Emily
The whistle blows for the break and I am already on my feet before I even realize I’m moving.
“I’ll be back,” I tell Nicole quickly.
She nods, eyes still locked on the rink.
I hurry down the steps toward the barrier near the ice where the team gathers around Coach Mason. I stop a little distance away because I don’t want to interrupt whatever strategy speech is happening, but I stay close enough to see Damien clearly.
Coach Mason is talking seriously.
Very seriously.
His hands move sharply while he explains something and the players are listening with full attention. Damien stands near the front, breathing heavier than the others and nodding along, but there is tension in his shoulders that wasn’t there earlier.
And that worries me.
The talk ends and the players begin shifti
