that big of a deal.”
“No way. Mom and Dad have been bragging for weeks about my new job. I can’t show my face in our neighborhood so soon. They’ll all know what a failure I am.” I fell back on the bed and stared at the textured ceiling.
“You shouldn’t care what people think.”
“I don’t, but our parents do.”
She chuckled. “Good point. You can come stay with me.”
And her husband, Aaron, and two young children. No thanks. Carrie had enough on her plate without hiding her embarrassment of a sister from their social circle.
“I appreciate the offer, but that’s not a good idea.”
“Do you want to stay in Raleigh?”
“If I can find a job quickly, but I don’t know anyone here. It’s also really humid.” I patted my hair which seemed to have grown to twice its normal size since I arrived.
“That’s good. You don’t have to limit yourself. Do you think your professors would have any contacts they could refer you to?”
“Maybe.” It wasn’t a terrible idea.
“Reach out to them. In the meantime, you’ll have to send out your résumé to any firms you’re interested in. Since you’re not committed to one area it should be easy.”
“I’ll get started in the morning.”
“Good,” she said as if that problem was solved. “Do as much as you can, then go to the game and try to enjoy yourself.”
“I don’t want to see him again.” I pouted.
“Then don’t. Hang out with those women and go back to your hotel. It’s not like they can drag you onto the ice at the end.”
That was true.
“Okay.”
“Things will work out, Tay.”
Hearing her say it made it almost believable.
“Thanks for talking.”
“Anytime. I love you.”
“Love you.” I hung up and tossed the phone next to me. One step at a time. That’s all I had to think about.
4
Jason
“You good tonight?” Hartman stopped in front of me in the locker room. His words were quiet, only loud enough for me to hear. I was grateful he wasn’t drawing more attention to me. Enough of the guys had joked when they came in, asking if I got the wine stain out. But overall, the team was focused on getting in the right mindset for the game.
“Yes,” I promised.
He nodded and continued walking.
Grant leaned over. “Most of the guys moved on after you left. It wasn’t as big of a deal as you probably think it is.”
“Thanks.” He wasn’t the type to say something just to make you feel better, so I believed him.
I checked my phone before dropping it into my duffle. Just a text from Carmen, the clingy girl I’d been hanging out with. I ignored it and shoved my bag under the bench.
Once everyone was changed, Coach Romney and Rust walked to the center of the room.
Romney met each of our eyes before speaking. “This season has been rough. It’s taken a toll on every single one of us, but we fought and never gave up. We’re here to reclaim our title and remind the league who we are.”
We slapped our stick on the ground, and he smiled.
“When you’re out there, don’t hold anything back. Now is the time to lay it all out on the ice. Focus, be present, and play your very best. We’ve gotten to this point together, and we’re going to win together!”
We cheered, and he and Rust walked out. Hartman replaced them and stared us down. “Like Coach said, this season has been harder than any of us could have anticipated.” He paused and looked at Olli. He’d been in an accident, and Derek filled in as goalie for months in the beginning. “We’ve had some major things happen personally, and we supported each other because we’re family. This series is going to take everything we have left. It’s not going to be easy. The Storms want this just as bad as us, but they’re going to have to fight. We’ve won this three seasons in a row. That cup belongs to us, in our city. It’s ours and we have to defend it.”
We cheered and slapped our sticks.
“Let’s go out there and remind them who we are!”
We chanted, “Fury!” as we stood and marched through the tunnel to the ice. My body buzzed with the energy from the cheering crowd. There was a decent amount of our Fury black in the sea of white and navy.
Our fans were here for us, and it was our job to pay them back for their support.
As I ran through the warm-up drills, I caught several