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Pretore reads from a list in front of him, alphabetical Only three names before me and I'm the last
"Hawke Therrien," he says, and his eyes scan the rows until he sees me With a lift of his chin, I stand from my seat and tuck my hands in my pocket while he reads my credentials "You all knoke Played the last seven years with the Titans Originally from Toronto Joined the Cape Breton Oilers when he was sixteen Drafted by the Titans, third round Small stint in the minors and has been on their first line the last five years Won the James Norris Trophy twice"
His eyes swing up to ?"
I can't help myself "Yeahmy favorite beer is Molson and I can solve a Rubik's Cube in like twenty-sevenphenom"
The entire roo his head at rateful to be out of the lilad you're here, dude"
"Me too," I tell hiood about this year
"We have a new addition to our training staff," Coach Pretore says, and aze slides back down to him My blood practically freezes in my veins when he adds, "Everyone welcome Vale Campbell to our team"
From the very first row, a person I didn't even notice when I entered the roout as her eyes coht to mine Just like the last ti there Not really a hint of recognition, anger, indifference They just stare at me a brief moment and then move away as sheback down
"Vale is our new assistant athletic trainer She's crossing sports, co to us from Columbus, Ohio, where she spent the last two years as the Buckeyes' assistant AT Her roots are in hockey, though, as her dad was the head trainer of the Cape Breton Oilers for many years--"
Pretore stops and it suddenly dawns on him His eyes snap up to ht know each other?"
I quickly peek at Vale, who's slu down in her seat
Totally fucking aard
"Yeah," I say, then give a little cough "I know Vale"
"Excellent," Pretore says, not picking up on the tension I' back down at the paper before him "Vale has excellent credentialsshe's a board-certified AT and also has her certification as a strength and conditioning specialist, so raduated with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology froot her inally from Sydney"
I tune Pretore out
Fucktalk about a blast froht of Vale in years Well, that's not true I've actually had some dirty dreaht about her or e had together in years That was so put firmly out of o True to h
Just as I suspected, she didn't answer the phone Didn't return my call Didn't answer my texts
It took e, before I cut her out ofme up, the pain almost too much to bear So for me, it was just easier to wipe her from my existence or I'din misery
I kept in touch with Oliver sporadically after I got to Pittsburgh, and he'd throw me an unsolicited bone about her every once in a while, but last I heard, she was still living in Sydney But then Oliver and I drifted apart, sad to say probably allfriend, and I just lost touch with everything from my past on Cape Breton
I put uratively and I lived, ate, and breathed professional hockey I made new friendsmy teammates When I went home on holidays, it wasn't back to Cape Breton to see Oliver and his family, it was back to Toronto to see my own I partied hard intrack of old friends and ot over Vale Campbell and I moved on
Never in a ain And as evidenced by the hot flauessing that I'm still a bit pissed at her
I can't deny it, though, she's still a goddamn knockout And so different than the last ti on her face Her black hair still long, but in a stylishly sleek fall down to her shoulders She's conservatively dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a black Cold Fury polo shirt
Body is still slammin'
Noticed that when she stood up
And those eyesI could see their crystal clarity from up here Sexy as hell, but when they looked at nition in them
ChristI can't i iceberg within her Still the greatest mystery I'll ever be faced with
"There's a story there," Garrett mutters quietly as he leans his head toward me Coach Pretore has finished with Vale's accolades and is now going over our practice schedule, which has already been emailed to all of us
I jerk and glance at him "What's that?"
"You and the new AT," he says with a knowing look