Page 135 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

"The woman I've been waiting to hear."

I frown. "I've been talking this whole time."

"No." She shakes her head. "You've been giving me progress reports."

I laugh. "I work in rehab. Occupational hazard."

"I'm not talking about his exercises."

She studies me over the top of her mug. "I'm talking about the way your face changes when you say his name."

My stomach does an uncomfortable little flip. "You're imagining things."

"Annette." She smiles. “I've watched you through years of impossible patients, twelve-hour shifts, and one spectacularly awful coffee machine."

I laugh. "The Riverton coffee machine really is terrible."

"It’s criminal."

"It tried to poison us."

"Daily."

We both grin. The memory fades as she looks back at me. "I also remember you insisting you were perfectly fine after working twenty-two hours straight."

"I was."

"You fell asleep sitting up."

"I was resting my eyes."

"You were snoring."

"I absolutely was not."

"You absolutely were."

I point accusingly at the screen. "You said we'd never speak of that again."

"I lied."

I can't help laughing. Man, I've missed this. Keisha waits until my laughter settles before speaking again. "I know your tells, Annette."

"My tells?"

She nods. "When something matters to you...you start saying 'we.'"

I blink. "What?"

"'We had a really good session today.'"

She counts on her fingers.

"'We're making progress.'"

"'We're almost there.'"

She tilts her head. "You've never talked about patients like that before."