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“I agree. I didn’t want the moving thing hanging over me before vacation.”
“Have you spoken to Doug?” Susie asks.
“Yeah.” I nod. “Just before I flew out. We’re okay… I mean, we’re getting through it.” I don’t tell them about the fight we had which was the final straw. Not yet.
I think Doug felt like he didn’t live up to some expectation, but I never felt I treated him that way.
I’ve never put Taylor up on some pedestal; in fact, I’ve tried my best to dance around the subject and not even talk about him. In the beginning, we did, because we’d both had relationships that had gone sour, but as time went on, it wasn’t necessary anymore.
However, sometimes when we’d fight, Doug would bring out the Taylor card, often trying to see, or get me to admit that I still had feelings for him.
The truth was, I’ll always love Taylor. I don’t have to see him to know that.
It’s almost like I can’t help it.
But after those years of being alone and trying to get over him, or at least, past him as best I could, it was difficult to keep having it thrust in my face. If Doug had any faults at all, it was his insecurity over Taylor.
I suppose I got where he was coming from, especially when Taylor had gone viral as an international star. I always told Doug he had nothing to worry about, that it was ancient history, but I’m not sure if he ever believed it. In my eyes, he had nothing to worry about, as I wasn’t about to rekindle something with the boy from my childhood, no matter how much my heart yearned for those days.
Doug could never let it go, though.
“A couple of weeks here, Em, and it will feel like a year,” Cindy chimes, holding up her glass.
“Hey, I’ll second that,” Maddie coos, raising her glass as well.
Susie and I follow suit, giggling like schoolgirls. “Third that!” Susie winks over at me.
“I guess I better fourth that.” I laugh. And oh boy, it feels so good to laugh.
CHAPTER4
Taylor
I can’t stop fucking thinking about the fact Emmerson is in town, or she’s going to be in town… She could be here already for all I know. One thing is for sure, I’m not going to pick up my phone to ask her.
She called me when my position was secured in the Hawks, I guess it did make headlines. But other than the odd text here and there, we haven’t exactly stayed in touch.
I can’t say life has been a bed of roses, despite my success and the eye watering payroll that comes with it. The fame thing you sorta get used to, but it still makes me uncomfortable sometimes. Being in the headlines is not something I’ve found easy to deal with, but everything has its perks and its pitfalls. I live a little more opulently now in a skyline penthouse that has a fully equipped gym and every mod con I could wish for. I have cars… a bunch of them, and an overflowing bank account that I’m extremely grateful for.
I set my mom up for the rest of her life, though she didn’t want to move out of our family home… I did the next best thing and hired contractors to renovate the place for her with a new kitchen and an addition to the back part of the house. I also bought her a holiday home in the Caribbean because she loves the sun and to escape the Seattle winters.
With the opulence of the fortune I’ve made comes the knocks. I’ve had more injuries and shattered bones than I care to think about. It’s a brutal, bloody sport, but none of it stops me because I love it so much.
When I first glide out onto the ice I feel it in my bones, the sound of my skates, the puck against the stick, gliding like a hot knife through butter. When it’s good, that’s what it feels like. Granted, it takes work to get into the headspace that I need sometimes. I’ve learnt over the years to turn it off and on, I had to learn when Em left me because I was plunging straight into pre-season training with the NHL. I couldn’t throw it all away before I’d even started because my heart was broken.
It’s been broken ever since, hence why I haven’t had another serious relationship.
Only meaningless hookups. None of it has ever satisfied me, nothing ever has sinceher… aside from scoring goals.
I may be the hotshot forward with millions of dollars at my disposal, but somewhere inside, I wonder if it’s enough.
* * *
The night before the game Ashton, Ty, Jay, and I all head out for a bite to eat after practice. We often catch up with the other guys on the team, but tonight it’s just the four of us.
I’m pretty psyched for the game. If we win, we move to the next round. But I’m also pretty beat from training this week. I don’t want to go too hard tonight. A quiet night with the boys is about my limit… that’s if I can get them to be quiet.
“I wanna know about that shit you were pulling the other day about Coach’s daughter.” Are the first words out of Jay’s mouth.
