We nod and plaster smiles on our faces. Maxim opens the metal door and leads the three of us to an open floor plan of offices with glass walls. There are a few rooms with real walls for privacy and blinds covering their windows.
“And look, we’re lucky—a rare sighting of our elusive head coach!”
I guess we’re in a zoo now.
“Hello, nice to meet you all,” Henry Whyatt says, briefly glancing up from his phone to greet us but not stopping to chat.
Henry Whyatt. Head coach of the Vancouver Whales. Holy shit.
Maybe I shouldn’t judge Maxim too harshly for his email. I may faint from fangirling right here. Probably not ready to meet the players if the coach is locking me in place.
“And through here are our two assistant coaches, Anthony and David.” The assistant coaches wave, sizing us up. We walk through to another room where a handful of people are gathered.
“And this is our player development team.” Maxim points to each of the men, giving us their names. “Gabriel, Dylan, Elias, Charlie, and ... Where’s the new guy?”
“I’m coming!” a deep male voice calls from the kitchenette beside the sitting room.
So many new names to remember. Connor, my friend (hopefully). Henry Whyatt (easy to remember). Assistant coaches: Anthony and David. Player development coaches: Gabriel, Dylan, Elias, Charlie, and ...
The latecomer rushes in and lucky me, I’m right at the front.
I don’t think I’d be able to move even if I wanted to. Every muscle in my body is frozen.
Except for my mouth, apparently.
“Adam,” I say without thinking.
He looks at me, surprise written all over his face.
“Oh, do you two know each other?” Maxim asks, suspicion in his tone at the tension. Is that tension I feel? Or an icy frost? Indifference?
“Only a little,” Adam says, seemingly recovered from his surprise in under two seconds.
Meanwhile, my body feels like it was just shocked with a hundred volts of electricity. Is that a lot of electricity? I don’t know. Fuck, even my thoughts are rambling. I almost don’t hear what Adam says next.
“We met briefly a few years ago. It’s ...” He pauses.Pauses. “... Paige, right?” he asks after thinking for a moment.
I can’t breathe.
He had tothinkabout my name.
He doesn’t remember me.
What the fuck?
I try to recover, hoping to keep the hurt and ensuing wave of anger off my face.
“Yup,” I say, not looking at Adam, instead turning to Demitri. “We were running the same race and met at the starting line.” I shrug, hoping it comes off as nonchalant.
“Isn’t that neat!”
My head spins as Maxim and Demitri lead us out into the hallway. I try to make my face look focused, but my mind is back in that room, watching Adam struggle to remember my name.
He forgot me.
I am an idiot.A huge asshole.
She’s here.Paigeis here. Working here.