November arrived with a notable chill and rapid onset, as is customary in this region of Minnesota. Accompanying this change in season was the most challenging segment of the schedule — four matches within eleven days against the leading teams, a rigorous series that has the potential to either fortify or undermine a team's performance.
They were 6-1 heading into it. Cole should have been thinking about matchups, about power-play formations, about the neutral zone trap their next opponent liked to run. Instead he kept catching himself thinking about a couch, and two inches of cushion, and the way Reese had looked at him like she was waiting for something he hadn't been brave enough to give her.
He was truly making an effort to approach the situation with more thoughtfulness. He had const
