Holding On To Love by A.E. Neal

night and I can't find anyone else to step in for her."
    "Uh—Jeanette, I'm not a sports reporter. I don't think I'd be the right person to do the interview," I said, panicking.
    "Nonsense, you'll be perfect," she paused, "Plus, Marissa emailed me her interview questions already, so all you need to do is show up at their practice facility tomorrow night. Okay?"
    Crap! I've never interviewed an athlete in my life, let alone a semi-professional one. I knew two things about hockey; one- they fight a lot and two- they wear ice skates, carry sticks and chase a tiny black dot around the ice.
    Double crap!
    "Sure...I'll do it," I agreed.
    "Great! I'll email you Marissa's questions and the rest of the details. You really are a life saver. Thank you, Ally." She said quickly before hanging up.
     
    I sat in my bed still drenched in sweat from my nightmare and Jeanette's phone call just about put me over the edge. I leaned over the foot of my bed and unplugged my laptop from it's charger. I opened up Google, typed 'Arizona Rattlesnake Hockey' and clicked search.
    Whoa! Twenty-three pages of news articles, tweets, Facebook accounts and loads of pictures. This was gonna be a long day.
    I clicked on the first link, which also happened to be the team's official website. The team mascot, Ratchet the Rattlesnake adorned the 'Welcome Page' in his navy blue and green team jersey, waving graciously to the camera with large white cartoon gloves.
    I scrolled down to the 'Team Info and Bio' link and clicked. I scanned the page, quickly memorizing the coach's names and the team's owner. The Rattlesnakes debuted in 2009, playing on the Southwestern Hockey League, which is sort of like the "farm team" of hockey from what I'd heard. I scrolled down further to look at my potential interview candidates. Some of the guys were incredibly young; nineteen, twenty-one in some cases. I figured most had their teeth replaced at some point or another because their smiles were almost too perfect, if that was possible.
    Scrolling further down the list a familiar name caught my eye and my heart stopped.
     
    Brennan "Brody" McCabe
    Height: 6'2"    Weight: 205     Shoots: L
    Born: 1/14/1989 
    Position- Defenseman 
    2009- Current
    Player status: ACTIVE
    His head shot followed. I stared at the screen with my mouth wide open. 
     
    Shit! I can't do this. There's no way I could be in the same room with that asshole!
    I considered calling Jeanette back, telling her I had food poisoning or I cut my own arm off because I couldn't face Brody.
    Shit! Pull yourself together, Ally! I had to do this...I needed to do it.
    "You are a professional, Ally. You can do this." I said to myself. Hearing the words aloud eased some of my angst.
    I reminded myself, I had the rest of the day to look over and memorize Marissa's questions, but I couldn't tear my gaze from the gorgeous man on my screen, who was staring back at me with fierce green eyes. I recalled the events that took place at the pub last night and Brody's hot breath on my neck as he spoke, "I will find out your name...And don't think I haven't forgotten our little run-in last night." Goose bumps covered my arms and I shivered. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought of him that was plaguing me at the moment, but the goose bumps continued to cover my entire body. Once again, my body was a damn traitor!
     
    I clicked the 'x' to close the window and opened my email. I scrolled down to Jeanette's email, took a deep breath and opened it.
     
    To: Allyson Monroe
    From: Jeanette Pearson
    Subject: FW: ARH Q & A Info
     
    Ally, You rock! Here are the details and I've attached Marissa's questions. Good luck! - J
     
    Tumbleweed Ice Arena & Events Center
    4400 W Main Street, Downtown
     
    4:00 pm - Closed Practice begins
    4:30 pm - Meet with Nancy Taylor (PR) in main lobby, she has your press credentials and will go over who you'll be interviewing. She already has a copy of Marissa's questions and you'll only