Page 207 of Lose You Twice

I chuckle at that. “Wanna make that call for me?”

“Hell no,” Coach says, standing and walking around his desk, holding out his hand to me. “Good luck.”

“Thank you, Coach.” Standing, I shake his hand firmly before turning and heading toward the locker room.

Grayson is waiting a short distance down the hall. He looks up from his phone as I approach. “How’d that go?”

I shake my head, letting out a heavy breath. “Good, but that wasn’t the one I was worried about.”

He nods in understanding. “Not to beat a dead horse, but you’re sure about this, right? Wren would understand.”

Rolling my eyes, I explain my reasoning for the millionth time since I told him I made my decision last night. “Like I’ve said, this isn’t about Wren. Yes, I want to spend whatever time I can with her, but I refuse to let the team down. Do you really think you could go all the way to the championship if Coleson takes my spot? That’s like trying to slide down a dry Slip ’N Slide.”

Grayson chuckles. “Fair. Just don’t fuck up our chances of playing together in Seattle.”

I shove him gently. “Wouldn’t dream of it, brother.”

We walk down the hall a ways before running into Weston. “I do not know who pissed in your girlfriend’s Cheerios, but holy shit, everyone needs to be on their best behavior today.”

My brows furrow. “What happened?”

“I said hi, basically, and she all but ripped my dick off,” Weston says, leaning against the wall. “She could end global warming single-handedly with how cold she is today.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just piss her off?” Grayson asks.

Asher comes walking up behind us, gear bag slung over his shoulder. “What’d I miss?”

“I was just warning these two about Wren being in a mood.” Weston shudders. “It’s not natural, man. It’s messing with me. She’s normally so fun.”

I think back to this morning and reach into my pocket, grabbing my phone out and unlocking it. I go to our text thread, where my message still sits, unopened. Huh.

I start walking toward the locker room, leaving the guys standing there.

“Don’t you have a call to make before practice?” Grayson’s voice carries down the hall.

I wave him off. “I’ll deal with Dane in a bit.” Some things are more important than hockey, Wren being one of them.

Walking into the locker room, I bypass my teammates, who are starting to filter in, making my way directly toward the laundry room. Judging by the banging around I hear from there, my girl is definitely in a mood.

I open the door, just as she slams the washing machine closed.

“What do you want?” Wren asks, not even bothering to look to see who walked in.

I close the door, coming to stand right beside her. She sighs, looking up at me.

Her eyes are red-rimmed, her cheeks still splotchy. I can tell she’s been crying, and my heart squeezes at the sight. My hands instantly go to her face, thumbs tracing the redness under her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Her bottom lip begins to tremble. “Everything. Everything is wrong.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” The last thing I want to do is leave her like this throughout our practice, and I need to call Dane at some point, which doesn’t leave me a lot of time left in my day.

Wren shakes her head, sniffling before turning back to the laundry waiting for her. “Maybe after practice.”

I nod, quickly pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “I love you. We’ll talk later.”

All I get in return is a slight shake of her head, telling me she heard me before I leave the room.

Something is definitely wrong, but now is not the time or the place to push her. I check the clock, and I don’t have enough time to call Dane before practice.