Page 111 of The Fake Out Flex

The medical team arrives, and the guys and I move out of their way. I keep a close eye on Culver, watching anxiously as he's assessed by the medics before they help him off the ice.

Turns out he's strained his knee. It's not catastrophic, but it's enough to sideline him for the rest of the game.

Great. Just what we need. Losing our best defenseman. But at least he's all right, and hopefully it's nothing too serious.

We end up losing 5-2.

The mood in the locker room after the game is subdued. Frustration and disappointment hang heavy in the air. The usual banter is replaced by reflective silence or hushed conversations about what went wrong.

I get showered and dressed fast, keen to get an update on Culver's condition.

Before heading out, as always, the last thing I do is kiss Evie's bracelet three times. I wonder if I should tell her I still have it?

For all the things we've talked about these past few months, neither one of us has broached the subject of why I left and what happened all those years ago.

Dawn has scheduled a family meeting to discuss things, which will pave the way for me to finally tell Evie everything.

But there's something else I want to discuss with Evie tonight.

Something important.

I leave the locker room and hunt down the assistant coach, who tells me Culver has been taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

So that's where I head.

Via a quick stop at the club box.

"Hey," Evie says, rushing over to me the moment she spots me entering the lounge.

I don't know what sort of greeting I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't her looping her arms around me and just…holding me.

I breathe in the sweet vanilla scent I've grown used to and run my fingers through her silky soft hair.

"That was brutal, but you did great."

My body tenses, and Evie must feel it, because she pulls apart, latches both hands onto my shoulders and gives a firm squeeze. "You did great, Fraser," she repeats with such conviction, I almost believe it.

But I'm in a post-game losing funk, and it's hard to break through it. The scoreboard doesn't lie. Not to mention Culver getting injured.

"How's Culver?" she asks, as if reading my thoughts.

"Don't know. He's been taken to the hospital. They're running some scans on him. I'm sorry, but I need to go see him."

Evie frowns. "Why are you sorry?"

"You flew all this way out here for the game, and I don't know how long I'll be, but I'd feel bad if I didn't?—"

Her soft, sweet lips cut me off.

It takes my brain a second to click into gear, but once it does, my hands find their way to her lower back, and I press her in closer to me.

"You were saying?" she murmurs against my mouth.

"I was speaking?"

I feel the hum of her giggle vibrate through my body.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to tag along. I want to make sure Culver's okay, too. Hannah's going out of her mind."

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