The Rumor
1049 Words
The next morning, Ava woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.
For one blissful second, she forgot where she was.
Then she remembered.
Boston.
The Frosthawks.
Liam.
She groaned into her pillow.
This assignment was going to kill her.
She threw on a sweatshirt and walked into the living room.
Liam stood in the kitchen, dressed in gray joggers and a fitted navy hoodie, pouring coffee into two mugs.
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Morning.”
“…Morning.”
He slid one mug toward her.
“No sugar.”
She looked at it.
Then at him.
“You still remember.”
“I remember too much.”
Neither of them spoke after that.
⸻
By nine o’clock, the team bus was heading toward the arena.
Ava sat near the front with the media staff while the players occupied the back.
She was halfway through editing yesterday’s article when Noah Collins, one of the few journalists she considered a friend in the industry, dropped into the empty seat beside her.
“I’ve got gossip.”
She didn’t even look up.
“I don’t.”
“You should.”
“No.”
He grinned.
“Too bad.”
He lowered his voice.
“People are talking.”
Ava sighed.
“When are they not?”
“You and Captain Hayes.”
Her fingers stopped moving over the keyboard.
“What about us?”
“They think something happened.”
She laughed.
“They’re bored.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“They noticed the way he looks at you.”
Heat crept up her neck.
“They’re imagining things.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
Noah leaned back.
“I’ve covered Liam for four years.”
“So?”
“I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.”
Ava stared out the window.
She refused to respond.
⸻
Practice ended early.
As players headed toward the locker room, Melissa stopped Ava.
“Quick reminder.”
She handed over the afternoon schedule.
“Today’s charity event.”
Ava scanned the page.
Children’s Hospital.
Team visit.
Interviews.
Photos.
Perfect.
It would be nice to cover something other than heartbreak for once.
⸻
The pediatric ward exploded with excitement the moment the players arrived.
Children wearing Frosthawks jerseys cheered from their hospital beds.
Parents wiped away tears.
Doctors smiled as players signed jerseys, hats, and hockey sticks.
Liam was different here.
Completely different.
The intimidating captain disappeared.
Instead…
He knelt beside every child.
He listened to every story.
He laughed.
He let a little boy wearing an oversized helmet “coach” him through an imaginary hockey game.
Ava found herself smiling.
“You’ve been staring at him for five minutes.”
She turned.
Ethan stood beside her.
“I have not.”
He laughed.
“Relax. I’m just saying…”
He nodded toward Liam.
“…he’s good with kids.”
“He always was.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Ethan caught it immediately.
“Always?”
She cursed herself internally.
“I mean…”
“You knew him before hockey.”
It wasn’t a question.
She hesitated.
“…A long time ago.”
Ethan studied her face.
Before he could ask anything else, a little girl tugged on Ava’s sleeve.
“Miss?”
Ava crouched.
“Hi.”
The little girl couldn’t have been older than six.
She pointed toward Liam.
“Is he your husband?”
Ava nearly choked.
“What?”
The little girl smiled innocently.
“My mommy says people only look at each other like that if they’re married.”
Ava blinked.
“Oh…”
She searched desperately for an answer.
“We’re…”
Before she could finish, Liam walked over.
“Everything okay?”
The little girl looked up at him.
“Mister Captain.”
He smiled.
“Yes?”
“Is she your wife?”
Silence.
The nurses nearby froze.
Ethan looked between them.
Even Melissa stopped walking.
Liam looked down at the little girl.
Then…
Without taking his eyes off Ava…
He smiled softly.
“No.”
The little girl frowned.
“Oh.”
A pause.
“Do you want her to be?”
Ava forgot how to breathe.
The entire hallway went silent.
Liam looked at the child for a long moment before answering.
“I wanted to.”
His voice was gentle.
“A long time ago.”
The little girl nodded as if that made perfect sense.
“Then you should tell her.”
She skipped away before either of them could respond.
Ava stood frozen.
Her heart pounded so loudly she barely heard the chatter returning around them.
Liam rubbed the back of his neck.
“Kids ask impossible questions.”
She looked at him.
“You could’ve lied.”
“I’ve never been able to lie to children.”
“Or me?”
He held her gaze.
“Especially not you.”
Before she could answer, Melissa clapped her hands.
“Group photo!”
The players gathered together with the children.
Ava lifted her camera.
Professional.
Focus.
She snapped dozens of photos.
One in particular caught her attention.
Liam wasn’t looking at the camera.
He was looking at her.
Again.
⸻
That evening, Ava uploaded the photos to her laptop.
One image stopped her cold.
Everyone else was smiling at the camera.
Liam wasn’t.
His entire attention was on her.
She zoomed in.
There was no mistaking it.
The expression in his eyes wasn’t friendly.
It wasn’t nostalgic.
It wasn’t regret.
It was longing.
Raw.
Unhidden.
Five years hadn’t changed it.
Someone knocked on her bedroom door.
“Ava?”
Liam’s voice.
She quickly minimized the photo.
“Yeah?”
“The coach invited everyone downstairs.”
She opened the door.
Liam leaned casually against the frame.
“You coming?”
She looked up at him.
Then remembered the photo she’d just hidden.
“I…”
For the first time since this assignment began…
She wasn’t sure she trusted herself to be alone with him anymore.
Because every day they spent together made one thing painfully clear.
The love they’d lost hadn’t disappeared.
It had simply been buried beneath five years of silence.
And now…
It was slowly finding its way back to the surface.
- Writer
