I pushed myself out of bed and headed for the shower. The day moved quickly after that. Breakfast with the team. A bus ride to the arena. Meetings. Video review. The familiar rhythm of a road trip. By the time I stepped into the locker room, my phone vibrated.
Kier: Hope today goes better.
Exactly the kind of thing Kieran would say. Just quiet support.
A smile pulled at my mouth. I typed back.
Me: Me too. Flying home tonight. I can't wait to get back to Seattle.
The response arrived before I finished putting my gear away.
Kier: Good.
Kier: Seattle's boring without you.
My smile widened.
Before I could answer, Coach Reynolds walked into the room and immediately started gathering players for a meeting.
I slipped the phone into my pocket.
The locker room carried a different energy than it had before the trip. Nobody was acting as though the season was falling apart. But losing never sat well with professional athletes, and nobody enjoyed spending an entire day thinking about a game they'd failed to win.
Some players were quieter than usual. Others buried themselves in video clips and scouting reports. Across the room, Tannen sat at his stall studying something on a tablet. I recognized the expression immediately. I'd seen it plenty of times over the years. Determination mixed with irritation. The look of somebody trying to solve a problem that refused to cooperate.
I crossed the room and dropped onto the bench beside him. "Morning."
He glanced up briefly. "Debatable.”
"Still thinking about last night?"
"Somebody has to."
"We all are."
His attention returned to the screen. A few seconds later, he looked over again. "Why are you smiling?"
The question caught me off guard because I hadn't even realized I still was.
Tannen's eyes narrowed. Then understanding settled across his face. "Oh."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, what?"
"Kieran texted you."
The annoying part was that he wasn't guessing. He knew me too well.
"Maybe."
"Right."
I shook my head. "You're insufferable."
"That's what makes me captain."
Coach Reynolds called the team together a few minutes later, and the room shifted back into business mode. Systems. Matchups. Adjustments from the previous night's game. Nobody needed a lecture about effort. We'd all been there. We'd all felt the frustration of watching opportunities slip away.
The meeting ended, and the day settled into the familiar routine that had shaped most of my adult life. Video. Pre-game preparation.
