Page 19 of Silver Fox Puck

So why does it feel like I’m still stuck in last night? I step into the hallway, exhaling slowly.

The Denver coaching interview is in less than an hour. That’s what I need to focus on.

Not last night.

Not her.

Not the way my body still hums with the phantom feel of her skin against mine.

I head toward the hotel café, the aroma of burnt coffee and fresh pastries filling the space. It’s mostly businessmen in pressed suits, a few travelers with their faces buried in newspapers. Normal. Forgettable.

I order black coffee, plant myself at a table by the window, and pull out my phone, scrolling through the notes I made for my meeting.

Denver’s roster. Contract terms. Salary cap breakdown.

I skim the words, absorbing nothing.

Instead, my mind keeps drifting.

Not to hockey.

To a green-eyed woman who walked out of my life before the sun was even up.

I scowl, forcing my attention back to the screen. Get your head on straight, Maddox.

But no matter how much I try to ground myself in the present, I feel off.

Like last night knocked something loose inside me, and I don’t know how to put it back.

I drag a hand through my hair, shutting off my phone and tossing it onto the table.

I reach for my wallet, fingers brushing against something cool, solid.

The silver hoops.

My pulse kicks up like I’ve been caught.

I fist my hand around them, jaw tightening as I shove them deeper into my pocket.

She’s already gone. Out of sight. Out of reach.

So why the hell does she feel like the one thing I can’t let go of?

Chapter 4 – Kenzie

The plane hums beneath me, a steady, familiar vibration that usually soothes me.

Not today.

I force a bright smile as I stride down the aisle, checking seat belts, dodging elbows, and offering my standard can-I-get-you-anything-before-takeoff look. The usual routine. The thing I do a hundred times a month, in a hundred different cities, with hundreds of different strangers.

I love this part of my job. The constant motion. The freedom of it.

But today?

Today, my head is not where it should be. Because he is still in there. And I hate it.

I grip the edge of a seat as the plane jerks slightly, the jet bridge pulling away from the gate. Get it together, Kenz.

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