Page 108 of Here We Go Again

“Would you really do that?” I ask as I lean back, wanting to see her eyes. “You would stay in Atlanta if I did?”

She shrugs. “Maybe I need a new start too.”

It almost feels too good to be true. And I would have to make some modifications to my spreadsheet because I cannot afford housing in Midtown and still stick to my aggressive student loan payment plan. Though I could take Indigo’s advice and look for another travel contract. If I find another one in the city, it would pay more than a permanent position. And, let’s be honest, it would also make me feel better about changing all my plans for a man. Because then I’m not really changing them. I’m just … adjusting my location.

“Do you see the wheels spinning?” Mia whisper-yells to Indigo. “She’s probably making a pros and cons list right now. Or mentally adjusting the numbers on her spreadsheet.”

I pick up a throw pillow and toss it at my best friend’s head.

She ducks and squeals. “Just be sure to put the cookie place on the pros side,” she says, and I make a mental note to do just that. But it’s just a formality at this point. After today’s conversation, it feels like my brain is finally catching up to what my heart already knows it wants.

The next two weeks are Theo’s last before training camp officially starts. I know it shouldn’t feel like a ticking clock looming over us. But I’ve seen the training camp schedule. It’s three weeks of workouts and scrimmages and preseason games interspersed with team meetings and management meetings and group skates and press appointments. And, as Theo so aptly put it, a lot of important people watching, trying to decide how useful each player is going to be to the team.

He’s not exactly a rookie, so Theo normally wouldn’t have anything to prove. But everyone will be watching him closely this year, judging how ready he is to play, whether his recovery is truly behind him.

I can tell he’s nervous, but when we’re together, he doesn’t want to talk about hockey. I’m still trying to decide if that’s good or bad.

Either way, we’re doing our best to spend as much time together as possible because once camp starts, it’s only going to get harder.

We manage to grab dinner the Wednesday night after we get home, and we meet Carter and Sarah for drinks on Friday. Then we squeeze in a hike on Sunday morning, and we fall asleep watching a movie at his place on Monday night. On Tuesday, he shows up at the hospital in the middle of my shift just to kiss me hello, then he comes over with Chinese takeout for dinner on Thursday, enough for us and Indigo and Mia, and we eat and watch episodes of Schitt’s Creek until he falls asleep, semi-reclined on the couch with chopsticks in one hand and a container of General Tso’s Chicken in the other.

“Hey,” I say gently, tugging the food and chopsticks out of his grasp. I set them on the coffee table, then sit down beside him. Mia is in the kitchen doing dishes, and Indigo already said goodnight and went to her room, so for now, it’s just the two of us in the living room.

I lift a hand to his cheek, stroking the stubble along his jaw. “You should go home and get some rest.”

He shifts and stirs, then leans into my touch, raising his hand to cover mine. He moves my palm to his lips and kisses the pad of my thumb, then finally opens his eyes.

He’s been training so hard, I hate to wake him. But he won’t be comfortable if he stays here.

“I’d say you can stay, but my futon really isn’t big enough.”

He sits up the rest of the way, rolling his neck a few times. “Why don’t you come stay in my guest room?” he says. “Abandon the futon. I know you love that mattress.”

He has no idea how much I love that mattress. And it would be nice to see more of him. But I can’t expect Indigo to host Mia without me here. They’ve gotten to be good friends over the past week and a half, but I’m still the bridge between them. Plus, the euphoria of quitting her job seems to be wearing off for Indigo. I’m not sure she needs me yet, but I have a feeling she might in the not-so-distant future.

“Tempting,” I say. “But I think it’s good for me and Mia to be with Indigo right now.”

His eyebrows lift. “Is she okay?”

“Just a little lost, I think. Most of the people she knew before were more work friends. Now that she quit, I’m not sure she knows what to do with herself.”

“There’s a team dinner on Sunday afternoon—sort of a last hurrah before training camp,” Theo says. “Do you want to bring her? Mia too, if you want.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” I say. “I’ll ask them.”

“Okay,” he says, stifling a yawn. “I’m gonna go crash.”

“Actually, can we talk for one more quick sec?” I say, nerves suddenly making my stomach tight. I wasn’t planning to tell him tonight. I only just finalized my plans this afternoon and thought I might think up a novel way to tell him, something cute or funny or, I don’t know, just something to make it feel special. But now, I just want him to know.

“Of course,” he says. “What’s up?”

“It’s good news,” I say. “Or, I think it is. I hope you will too?”

Theo runs a hand across his face, like he’s rubbing his sleepiness away so he can be fully present. “Let’s hear it,” he says.

I reach over and thread my fingers through his. “I signed a new travel contract this morning.”

His grip on my hand tightens, and it takes a long moment for him to speak. “You did?” he finally says, the words thick with the effort he’s clearly making to sound upbeat, to hide his disappointment. Oh, this good, good man. He clears his throat. “That’s … I mean, wow. So where are you headed?”