"About how you play like shit when you're missing your girl, then like a fucking all-star after you talk to her." He leanedcloser. "I've known you since juniors, Stone. I've never seen you like this over anyone."
I kept my eyes on my skates. "It's different with her."
"No shit." Dennis handed me a towel. "So what's the plan?"
"Plan?"
"Long-term," he clarified. "Science girl's heading to Germany soon, right? Six months apart is no joke. Then what? You playing house indefinitely? Putting a ring on it? What's the endgame here?"
The question hit me like a blindside check. I hadn't allowed myself to think that far ahead—not concretely. But now images flooded my mind: Kate in a white dress, her chaotic energy bringing life to a home that was ours, not just mine; tiny red-headed kids with her brilliant mind and my stubborn determination.
"Jesus Christ," Dennis whispered, staring at my face. "You're actually thinking about it."
"Shut up," I muttered, standing abruptly.
"Stone Callahan, considering domestication. Never thought I'd see the day."
"I said shut up."
"All I'm saying is," Dennis continued, his voice softening, "don't fuck it up. You've got a good thing with her. Better than most of us ever find."
Three days later, I returned home with a plan—dinner reservations at the restaurant where we'd had our first real date, flowers waiting, the works. I'd even cleaned theapartment, leaving just enough mess to make her comfortable.
Instead, I found a note stuck to the refrigerator:
Emergency with the cultures. Cell walls collapsing unexpectedly (good thing scientifically, terrible timing personally). Don't wait up. Love you. —K
P.S. There's leftover Thai in the fridge that's probably still edible. Maybe. Smell it first.
Disappointment crashed through me, followed immediately by guilt for feeling disappointed. This was Kate's life—unpredictable, brilliant, consumed by work that mattered. Just like mine.
I spent the evening reviewing game footage, making notes that felt hollow without Kate's curious questions interrupting every few minutes. The apartment was too quiet, too empty. When had I started needing chaos to feel at home?
At 3:17 AM, the door finally opened. Kate stumbled in, dark circles under her eyes, lab coat wrinkled, hair escaping from what might have once been a bun.
"I'm so sorry," she said immediately, dropping her bag. "The enzyme concentration triggered an unexpected cascade effect that completely disintegrated the cell membranes, which is actually groundbreaking but required immediate documentation before the samples degraded, and?—"
"Kate," I interrupted, crossing to her and pulling her against my chest. "It's okay."
"But you just got home, and I wanted?—"
"Bed," I said firmly, lifting her easily. "Now."
She burrowed against me as I carried her to the bedroom, her voice already slurring with exhaustion. "The molecular binding sites showed unprecedented selectivity for the pathogenic cells while leaving the beneficial flora intact, which means potential applications for targeted therapy without disrupting gut microbiome homeostasis..."
I laid her gently on the bed, undressing her with practiced efficiency while she continued her scientific monologue. By the time I slipped in beside her, she was already half-asleep, still mumbling about enzymatic pathways.
I pulled her against me, breathing in the antiseptic smell of her lab mixed with her familiar vanilla shampoo. She fit perfectly against me, like she'd been designed to fill the empty spaces I hadn't known existed.
CHAPTER 23
KATE
Ipressed my nose against the glass, wincing as two massive bodies collided with a sickening thud that reverberated through the arena. The Chicago crowd roared while I clutched my heart like a Victorian lady having a fainting spell.
"You'll get used to it," Sarah assured me, passing a beer my way. "I still flinch when Dennis takes a hard hit, but I've stopped gasping out loud. Progress, right?"
"Hockey is essentially organized violence on ice," I muttered, accepting the drink gratefully. "The kinetic energy transfer in these collisions is enough to cause significant neural trauma, and yet they get up like it's nothing."
