Finn
"Dude, I didn't know you had a girlfriend," Colin comes up behind me, swinging his arm around my shoulder. He's shorter than I am so he has to go on his toes to even attempt to do it.
I roll my eyes, knowing that I told him I was talking to someone when he informed me of Sophie's crush. I've only fallen for Aves more since then, which at the time I wouldn't of even thought possible. All I want is to be with her all the time. Including right now. I wonder if she's by her locker.
I don't answer but it's not like he was going to wait for one before he started talking some more. "I saw the picture you posted on Instagram of you guys. Does she go here? What's her name?"
I posted a photo of Aves and I yesterday from the dinner a few weeks back. Casey took it towards the end of the night and I won't lie, I look at it pretty much everyday. It's a photo of us hugging, my arms folded around her neck and her hands gripping my biceps. We're not pressed up against each other, so she's looking up at me and I'm laughing at something one of my team mates had said. I hate the fact that this was after everything she went through with Jack, but I love the picture regardless. She makes me so happy.
"Yes, she goes here," I shake him off of me and out of my little day dream. "Her names Avery."
"Never heard of her." He shrugs. I shake my head, knowing that the only people he pays attention to are cheerleaders and girls alike. Not that there is anything wrong with those girls, but they're just not Avery. No one is Avery.
"Hey, Sophie's going to our next game." He nudges me, "You should give it a shot."
I stop short, giving him a blank stare. "You're kidding, eh?"
"No, eh," he mocks me. "You're seriously not going to go after it?"
"No!" I scoff, dumbfounded. "Absolutely not. Did you hit your head in the last 30 seconds? Did you forget the conversation we just had about my girlfriend? Avery? Posted about her yesterday? Ring a bell?"
"She doesn't have to know!" He exclaims. I scoff at him again. He can fuck right off. "Dude, you're a legend here and you're not going to take advantage of it?"
I wave him off, starting to walk away. He doesn't let it go though, jogging to keep up with me. I sigh deeply as he punches my arm. "Oh, come on, Finn. She isn't one of us, she won't even be surprised-"
"Dude, fuck off! I'm not going to cheat on my girlfriend." I'm starting to get angry. I would have to be the dumbest person alive to even think about doing that. "And I'm not one of you. I'm not a student athlete. I play hockey as a living, not to get girls. I'm nothing like you."
I see Lindsey down the hall so I walk towards her quickly, trying to get out of my conversation with Colin. What a fucking tool. How could someone try so hard to get their friend to cheat on their girlfriend? Actually, I definitely would not call Colin a friend.
I catch up with her, shaking my head to rid my annoyance. She looks up at me. "Hey! You're the talk of the school, my friend."
"Tell me something I don't know," I sigh. I always hear people talking about me, thinking I'm one thing all because of the hockey team I'm on. People telling other people that we're friends just so they can one up someone else. It doesn't make sense to me. I never know who actually wants to talk to me and who just wants the clout that is somehow attached to it.
"Not the usual though." She adjusts the books in her arms. "Everyone is talking about you and Avery."
"Why?" I'm so confused. "I don't get it."
"I guess everyone was expecting you to get with Sophie," She shrugs.
"You heard about that too?"
"Everyone has," she replies. No wonder Aves has been so on edge. Everyone is talking about how her boyfriend should be with another girl. "It's a small town, Finn. People talk."
I sigh deeply. "You see Aves next period, right?"
She nods. "Can you tell her to meet me by the door to the field?"
She chuckles, "Yeah, I'll be your love messenger. Are we still going to Harmons after school?"
I start to turn a corner, going to my chemistry class as I turn and walk backwards to answer her. "Yep! You're the best! Love you!"
"I know, I know." She pretends to curtsy, her black boots squeaking on the floor as she does. I laugh and turn around, heading to my chemistry class.
I go straight to my lab table when I do, sitting on the stool and dropping my bag to the ground. My eyes then train on the guy walking in, my jaw clenching slightly. Mason Hughes.
I don't know why he called Aves yesterday, or if he's over her. I don't think it was an accident like she does. But I promised her I wouldn't talk to him about it, that I would leave it in the past.
I can tell he's looking at me. He isn't being subtle about it. I just don't see what she saw in him. He's a band geek and I always found him creepy. I don't like him.
I feel him sit at the stool next to me but I stay on my phone, scrolling through Instagram. I check the photo I posted, seeing that it hit 5 thousand likes. It's crazy that all these people who don't even know me like my things and keep up with my social media. I check the comments, a lot saying that we're cute together and others calling me a 'Goat' and other hockey related messages.
I leave the photo and start scrolling some more before Mason speaks up. "You're dating Avery Harrison, right?"
