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been there before. Mine was just fresh. Chris stayed behind for a bit to continue speaking with me. His brow was lowered, tension lining his face and shoulders.

“Hits are a part of hockey.” He clicked his truck

open. “Late hits too, but not when we’re coming off the ice. That was cruel. His own teammates nearly rushed him. Both coaches let Zeke hit him for quite a few minutes. The whole arena was in a frenzy. I thought there would be a riot when you puked.”

My fingers squeezed Aife’s small hand. A burst of

anxiety hit my chest. “Can’t wait to see that highlight on ESPN.”

“Don’t do that.” Chris narrowed his eyes at me.

Intensity that rivaled his playoff speeches radiated through that stare. “No one is judging.”

“I fucking threw up on the ice, Chris.” The anxiety

was replaced with anger. People were going to laugh at me. I needed Dad… my chest tightened at the thought. Fuck, I missed my dad. Tears started to well in my eyes again.

“Talon.” Aife’s voice broke into the racing

thoughts. “You need to rest. Davis texted and said Zeke is fine. Let’s go get some food and get you in bed.”

Rational. Logical. She knew these steps too well.

What wasn’t she telling me? We hadn’t known each other long, but there was definitely a connection, an undeniable one. I wanted to know everything about her. She tugged on my hand, pulling me to her car.

“Later, Chris.” My words were clipped, anger and

grief battling.

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He nodded before jumping into his truck. My

fingers tightened around Aife’s hand. She motioned for me to get in her car. “We’ll go to my place. You have stairs, and you might get loopy after taking the medications.”

“Aife.” Every time I said her name, it came out

deeper than I expected it to.

Her eyes met mine. “Yeah?”

“Thank you. I really appreciate all your help

tonight. You dropped everything for me and even held my hand. So, thank you.”

“Any time.” It was a genuine statement. She didn’t

even need to say anything else. Those two words meant more to me than she would realize.

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