Off Season (Off #6) by Sawyer Bennett Page A

knew each other for four
months at that point, or roughly one-hundred and twenty-two days. Out
of that one-hundred and twenty-two days, we’d spent less than
five days of it together. So, logically, how can you have deep
feelings for someone that you’ve spent five days with?
    That’s Cady’s
reasoning, for sure.
    My reasoning is a
bit different. I don’t see it as five days together but rather
hours and hours and hours of conversation with each other. We’ve
probably exchanged hundreds of emails, texts, and phone calls. We’ve
had long talks late into the night, amazing phone sex, and flirty
texts. She’s talked me through rotten moods after I lose a
game, and I’ve talked her down off a ledge when she wanted to
nut punch one of her classmates because he wasn’t doing the
work on a group project. We’ve been there to support each other
over and over again, and that right there tells me all I need to
know.
    When I have a
problem, Cady is the first person I think of to help me solve it.
    When something good
happens to me, I want Cady to be the first to know about it.
    When I see something
funny, I ache with bitter disappointment that Cady isn’t here
to share it with me, because it’s never quite as funny when I
tell her about it as when it actually happened.
    It’s Cady,
Cady, Cady for me, and that’s all I logically need to know
about this relationship.
    But, I’m not
sure Cady feels the same way. She was really upset at Thanksgiving
when she overheard Linc and me talking. It’s not like I was
seriously considering doing it right then. It was just an idea…
something to ponder if Cady and I continue to grow closer. I know
that this relationship cannot survive the long haul without us being
physically together. My gut has screamed at me loud and clear… she’s the one. So it’s no wonder that my brain is
constantly trying to come up with a solution that lets us be
together. I figured maybe I could go live over with her for her last
year of college, and then she could move here. If I was lucky, and
everything worked out for me, I could come back into the NHL.
    Okay, so I know
that’s a long shot, because the players are too highly skilled
in the NHL, and if I give up my spot, it’s unlikely I’d
get it back. But like I said… I was just pondering different
ideas.
    Cady nixed that idea
really fast though. When we got back to my house that last night, we
talked about it. Rather, Cady talked about it. She just reiterated
that she could never let me do that, and it seriously was a deal
breaker for her. She said she just couldn’t be responsible for
killing my hockey career.
    And I got it. I
understood. It even made sense, and she was probably the saner of the
two of us at that moment.
    And so, life went on
for us.
    Cady went back to
Ireland, and I stayed here to play hockey.
    We talked every day,
even if only for a few minutes to say goodnight or good morning. We
sent quick texts to each other, and when we had time, wrote lengthier
emails. It’s amazing, but when you don’t have a physical
proximity to someone you care for, you compensate in other ways, and
for us, that meant striving to deepen our connection in whatever way
we could.
    And yeah… I
talked Cady into routinely getting on Skype with me, where we watched
each other get off. It wasn’t as fulfilling as being with her
in person, but I would take whatever intimacy I could get at this
point.
    Yawning, I type a
quick reply to Cady.
     
    To: Cady Dunne
    From: Zane Kavanaugh
    Subject: Re: Guess What?
    Date: December 13, 2014
     
    Chicken butt?
Seriously, that’s your rhyme? Lame, lassie. Just lame.
    I hate it but
looking at my schedule, there is absolutely no way I’m going to
be able to make a trip to the East Coast at Christmas. We have a home
game on the 24 th and then I fly out to L.A.
on the 26 th . I don’t think
Christmas is in the cards for us… but have you given any more
thought to flying out here maybe around March like we