to worry about, not letting Kristen cry tears of disappointment and frustration into his shirt.
Maybe if he was an accountant or sold cars or fixed people’s plumbing, she would have sent the text. But she knew that being a professional athlete at Erik and Will’s level wasn’t about the hour of regulation gameplay. Practice and strategy. Films. Focus. Dedication.
There was nothing he could do. She’d already quit, and the next steps were updating her resume and reaching out to some of the contacts she’d made over the years.
She wasn’t going to break Will’s focus because she needed a hug.
* * *
Will stepped up behind Kristen,who’d been washing the same wine glass for at least two minutes, and kissed her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Are we celebrating or mourning or raging or what?”
“I don’t really know.” She rinsed the glass and set it upside down on the drying mat. “I’m doing all three at the same time, I think.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“Two glasses of wine didn’t help.” She leaned back against him, and he felt her relax a little in his arms.
“You could have texted me instead of waiting until I got here to tell me. I would have been here earlier.”
“Yeah, like you leaving the ice because I had a bad day at work is a thing that should have happened.”
Will heard the old wounds under the sarcasm and turned her to face him, tipping her chin up. “You didn’t just have a bad day at work. I know how hard you’ve been working for that promotion and toward your end goal and, even though you made the right decision for yourself, it has to be devastating. And when your world gets rocked like that, you can call me and I’ll be here for you.”
She made a face that told him she’d go along with the sentiment, even if she wouldn’t allow herself to believe it.
He cursed Lamont Burke, though he didn’t dare say the words aloud. And maybe she was right not to believe him. Would he have skipped out early if she’d called him? Probably, unless it was an actual game situation. It had to have been a huge emotional blow for her.
But he shouldn’t be promising that she could call him and he’d be there because it wasn’t a promise he’d be able to keep very much longer. When he was with Kristen now, he felt the same kind of urgency he felt in the final minutes of a hockey game. Time was running out.
