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“You could have at least hit properly, you hit like a girl.” Jason teased as he nudged Ryan, which in turn made him awkwardly laugh.
Rolling my eyes at the attempt of a joke, I was a little glad the air was clearing as we continued our breakfast. Chris sat silently for once, at the head of the table as he flicked through today’s newspaper. Our team's group photo was in the middle spread with many predictions and guesses over the upcoming game's score dotted around it.
“So, Sam, what’s this girl of yours like?” Louis asked.
“Eh, she’s alright, yeah.”
“Where’d you find her?”
James asked next as all eyes fell to me. James was just as loud as Louis, almost. He and Duncan were brothers and they had pretty much followed each other throughout life. He was known as our white knight, the first one to always try and do something noble. It’s why so many women throw themselves at him, but alas he was married.
Duncan however, was the complete opposite. Quiet, the dark horse of the group. He would watch, listen, and take notes of what was going on. Duncan was the first one to say when I needed to sort my stuff out and I respected him more for doing that.
“She, um, we used to date back in high school and bumped into each other back home.”
I wasn’t going to lie to the boys, as I needed to make this a new chapter of my life. Fix the mistakes I had made, start to treat them as my teammates, and not just boys I played a game with. That’s the attitude I had before, and it ended up with me being ‘removed’. We were meant to be like family, Paula had made sure to drill that in my head a lot recently and I was starting to believe her.
“She will be at the rink when we do the charity match. She teaches figure skating there.”
The conversation died down shortly after which made me happy. I glanced down to my phone, hoping Kim had answered my last few texts, but alas, there was silence. I had really pissed her off back at the hotel, but I didn’t think she’d still be mad three weeks later.
If I sent her another text, it may become slightly creepy and annoying, neither of which I wanted to be. But then I didn’t want to come across as uninterested and not make any effort.
“When the Montreal Canadians get in then, Chris?” Jason asked as he finished his food.
“They should be arriving any minute. They are staying in a different hotel though boys, so none of you can cause anymore PR grief. We have enough of that already.”
Chris directed his eyes at me, and I just smiled innocently. As our manager, he was allowed to be angry and annoyed at us, but he’d been with us for nearly five years now, so he knew how we were and was used to it.
“Take out all the fun, Chris,” Louis joked.
Hey, I’m just checking in. Sorry, probably being really annoying now.
I’ve got my comeback game tonight.
I will make a goal for you.
A text message, as per my better judgment. But as I sat there listening to the boys having conversations about their lives, James was talking about his wife Emily to Ryan, it made me feel slightly lonely. I missed hearing Kimberly’s voice.
The tiny chat bubble showed up and I felt my heart skip. Excitement brewed, we hadn’t replied to each other at the same time in weeks. I sat there anxiously looking at my phone screen, only no reply. The bubble disappeared and my smile dropped.
“Careful now, Sam, looks like someone murdered your puppy.”
Louis again, always trying to make light of a situation. Shaking my head, I ignored him and locked my phone. Maybe Kim will reply to me later, or tomorrow… Or never.
Once breakfast was over, Chris ordered us all to hit the hotel gym for an hour then get ready for the game. Even if it was at least nine hours away, he always wanted us to be prepped and ready to go.
A workout session was always a good idea. However, clearing your head, sometimes would turn into a challenge itself as we all competed to see who could bench the most weights or run the most laps.
CHAPTER 18
Kimberly
Showing my passport at the gate, my hands shook a little as the nerves started to kick in. I had never flown first class, even during my competition days, the most I would get were business class. Katelyn had met me at the gate the following day after we spent a good three hours filming shots as the girls trained.
I did think at first the parents would have been angry. But since my sudden shot back to fame, they were more than happy to have the girls included in the feature, if anything it made the girls work harder and show their skills more.
Olivia had refrained from asking me any questions other than how long we had been training, what the charity match would mean to the girls and the rink, and how people can help get involved.