Okay. I would like to state in the record that he brought it up, not me.
I can't help but smirk slightly, almost feeling cocky as I talk to her ex. I lock my phone and slide it in my pocket. "Yeah. I am."
He nods, his jaw clenching as he looks to the front of the room. My eyes narrow. "Why?"
"She's my ex girlfriend," he states, as if I don't know that already. "And I was just surprised she went for someone like you."
I let out a laugh, turning to him as I only get more confident. I don't know what he's trying to do, but it isn't going to work. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you mean, someone like me?"
"An athlete, or a jock, I guess. She's not like the other girls you get with," He shrugs, his hand pushing his blonde fringe out of the way of his eyes before he adjusts his thick, black glasses. I feel like I could laugh, since he doesn't know me at all and thinks I'm hooking up with random girls. "You guys are just.. different."
"Why is everyone saying that?" I groan, shaking my head. "Not that I owe you any information about my relationship, but Avery and I are very happy together. And honestly, I don't give a shit if I play sports and she doesn't. That doesn't make us different people."
The bell rings right on time, so I turn to the front of the room as my teacher starts talking. We're working on an assignment I already finished while I was on the road, so now is the perfect time to find Aves and escape yet another conversation I don't want to be a part of. Two in ten minutes. I feel like that's a new record.
After asking permission, I head out of the room and start towards the field door. Hopefully Lindsey passed on the message.
I feel my heart flutter when I see her leaning her shoulder against a row of lockers, her nails being picked as she waits. I creep up from behind, encasing her entire body, her arms included, in my arms. She lets out a giggle as I press a messy kiss to her cheek.
I grab her hips and turn her in my arms, slipping my hand behind her neck and pressing a deep kiss to her lips. She smiles into it, which makes me smile. When she pulls away, I press a few short, but still pretty hard, kisses to her lips. She laughs, "What's up with you?"
"Nothing." I grin down at her, "I'm just happy to see you."
"I should be mad at you," she says, a playful tone to her voice. "Everyone keeps staring at me. You know how I feel about not being invisible."
"Yeah, sorry about that." I lick my lips, wanting to do nothing else but kiss her again. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail again, her makeup light. She's wearing a shirt of mine, which nobody would know but me. It's a little big on her so the sleeves are cuffed and she's wearing blue ripped jeans and a pair of vans. She looks so cute no matter what she wears, though. "You know, you tease me when you wear my shirts."
Her cheeks enflame, something that happens a lot to her and I absolutely love it. "Then don't give them to me."
"I never said I didn't like it." I smirk, pulling her into me so I can whisper in her ear, "It just makes me want to take it off you."
She pushes me off her, giggling and trying to hide how red her face is. I laugh her, knowing that that was exactly how she was going to react. She looks up at me with those innocent eyes that drive me crazy. "Later."
I feel my own eyes light up, now desperately wanting the rest of the school day to fly by. My excitement falters slightly at a realization. "But I have practice tonight."
She gets a wicked look in her eyes and I feel myself turn into a puddle at her feet. "It's a good thing you have a car, then."
"Oh my God," I sigh, dropping my head onto her shoulder. I love this side of her.
She rubs my arms while she laughs. "You have chem now?"
I nod, standing up straight. "Yeah, and your ex had quite a bit to say."
Her eyebrows raise in surprise. "Wait, seriously? I asked you not to bring it up."
"I didn't!" I defend myself. I can't help but smirk though. "He did! He asked me if we were together and when I said yes he was all-" I clear my throat and put on a higher pitched voice, "'I'm surprised she went for someone like you. You're very different.'."
She scoffs. "Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot today."
I frown that she's been subjected to the same thing I have been. I find myself getting a bit angry at the thought of someone telling her that. "People are saying that to you? Who?"
"No, no." She puts her index finger up, "People are saying it about me, but never learned how to whisper, apparently."
"I'm sorry, Aves," I sigh, shaking my head. "I really don't know why this is such a big deal. It's so dumb."
"It's because it's high school," she responds, taking a hold of both my hands. "But it's okay. I don't care as long as I get to be with you."
"We are disgusting, you know?" I grin at her, leaning down and pecking her lips. "We're so cheesy."
"Oh, I know," she grins, before glancing around the hall. "Alright, we should go back."
"I'd much rather stay here with you than sit next to your creepy ex," I whine. She rolls her eyes with a light laugh.
Her hands clasp behind my neck as she starts bringing me into another kiss. Our lips mold together and I press my hand to her lower back, pushing her too me. She one ups me though.
She takes my bottom lip between her teeth and gently bites, causing me to groan lightly. I mumble, "Fucking hell, Aves." When did she get so confident?
