“And how have you been settling in?” Sophia asks curiously. She gets cut off by a loud groan coming from Grey. “Got something you want to say, Greyson?”
“Yes,” he concedes. “You’re asking all the boring questions, cuz. No one wants to know about how Harry enjoys the team.”
“First names only, Greyson Phillip Aoki-Park,” Sophia relays, pinning him with a death stare. “Moving on. How are you, as a team, planning on tackling the opposition in the new year? I hear you’ve got a very competitive season ahead of you.”
“Out hustle, out work, out think, out play and out last,” Xavier says, repeating our mantra that we have been using our whole lives. Obviously, Jake snorts at that.
“Come on with the BS, Dawson,” Jake laughs. “What we’re really going to do is beat the competition with whatever force we have. Hockey isn’t just a mind game, it’s a physical one too.”
“Great. Thank you for that insight, Callahan,” Sophia mutters, scribbling down notes on her notebook. I look over to Wren and she is not trying at all to hide the disgust on her face.
“You’re welcome,” Jake replies proudly.
“Okay, so, you all agreed to talk about this before coming so here is just a small warning before we get into it,” Sophia begins, not breaking eye contact with me and I know exactly where this is going. “You all lost a vital team member at the beginning of summer and I know it has not been easy for any of you. Some more than others. I grew up with Carter as well, and we all knew he was going to do amazing things. My next question is, how are you planning on honouring him during this season? Xaiver, would you like to go first?”
Xavier nods, looking at me before facing the camera. “Unlike some of the tactics Jake likes to us, Carter was the calmest one on the team. I don’t know how we managed to win every game with him even though he seemed to be the most chilled out and relaxed on the ice. While the rest of us were pushing into people, knocking them over, Carter kept a levelled head. That’s how I’m planning on honouring him, by keeping calm and spending as much time out of the penalty box as possible.”
We all nod, agreeing with the perfect answer. “It’ll be easier for some more than others, I assume,” Sophia starts, “Ahem. Greyson.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’m only in the sin bin because I like to play dirty for the win,” Greyson says easily.
We seamlessly float into a conversation of Sophia asking rapid fire questions before going back into the deeper ones. I don’t think I could do this if it was anyone else but because I’ve known her forever, talking to her feels easy. Fun, even.
I can’t decide if having Wren here is making it better or worse. She’s still standing with Michelle, watching me intently. I can tell that she’s listening to every word that I’m saying and I hope that it’s taking her mind off skating for once and allowing her to be with us in the moment.
Sophia asks us about how we balance hockey and school, where we see ourselves in five years and more hockey related questions. I stay quiet for the most part, only answering questions that everyone else gets stuck on. But Sophia’s next question catches me a little off guard.
“We all know that hockey is a team sport but what people really want to know is how you stay focused in the game. How do you ensure that you are on the right track and are going to perform your best as well as making sure it’s a team effort?” she asks.
I look down the line, hoping that someone is going to pipe up. “I think that this is Davis’ question,” Grey says, looking at me suggestively. Sophia nods and I feel everyone’s eyes on me in the room.
I take a deep breath and just let out absolutely everything.
“As everybody knows, Carter is my best friend. We grew up together and we were inseparable. I took his death hard and I didn’t let anybody in. I was drinking a lot – sorry mom,” I admit, remembering that if my mom comes to graduation, she’s going to know I’ve been underage drinking. Everyone in the room laughs quietly. “I lost motivation to train and I hardly ever went to the rink. But then I met Wren.” The smile that was on her face drops as I connect my eyes with hers across the room. “She turned my life around and she reallysawme. She became the storm to the calm, quiet loneliness that I was in in the best way possible. She thought that I was hyperfixating on her instead of dealing with my problems but I managed to kill two birds with one stone and I got though some of my problems while also getting a gorgeous, smart, talented and just fucking brillaint girlfriend.”
“No cursing, Davis,” Sophia warns.
“Shit. Sorry,” I say and Sophia gives me an evil glare. “Wait, no. Fuck. Can you take that bit out?” Sophia shakes her head at me, disappointed. “All I'm trying to say is that having someone who cares about you by your side is what helps me stay focused because I know that I'm not only doing it for her but I do it for myself too so I can be the best version of myself for her.”
The room is eerily silent as I look at Wren, watching the way her features soften. Her eyes aren’t wide and panicked like they were when she first came here. Instead, her eyes haven’t left mine since I started speaking and her mouth is pinned into a warm smile, no doubt trying to decipher if what I said was true or not. Hell, I don’t even know half of the words that just came out of my mouth and where the truth lies within them.
I break eye contact with her, unable to bear the look on her face and focus back on the interview. Sophia asks the group a few more questions before letting us branch off before our individual interviews. I go over to Wren and she’s now alone as Xaiver has pulled Michelle away.
“You good?” I ask, standing in front of her. She nods. “Is what I said okay? You know, for the sake of the interview.”
“Yeah, it was perfect. I don’t know how you managed to make all that up on the spot,” she whispers, almost laughing.
“It wasn’t hard to talk about how much I enjoy spending time with you. Even when you give me a hard time,” I say, stepping in closer to her. I watch her audibly swallow as she blinks up at me. I tug on her braid, forcing her to tilt her head up to me and she looks way too good from this position. I lean down to whisper in her ear, “They’re watching.”
She lets out a shaky exhale. “Of course.” She pulls back, trying not to make it obvious that she wants to move out of my grip. Wren clears her throat, looking down at the floor. “I need to go to practice. Will you be able to drop me off?”
“Seriously, right now? Can’t you stay for a little longer?” I ask, shifting my weight on one foot to the other.
“I need to go. I’ve already missed out of a lot of time just being here,” she says, looking up at me. “If you’ve got to stay to do your individual interview, I can just walk.”
“I can do it really quickly and then I can take you. I’ll just ask Sophia-”
She cuts me off by rising on her tiptoes and pressing a kiss to my cheek. “It’s okay. You stay. I’ll see you soon.”
