Page 11 of Rock Pucking Bottom

Everyone else got up when they realized there was fresh coffee available. Coop came over and sat in the empty chair next to me.

I couldn't blame Coop for avoiding everyone and hiding under his cap and sunglasses. Even without Vancouver being hockey obsessed (myself included), people felt so much shame coming to meetings, and he was probably in incognito mode.

As he hunched himself over his coffee, I said, "You didn't have to do that."

"Sure, I did. I wasn't going to drink lukewarm coffee for the next hour."

I smiled. It was sweet that he got the coffee for everyone. Every so often, people would just get themselves a fresh cup. It made him seem like he wasn't a normal addict (not that I liked the term, since we just had drinking problems and addictive personalities). One of the common stereotypes with alcoholics were that they were selfish, and they liked to bury their problems.

I had no clue if Coop was trying to bury his problem, but he wasn't actively selfish. Never was selfish on the ice either. I didn't want to fan girl in front of him.

"Well, thank you. Normally, we would ask you to remove the sunglasses, but given how you're a bit of a local celebrity, we'll let it slide."

That got me a genuine smile that warmed me to the core. I wanted to make him smile all the time.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." He picked at his coffee cup and didn't look up at me. "It's okay if I just listen, right?"

I nodded.

While I made this offer with any newcomer, I really hoped that he would take me up on it. "Afterwards, I would like to take you for a proper coffee and we can talk more about the process."

"Okay."

Everyone was back in their seats, and I brought the meeting to order.

Chapter 10

Eoghan

TheAAmeetingwasn'tquite what I expected. Although I wasn't sure what to expect except that there would be testimonies and hearing about other people's rock bottom.

I could barely pay attention because of the blonde on my right. She was gorgeous and every fiber of my body (especially my wolf) was pulled towards her. I'd only felt this way once before, but that was fleeting. Although now that I found her, I didn't want to let her go, and I had to learn everything about her. When she suggested going to get coffee, I was excited for the first time in months.

I tried to listen to the stories only to help me figure out how to avoid my drinking problems, but my mind drifted to all the ways I could pick up the girl next to me.

I sipped my coffee until I was done. After that, the only thing that kept me halfway sane was picking at the cup lining. After an hour, I pretty much destroyed my cup.

When the meeting was over, I stood up and put my cup into the trash can when the group leader came up to me. "Ready to get that coffee?"

I held my arm open and said, "Lead the way."

We walked out of the small office building, and she led the way down the block to a small coffeehouse.

She ordered a black coffee and right when she reached to pay, I stepped up to the cashier and pushed her hand out of the way. "Large Americano."

Then I handed over my black card.

We silently waited for our drinks at the counter and then, once the paper cups were in hand, we walked to a table.

I was glad that the place was deserted, and we could really talk without too many interruptions. As we sat down, I realized that I still didn't know her name. She clearly knew mine since she recognized me and let me hide during the meeting.

"I feel like an asshole, but what's your name?"

She smiled and said, "Emmy. I would ask yours, but we met before."

I racked my brain. How the hell would we have met, and I didn't remember? The pull to claim her was so strong. There was only one other time in my life that I felt that pull, and it was about four years ago at a party. But it seemed like anytime that I tried to track down the smell, I was pulled away or into an "important" conversation.

I got a black out drunk a few too many times in recent weeks. But I would have thought that I would remember meeting my mate. So, I did the only thing I could think of, "I'm sorry, but how did we meet?"

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