Page 45 of Inside the Penalty Box

“Seriously, Aurora, just live in the moment. Enjoy it and make the most of it. You’ll regret it if you don’t. Take things as they come.”

Then my mother did something she hadn’t done since I was a very little girl. She reached over and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.

“Thanks, Mom,” I whispered.

“Now, I need to get going. I have lunch with Joe at the yacht club. Did you want to join us?”

I shook my head. “No, I have to get back home. Lorelai and I have a study group later this afternoon. Love you, and thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, my dear. See you soon.”

I stayed on the bench and watched as my mother walked away. She seemed happy, happier than I’d seen her in a long time, and I really hoped that Joe was the one who’d be around for a while. He seemed to be good for her.

Chapter 13

Dylan

Coach didn’t let up on practice today. Sweat poured from my head as I stepped off the ice. My legs were killing me, and I couldn’t wait to get into the hot tub.

“Fuck, that was killer,” Knox said, sitting down on the bench beside me breathing hard.

“Three more games, boys, three more…determines if we make the playoffs or not,” Coach said as he stepped off the ice. “Don’t fuck this up,” he muttered, walking past us.

“What’s gotten into him today?” Clay asked, sitting down and squirting water into his mouth. “We haven’t had a practice like that in ages.”

“No idea,” I muttered, squirting Gatorade into my mouth.

Coach returned and looked at us. “Oh, and when you guys are finished in the showers, meet me in the boardroom.”

He looked directly at me as he told us to meet him. I swallowed hard. I’d had several meetings already this morning about what had happened Friday night at the club. I was in the clear, I already knew that, but the look on the coach’s face made me worry another hammer was about to drop.

“Let’s go, boys,” I said, standing up.

The hot tub had never felt so good. I closed my eyes and sank into the water, listening to the guys banter back and forth. We didn’t play tonight. Instead, we were heading off to our next away game in only a few hours.

“I’m going to see Stacy for a massage and some stretching,” Knox said, climbing out of the hot tub.

“Don’t forget coach wants to see us.”

“He said to meet him after we’re finished here. Besides, if I don’t get this hamstring loosened, I’ll be useless on the ice tomorrow night.”

Knox had aggravated an old hamstring and hip injury three weeks ago and had been heading for treatment since. We couldn’t afford to lose him now. “Alright, we’ll meet you there,” I said, climbing out of the hot tub and heading to the showers.

Forty-five minutes later, we all sat in the boardroom waiting for the coach to begin. I laughed at something Clay said when I caught sight of Pamela, one of our PR reps. She walked in and handed something to the coach, and then whispered something in his ear. He nodded, made a note, and then looked over at me. I swallowed hard. Something was going on.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I was about to reach for it when he stood up, making his way over to the door, which he closed. All the signs were there. Someone was in shit, and I knew damn well it was me.

“Alright, guys, listen, seems we have a minor problem on our hands, which has brought some bad press to the team.”

Each of us looked at one another, wondering what could have caused that. Certainly, it couldn’t have been the brief outbreak that had happened at the bar. No one had seen anything. At least I didn’t think they had. My phone vibrated again in my pocket, so this time I pulled it out and looked at it.

There on my phone was the headline from Cam’s Sports Desk. It said it all. As I read the words, I felt sick and lightheaded.

“So you’ve seen it,” Coach said, looking directly at me.

The room was quiet as our eyes met.

“What is it?” Lucas questioned.

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