Off Season (Off #6) by Sawyer Bennett

another solution.”
    I stare at her
skeptically, because she makes it sound so easy. True… I don’t
have the type of career Zane does. Hell, I don’t have a career
at all, just a general idea of what I think I want to do with my
life.
    But I am immersed in
a studies program that is important to me. It’s what I have to
complete in order to move on to that next stage of my life, where I
can build a career for myself. I can’t give that up the way
Zane can’t give up hockey.
    Which brings us back
to the start.
    I’m looking at
having a long-distance relationship with the man of my dreams, and it
just really sucks.

Chapter 12
     
    Zane
     
    Living out of hotels
while playing on the road sucks. I drop my duffle on the floor and
immediately start disrobing, eager to try to grab a few hours of
sleep before the team’s plane leaves in the morning. Tonight’s
game against the Blackhawks also sucked, and we went down bad…
6-2.
    I managed to score a
goal and get an assist, but it was just one of those nights that, as
a team, we couldn’t bring it all together.
    My clothes lay
scattered on the floor. Clad only in my boxer briefs, I pull the
covers back on the bed and grab my laptop from the nightstand. I want
to check to see if Cady emailed before I go to sleep, which I know is
sure to put a smile on my face.
    She couldn’t
watch the game live because while our evening games are in progress,
Cady is always tucked in bed sound asleep due to the time difference.
She’s really only able to watch when we play afternoon games,
and those don’t happen nearly as often as she would like.
    Or so she’s
complained on more than one occasion, but I told her she has to take
it up with the NHL.
    After firing up my
machine, I’m not surprised, yet still always pleased, to see
Cady’s email sitting at the top of my inbox. Her subject line
says, “Guess What?”
    I open it up,
knowing that the first line of her message will rhyme with the
subject line. It’s something she started doing about a week
ago. It’s silly, stupid, and one of the many reasons why I
adore her.
     
    To: Zane Kavanaugh
    From: Cady Dunne
    Subject: Guess What?
    Date: December 13, 2014
     
    Chicken butt!
    LOL!
    Okay, so this
won’t be long because I’m exhausted. I did get that paper
finished, so all is good in my world. School is officially over for
me until next module, and I’m glad for the break. And before
you ask, yes, I made sure to make my displeasure known to my partner.
I kind of actually laid into him for not having his portion done on
time, but he really didn’t care. I bet he’ll drop out of
the program next semester. Oh, well.
    So, seriously…
guess what?
    My mam and da
have decided to go to New Jersey to spend Christmas with Aunt Nora
and Uncle Nick, and of course, they invited me along. Renner and
Cillian are going too. So I was wondering… you know…
since we’ll be on the same continent, any chance you can get
out to the East Coast so we can see each other? I know your schedule
is tight. At least it looks that way to me, but I thought I’d
ask. It would suck to be this close yet not be able to see each
other. We’ll be flying in on the 23 rd and leaving on the 27 th .
    I’m off to
bed now. Sweet dreams, you sweet man.
    I miss you.
    Oh, and I adore
you too in case you didn’t know that.
    Love,
    Cady
     
    My eyes stayed glued
on her signature.
    Love, Cady?
    That’s new and
makes a bubble of warmth unfurl from the center of my chest. While
we’ve both said all sorts of endearments to each other, the “L”
word has never been mentioned.
    Not that I don’t
want to mention it, but after her visit at Thanksgiving, I’m
really not quite sure where I stand with her. Cady said something to
me that sort of set me back on my heels a bit, and it has been making
me question everything about our relationship.
    Cady had pointed out
that I knew her for all of five minutes. That was metaphorical, of
course, but her point was well made. We