Page 57 of Delay of Game

Jordan

My feet refuse to cooperate,so I just stand there in front of the elevator contemplating every decision I’ve ever made. Alice is clearly still mad at me for not being able to come to town earlier this year, when Valerie—Robbie and Olivia’s daughter—was born.

After being traded and moving to Texas, I shut everyone in my life out. All my friends and family, and especially Alice. I thought that getting a clean break would be easier for the both of us. But the truth is, as soon as I was on my own, I missed all of them. My family. And Alice—I missed her the most.

Without realizing it, I had cut out the brightest light in my life and was left agonized in the gloomy darkness.

I tried to briefly explain why I couldn’t make it that weekend, but I downplayed my injury, not wanting any of them to pity me, not when they were celebrating the birth of Robbie and Olivia’s daughter. Besides, Alice was too mad to hear me out. I had made a promise to be there, for Robbie, for Olivia—for Alice, and I broke that promise. I’m sure my injury seemed like an excuse, but the extent of it was much more complicated.

Robbie seemed understanding enough, and we’ve kept in touch on a semi-regular basis since then, though he does seem to have a lot on his plate now that he’s a dad.

And the truth is, I never told anyone how bad my injury really was, except for Ash. When he and I reconnected last November, he was going through therapy, and I confided in him about how lonely and depressed I was feeling away from my family and friends. He not only encouraged me to find a therapist, but he made me a priority, calling as often as he could to check in and make sure I was taking care of myself.

I get a twinge of pain in my hip and grit through it, making my way to the car to collect the last of my belongings.

Now that I’m back for good, I need to fix things between us. Not just with Alice, but with the rest of my friends too. And maybe, just maybe, I can win Alice back, one way or the other.

As much as I wanted to write off our story as something casual, things between us were so much more. Seeing her now is bringing back all the feelings that I didn’t let myself show backthen. Even though I refused to acknowledge them, the truth is I loved her. I still do.

One thing that people have said about me is that I’m stubborn as hell. If I put my mind to something, I accomplish it. No matter what.

And I’m going to get her back.

CHAPTER 21

August

Jordan

The red,white, and black Manticores logo looms above me as I enter the arena through the main office and head to the front desk.

“Good morning, how can I help you?” the young woman at the front desk says, looking up from her computer screen.

“I’m Jordan Hill, the new assistant coach. I need to pick up my badge and equipment,” I say, cracking my fingers, expelling some of the nervous energy I feel.

The young woman beams at me and stands up, extending a hand. “Nice to meet you, sir, we’re so excited to have you. I’m Molly.” I gently take it, and we shake hands quickly. I hope she doesn’t mind the sweat.

I bite back my grimace and say, “Nice to meet you, Molly. Do you know where I’m supposed to go to pick things up?”

“Oh, right. I can take you,” she says, spinning around and leading me down the hallway, past some of the conferencerooms and pictures of former players that have moved up to the NHL. I spot Ash and Eli’s pictures framed next to each other and smile, snapping a photo and sending it to the group chat.

Molly looks back at what’s got me distracted and smiles. “They’re legends around here, you know? You all are.”

“How do you mean?”

She points at another picture on the wall at the end of the hallway, one from training camp three years ago, all of us gathered on the ice in our red and white jerseys. Our first line is kneeling down, big smiles on our faces. Robbie is at our core, Ash and Eli to his right, me, Tripp, and Tony, our other defenseman, on his left. “That was the dream team,” she says, and I swallow the knot in my throat because she’s right. We were the dream team.

“Coach Brian never shuts up about you guys. He says everyone should aspire to play like you all did.”

I snort, remembering how much coach Brian used to yell at us about our consistency and performance. Knowing that he speaks highly of me and my past teammates eases some of my nerves.

“Hey, Jordan. Good to have you back,” a feminine voice says, and I look up just in time to see Malia walking down the hall with a yoga mat in hand. Her hand goes up and I high-five it as she walks by me.

“Good to be back. How is volleyball coaching?” I ask, knowing that since they moved back from Quebec a couple years ago, she’s taken over as head coach of the Thunderbirds, the same team she started her professional volleyball career with.

“It’s peachy! Can’t wait for the season to start in January. You should come over for dinner, Alex will be grilling tonight,” she says in a rush.

“Oh, sure, that’d be nice,” I say, not expecting the invite, even though I probably should have. Alex is about as friendly asRobbie under the surface, even though he seems intimidating at first. And Malia has been nothing but nice from the first moment I met her. I still remember the holiday gala eight years ago when she bid on Robbie at the charity auction to make Alex jealous.

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