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I haul myself out of bed, dress, and I’m on the road less than twenty minutes later.

Once I’ve gotten the house sorted, maybe I can do my off-day workouts here. But while the room that will be my home gym is mostly empty, I don’t have much of a choice.

I do everything I can to get my head off last night, but it’s easier said than done.

My mood is in the toilet as I march through the parking garage at the arena and let myself inside.

As I expected, the lot is almost empty. But there are a few cars littered around.

Coach is in, along with Cromwell, our PT, and Jarad, our head trainer. There are a few other cars I don’t recognize that I assume are front office staff.

The arena is eerily quiet as I stop off at the dressing room to dump my stuff before heading toward our state-of-the-art gym.

The air conditioner is cranked up, sending a shiver racing across my skin, but that won’t last for long.

After setting up my usual playlist and popping my earbuds in, I start my warm-up on the treadmill.

As I pick up the pace, I finally start to release some of the tension from last night. No amount of exercise will eradicate it completely. Nothing but a second chance at finishing what we started will achieve that. But as much as I might want to do just that, the safer option is to try to forget it.

Garrett is practically related to one of my teammates. It would be dangerous to start anything.

I can’t ask him to keep that kind of secret if we were to continue what we started. That’s not fair.

You’d think I’d have learned my lesson in Vancouver. But clearly, I’m a glutton for punishment because I’m, once again, going after a man I can’t have.

Sweat drips from my temples as I move to the bike. It isn’t until I get to the weights that I realize I do actually miss having someone here.

Sure, I’ve never really had any teammates who have been close friends—well, not since I was a kid, of course. I’ve always kept myself at arm’s length, but usually, there’s always someone there to spot me on the bench.

I do what I can without to make sure I don’t accidentally crush myself to death, and I’m about to give up when the door swings open.

Startled, I pull my earbud out and watch as Rovvy saunters inside.

He looks about as shocked to see me here as I am him.

“Nash?”

“Rovvy,” I greet.

“I…uh…thought I’d better get some extra work in, seeing as I’ve gotta try and keep up with you.”

“You’re doing great,” I assure him, hating that in the background, he might have someone who tells him the opposite, like I always have.

“I can still be better. If we’re gonna go all the way again, now isn’t the time to rest on our laurels.”

“No, it’s not. I agree.”

“How long were you planning on hanging around for?” he asks as he makes his way toward the treadmill.

“I don’t really have a plan. Why?”

“I…uh…” He rubs the back of his neck and glances away briefly. “Did you feel like going down to the ice and doing some more drills?”

A rare smile twitches at my lips. Despite my reluctance, I’m starting to like this kid.

“Yeah, we can do that. You’d better check it hasn’t been booked out, though. Sometimes the kids’ teams use it when we’re not here.”

Before I know what’s happening, he’s shot out of the door again to find out.