On Thin Ice

11

Instead of answering him, I got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. After I was done in there, Fox and Josh had woken up Ian and the three of them seemed as if they were ready to head down to the lobby to meet the team for our meal.

When we met up with the rest of the team, we got a table with Ryan, Jude, Alex, and Liam who were all rooming with each other. Ryan looked around the room, as if making sure no one was around to hear us, before motioning for us to lean in at the table so he could tell us something.

"We're going to the pool tonight after the coaches go to bed," Ryan excitedly whispered, looking around at all of us to see our reactions.

"Yes!" Alex nearly shouted, but he was shushed by Jude.

"Are we really supposed to do that?" I asked quietly, giving Ryan and confused look.

"It's tradition, Ellis," Ryan told me in an amused tone.

"Silva and Merton are dead asleep by like ten o'clock the latest," Jude informed me with a chuckle.

"So you do this whenever you're at a hotel?" I asked to no one in particular.

Ryan nodded. "We usually have another dinner after the game and then the coaches pretty much leave us alone."

"Even grumpy gills over there comes with us," Alex joked, pointing his finger toward Fox who just scowled and flipped him off.

While I wasn't too keen on hanging around with Fox and his friends after hockey, I was slightly intrigued by their plan of going to the pool later on.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

***

After winning the game 3-1, the team headed back to the hotel. Fox, Ian, Josh and I made our way up to our room to get changed and go down to our late dinner with the team. Since I didn't shower at the locker rooms, I opted to shower at the hotel before dinner.

"Do you want us to wait for you?" Josh asked as I stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

I shook my head. "No, I'll meet you down there."

And with that, Josh nodded and I shut the door to the bathroom so I could take my shower. I didn't take long, just washing up a bit with soap. When I got out, I got dressed and quickly towel dried my hair.

After stepping out of the bathroom, I noticed Fox was sitting outside on the balcony attached to our room. Before I could stop myself, I was walking to the balcony and stepping outside, sliding the door shut behind me.

"Aren't you coming to dinner?" I asked after a few moments of silence. Fox didn't even acknowledge me when I walked onto the balcony.

"No."

I sat down in the chair beside him, giving him a confused look.

"You can leave now," he spat, sending me a malicious glare.

"I still don't understand why you have such a huge problem with me," I shot back, my voice matching his.

Fox was the one person on this team I could truly relate to and it bothered me that the two of us were at odds. He seemed too closed off to have much of a connection with anyone. He was a flame, intent on burning me if I got too close.