Page 13 of Power Play

When we were still in Texas, I wasn’t working much, so I spent most of my time with Rory between trying different therapies on my injury. If I did need to be away from Rory, it was usually my parents who would watch her. My parents absolutely adore my little girl and spoil her at every opportunity they get.

It surprised me a bit to see my dad act this way. Growing up, my sister and I were always spoiled a bit by our mom, while my dad was more of the disciplinarian. I expected it to be somewhat of the same thing, my mom being very hands-on and my dad in the background.

Boy, I was wrong.

My father dotes on my little girl like she’s everything he was missing in this world. She has him so wrapped around her tiny little finger, and I love watching him turn to mush for her, even if that means she’s even more spoiled than I want.

Starting tomorrow, Rory is going to a new daycare, except when I have away or late-night games, then my parents or Stella will watch her, which is a relief even if I know it might be a little challenging for them sometimes. Now that my parents are back in New York, my mom is starting up her fundraisers for the arts again, while my dad un-retired and has gone back to work in the corporate world. Having a three-year-old in that house might be a little different than when they were both retired in Texas.

But we’ll figure it out.

We always do.

* * *

The first week of practice has gone just as I expected it to. On one hand, some of the players were difficult because they were pissed their old coach retired or they were annoyed that they didn’t get a more experienced coach. I may have thirty years of hockey experience, ten of which were in the NHL, but to them, they just see that I’ve never coached before. On the other hand though, some of the players knew about my time here with the hockey team as well as in the NHL, so they were excited. It helped that one of the captains of their team, Max, was stoked to have me here.

Max and I were able to meet on Monday before I met with the rest of the team, so he got an understanding of what some of my goals for the team are and how I’m going to get us there. Last year, they didn’t have the best season, winning less than half of their games. They had great players and great skills, but they weren’t working together. With a few minor changes and some switches to which players are on the ice together, I think we have a lot of promise for the post-season. After I told Max all of this, he was honest with his thoughts, and told me that some of the players were going to take issue with these changes, but he agreed that it could work.

By Friday, I’m exhausted from running drills, getting ready for games next week, and figuring out Rory’s daycare schedule. Never have I truly felt like a single parent doing everything on my own. In Texas, my parents helped whenever I needed them to. When Trevor texted me, saying he and the guys were going to some small bar tonight, I texted my sister, asking if she wanted to come have another sleepover with Rory. After their last one, Rory was so happy that she didn’t stop talking about her Auntie Lala for days.

Getting out with the guys and having a few beers will hopefully help take the stress of this week away a bit. If not, I’ll just laugh at my friends because when you put them in a room with some alcohol they become total idiots.

4

SAWYER

This has been the absolute longest week of my life, and I want nothing more than to crash on my couch with a bottle of wine and watch shitty TV. Unfortunately, I promised my friends that I would meet them at the bar down the street. Even worse, one of them is my roommate, so there’s really no way out of it without absolute bloodshed.

When I reach my apartment door, before I can even unlock it, it swings open. No surprise, it’s Cassie standing there with a glass of wine and a smirk that tells me this isn’t her first glass of the evening.

“You’re late, bitch,” she snaps playfully. “Go grab yourself a glass and come sit on the patio. I already have the wine.”

“You’re bossy today.”

“You say that like today is any different than yesterday. I’m bossy. It is what it is.” She shrugs and walks out to the patio.

As much as I want to tell her that I’m too tired and just want to sleep, I’m pretty sure she’d kill me if I left her alone tonight. Heading to the kitchen, I set down my things before grabbing a glass. Before I even make it to the patio, Cassie starts telling me the day’s gossip.

“So, you’ll never guess who I ran into on campus today.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me you ran into the whiskey guy again. I can’t use that kind of bad luck. We’re trying to have a fun night.”

“Ew, why did you have to remind me of him? I could have gone the rest of my life without thinking about that night.”

That night will go down in history as the worst night either of us had in college. A guy was flirting with both of us and thought he would impress us by chugging a bottle of whiskey and eating three of those gas station nachos. We ended up having to clean it out of her car, and it reeked for weeks.

The worst part was that he still tried to kiss her after vomiting all over her car.

Nacho cheese and whiskey is not a sexy smell.

“So, who did you see?

“Max. He came over to the science building to talk. Mentioned that he had been trying to get ahold of you.”

It’s been almost a year since I refused to let Max control my life any longer. A year since he convinced my mom that I was being reckless by trying to open my own dance studio in New York. He told me that if I didn’t get a safe degree, which he believed to be either teaching or medical for some odd reason, that I was just wasting my time and my mom’s money. So, he convinced her to stop paying for my school and then got all distant. After that, things haven’t been the same between him and I.

“Next subject,” I say, walking out onto the patio and filling my wine glass. Full to the brim.

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