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When we reach our doors, which are on opposite sides of the hall, Dad turns to look at me "You know, Valedon't discount Hawke"

"Excuseat him in surprise

"I know you said he played no part in your decision to break up with Todd, but don't discount that there could be so, and you made soiven the strength of the bitterness you both have, there ht still be some underneathhidden deep"

I want to shakeof truth to it We're both nursing hurt feelings, and to be hurt, you have to have the capacity to care

It's definitely so to think about

Chapter 11

Hawke

I'm juiced

Totally amped up

It's only the first preseason ga back out onto the ice for official coame to me every time

I'ainst the Bobcats' power play The Cold Fury is up 4-2 with just under six a to score here I passit on the ice as the center passes to his left winger and back again, atteh the crease

I get lucky too when the center doesn't put enough zip on the biscuit and I lunge for it, tapping it froh to knock it past the blue line, so I hustle after it

I reach the puck a es hi elbows and shoulders and even kicking at it with our skates to expel it out It's a hard-fought battle, probably not lastingto wind me since I was at the end of my shift anyway

I really don't even see it co, and it probably wasn't intentional, but it still hurts like fuck when the dude's stick pops upward, the end catching me just above my left eyebrow I don't feel the pain at first, but red, blurred vision letsdown my face The ref blows the whistle and play stops as the penalty is called

The pain hitsas a stream of blood hits the ice and freezes Withinthe cut and I hear Vale say, "All rightlet's get you off the ice"

Her hand stays steady atthe towel in erly while I skate to the bench, which has an exit door on one end that will lead back to the locker room A few of the players slap me on the shoulder as I walk past Grant Izerman, a second-line defenseman yells out, "Get stitched up so you can come back out and kick his pansy ass"

I can't help but chuckle, because that's exactly what I intend to do A tiny cut sure as shit isn't stopping o for two periods, only accepting a face guard when the AT wouldn't let me return to the ice without it

It's funny, even through the layers of ear and thick sweater, I can actually feel the loss of Vale's hand when it drops away so I can precede her through the exit door I've been wanting to talk to her, not only to find out what sheincreasingly guilty about the way I handled things with her

I practically accosted her infull well she had a boyfriend, then outed her to said boyfriend about the nature of our prior relationship, which I know put Vale in a bad situation I don't feel guilty about Todd, but I do feel guilty about Vale having to deal with the fallout Even more so because I had purposefully se

tanybusiness touching her or des, what does it fuckingshe could possibly say to s I lost I know I should just be happy with reconnecting with her and Dave, so that's what I need to focus on I need to let Vale belet her get married to her toad of a boyfriend and have lots of little babies that hopefully look like Vale and who can play inside their white picket fence This is soo of the other shit, and we'll both be happier for it

Vale slides past / tea been watching the action from a TV feed back here

"Up on the table," he says briskly, and I watch withthe necessary supplies from the travel case I hop up onto the table, and in just under five minutes, Dr Collins has my injury evaluated, lidocaine injected, and the cut closed with four stitches The entire time, I watch Vale, who keeps her eyes solidly pinned on Dr Collins's hands as they work me

I wait for her to giveany conversation due to the presence of Dr Collins--but just so I wait and wait for it, but it never comes The minute the last suture is placed, Vale heads out of the locker rooet back to the ice

--

The elevator door opens to the hotel lobby and I file out along with a few of the other players We decided to hit up a local pizza joint that supposedly serves the world's best deep-dish pies known to o pizza place boasts the sa We're all buzzed after our final 4-2 victory, and despite the slight throbbing in the cut above h on the win

I'h a few of the other guys said they'd uts and then head somewhere for a few beers after

As we head through the lobby, a s Cold Fury jerseys waits for us, clae carousel door that leads outside We stop and oblige, signing jerseys and scraps of paper When I look up to the next wo, my eyes slide past her face and into the restaurant that sits off the hotel lobby I see Vale in there, eating a salad by herself and scanning so on her phone, which lies on the table beside her plate