“I think Mom’s coming around. You messaged everything went well with the advisor stuff. And Coach came by, said some things that gave me some good ideas for the future.”
She sat back, smiling at me. “I told you. You have a lot to offer.”
It was great to have someone who believed in me, for the times when I didn’t. “How was the call with your parents?”
She didn’t tense up, so that was good. “They’re disappointed I won’t be home, but I promised them reading week.”
“I’m going to miss you.”
“Then you’ll know how I’ll feel when you’re traveling to those away games.”
Yes. When I rehabbed my knee and got back on the ice. I believed it would happen now. “You’re going to call me lots. And I’ll call you. We can do this, if we talk to each other, right?”
“Okay. But that’s not our biggest worry right now.”
I frowned. Had I missed something? “What?”
She dropped against my shoulder again. “What the hell am I going to get your mother for Christmas?”
Epilogue
Don’t Freak Out
Katie
It was a semi-official meeting of PAC—the Player Adjacent Club. We couldn’t keep using the anti-WAG name because a lot of us were WAGs. I was with Josh now, so officially a girlfriend, but we didn’t want to leave Jess out. We had our separate group from the other WAGS, but we had things in common as well. We weren’t in opposition to them, we just had different needs for support than the more traditional WAGs.
It was a cold night in late January, and we, the PAC, were at the Top Shelf, sitting in the hockey player section. The team had just won a home game and we were waiting for the players to arrive. When the timing worked out, we sat together at games to support our fellow adjacents, but that was about the only time Jess bothered to go. Tonight had been a PAC-free game. Callie had a late meeting at the office and hadn’t wanted to walk into the game partway through. Jayna had been at a sledge hockey association meeting, and Jess said she’d had a bad day.
Josh was at the tables with us. He’d deemed himself a member, claiming that IR meant he was now adjacent rather than a player. The others had agreed to give him part-time status, which meant he could be with us on occasion, but not always. Sometimes we wanted girl time together. He could argue semantics, but he didn’t understand what it was like to be close to a player but not be one.
It was a Friday night, no one had to be up early in the morning, and we’d decided to come out for the after-game fun. Jess had been a little reluctant, but I’d convinced her. I was closer to her than the other two, and I hadn’t seen her for a few days.
Josh had another week before he could stop using crutches, and he couldn’t wait. I was looking forward to the brace coming off—he complained a lot about itching, and though we’d managed to work around it, it would be nice to have sex without it limiting what we could do.
Though we’d been very creative.
We were on our second round of drinks—none of us had driven, so we were indulging—when the team started to trickle in. They were met with applause for a difficult win.
The team had been slowly, very slowly, climbing in the standings and tonight they’d made it to the wild card slot. There were still months to play, and no guarantees they’d get into the playoffs, but after the horrible start to the season, everyone was feeling optimistic. They missed Josh’s scoring though. He felt guilty. He blamed himself for playing more recklessly the night he got injured after the trade news, but hockey was a dangerous sport. As I reminded him, he could have been injured at any time.
Daniel sat across from me. After ordering a drink, he grinned. “Enjoying having the place to yourselves now?”
He’d bought his own place in the same building that Jess and JJ lived in and moved out a week ago. I was going to miss his cooking, but with his departure I’d agreed to move in with Josh. Officially.
“I still feel guilty.” Like I had pushed him out. I was at Josh’s all the time now. It had started when he got out of the hospital and I was helping him cope with his crutches. I was still Madeline’s tenant till the end of the month, but I’d slept almost every night at Josh’s.
“It’s fine, Katie. My divorce is final and it’s time to start fresh.”
“Still…”
Daniel tilted his beer toward me. “The real reason I moved out is because I can’t carpool with Josh anymore. Now I can drive in with JJ. Nothing to do with the noises coming from Josh’s bedroom.”
My cheeks flamed and I covered my face with my hands. Josh and I were noisy. After having to be so quiet when we were in high school, it was like we’d gone completely in the opposite direction. I swore we’d be quieter each time, but…
“Still better than having your date ask your brother for his autograph,” Jess whispered in my ear. She had a point.
Josh was on the other side of me from Jess, his hand warm on my thigh. He liked to be touching me, and I was happy to indulge him. Even though he wasn’t on the active roster, he was still popular with the fans, including the puck bunnies. When he claimed me like this, I didn’t have to kiss him every time a jersey chaser considered making a play for him.
