Page 44 of Vital Blindside

“As soon as he knew I was in town, he brought me in and even offered to help me with my shoulder if it meant that I would work for him. He did that because he wanted the best for you, and even if I’m no longer out there winning gold medals, that’s exactly what I am.”

My eyes go wide as I realize what I’ve said—or accepted, really. Willow’s lips spread in a small smile.

I clear my throat. “Anyway, my point is that there’s no way you’re giving up hockey. We will figure something out.” It’s a promise in its purest form.

A mix between doubt and hope spreads across her face before she nods once. “Is he still here? We should go talk to him now before I leave and lose my edge.”

“Your edge?” I laugh, earning myself a glare. “Right. We wouldn’t want you to lose your edge. He was still in his office a few minutes ago.” We get up off the couch and leave the room.

“Did you really take the job just to work with me?” Willow asks when we step into the hallway. The main lights are off now that the rink is closed, leaving only the dull automatic ones to light the path.

“Adam told me how good you were, and I said yes. I haven’t regretted that decision once.”

At least I haven’t when working with her. Adam, on the other hand? It might have crossed my mind a couple of times. More so lately than before, though I think that stems from a completely different problem.

“Okay,” she murmurs.

“So, you have three siblings? Boys or girls?” I ask and cringe at my attempt at small talk.

I’m not one to ask about someone’s personal life. Most of the time, I don’t see the purpose of getting to know someone that isn’t going to be a constant in my life for a long period of time. It seems unnecessary to build bonds with temporary people.

Yet with Willow, I want to get to know more about her. And I think that’s because we’ve already created a bond that I don’t want to break, regardless of if its permanence. We’re so similar it’s almost uncanny. I see myself in her and want to give her the best chance of success. She deserves it.

“Two older brothers and a younger sister. I’m the third child. Do you have any siblings?”

“No. I’m the only one. I think it was a blessing that way, though. I was hard enough on my mom without adding another kid in the mix.”

“Yeah, my second oldest brother is the same way. My mom always said that if she knew how much of a shit he was going to be, maybe she wouldn’t have kept popping out babies.”

That makes me laugh. “He’s a real handful, then.”

“Just yesterday, I had to pick him up from the skate park after he got into a fight and hit some kid in the back of the head with his board.”

“Okay, yeah, I can see it. So, what, you’re the designated bail buddy?”

She snorts. “Yeah, you could say that. Luckily, hockey usually keeps me pretty busy, so I get out of it a lot of the time.”

“Well, if you ever need a bail buddy or anything, I . . . uh, I could be that for you.”

Willow looks at me and grins. “That would be awesome.”

I smile back. “Okay.”

As soon as Adam’s office door comes into view, Willow halts, coming to a sudden stop. I look at her curiously.

“What’s wrong?”

She chews nervously on her lip. “Do you think you could go in first? Warm him up a little?” My eyes go wide, and then hers follow. She rambles her next words in a hushed voice. “Okay, that’s so not what I meant. I’m so nervous I have no control over my words. Please forget I said that. I mean, unless that’s something you want to do? If so, please feel free. I’ll just wait out here and put headphones in or something.”

“Willow, stop talking. Please.” My cheeks feel as warm as hers look. “I can go in and talk to him first.”

Yeah, simple enough. It’s not like what I’m thinking about now is all the ways I could “warm him up.”

She sighs in relief. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Just stay close or something. I’ll come get you when I’m done talking to him.”

After she gives me another nod of confirmation, I leave her where she’s standing and continue the walk to Adam’s office. As soon as I get close, I hear his voice through the crack in his door. An involuntary shudder moves through me before a woman’s voice joins his.

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