She giggles into my lips, before her tongue grazes over the spot her teeth just sank into. FUCK.
"Hey!" We pull away and I look behind me. I laugh when I see my hockey coach. "Get your ass to class!"
"Sorry!" Avery calls out and I scrunch my face. "You didn't see anything, Coach!"
He shakes his head as he rolls his eyes, "Go on or you're doing laps for half the practice tomorrow."
"We're going!" I laugh. I turn back to Avery, pressing my lips to hers again. "We're going to finish this later."
"I have to tutor a freshman in English." She smirks, "Meet me at 3:30?"
"Absolutely." I grin, going to lean down again. I literally cannot get enough of her.
Unfortunately, I'm not able to because I'm smacked in the back of the head by a roll of papers.
I laugh as I look back at my coach, who is pointing down the hall. "Alright! Alright! I'm going, eh? Jeez!"
Avery's face is as red as a tomato as I start to walk backwards and away from her, him continuing to point as he follows me and forms a barrier between the two of us. I stand on my toes to look around him, calling to her with a wink, "See you later, Aves!"
He pushes me lightly this time, making me laugh even more when I see her giggle at the encounter. "You're lucky you're good, Wilder."
I grin at him before turning back and heading to class.
*
I am fully aware that I am breaking every rule of the road trying to get back to school right now. I am also aware that I do not care.
I just had coffee and caught up with Lindsey, but it's 3:30 now and I could not stop thinking about Aves the entire time. She was such a tease at school earlier and it really worked.
When I get there, I see her standing by the doors. I pull up and she grins, getting in the car and putting her bag and jacket at her feet. I take off before she even has her seatbelt fastened, making her laugh. "Easy there, tiger."
"Nope." I head towards the vacant parking lot I took her when her dad showed up. There's a building we can go behind. "I'm impatient."
I've never felt like this before. I've never wanted someone as much as I want her. She's all I can think about and I just want, no need, to be with her in every sense of the word.
I pull behind the building, making sure we are out of sight. I don't want any eyes on Aves except mine.
I turn off the car and throw the keys on the dash, taking off my seat belt and not wasting any time. She giggles like crazy as I undo her seatbelt too, because she was moving way to slow, and bring my hands to her face.
Our lips collide and she wraps her arms around me neck, opening her mouth slightly to let me in. Fuck yes.
I tighten my grip on her and she smiles, which weirdly turns me on. I really wish this center console wasn't in the way.
I break apart from her and climb over it and into the back seat, "Finn, what are you-"
I put my hands under her armpits and lift her up, bringing her over the console as well. She bursts into uncontrollable laughter as I hoist her into the back seat.
Once she's back here with me and there is a lot more room, she shakes her head with a smile on her face. Her hands go to my chest and she pushes me onto my back. I let out of huff and grin at her as she adjusts herself, putting a knee on both sides of my hips.
She grips the front of my shirt and pulls me up to meet her halfway. The kiss is forceful, urgent, passionate, and messy. But I wouldn't have it any other way at the moment. It's amazing knowing she's feeling the same way right now, as desperate and eager as I am.
My hands go under her shirt and she shivers at my touch. I sit up, causing her to fall back slightly but she wraps her arms around my neck so that she stays in place. My hands go up her sides, gently grazing my fingertips against her skin. I can feel her tense up when I touch the raised parts of her skin on her stomach so I bring my lips from hers to her jaw. I know she's insecure about her stretch marks or whatever, but I don't care. I don't care at all.
She seems to relax and lets out a breath as I nibble at her jaw. She teased me before so now it's my turn now.
I take her earlobe in my teeth and she makes a noise that I've never heard but want to hear for the rest of my life. I bring my hands even more up her back, going under the clasp of her bra. She whispers, "Take it off." Oh fuck yes.
I kiss her behind her ear now, trailing down her neck as I do. I fumble about it for a second, because I'm so fucking excited and a even a bit nervous. I eventually get it undone and her arms detach from my neck as she lets me take it off. She still has her shirt on, but I don't care. I don't want her to be exposed to the world as we're in the car, I only want her to be exposed to me. My shirt, however. That's coming over my head right now.
She drags her hands up my stomach and I feel goosebumps emerge from my skin. Mine go around from her back to her chest, taking both of her breasts in both my hands. I'm desperate to hear her again.
I'm rewarded when she moans a little louder, her head falling back. The sight I have right now is euphoric, seeing her cheeks flushed and her hair disheveled in her ponytail. She lifts her head back and her eyes flutter open, catching me staring at her. The fire in her eyes makes me fall for her all over again.
I continue to massage one and bring my other hand to the small of her back, lifting her shirt up in the process and leaning down to press kisses to her stomach. I feel her tense again, which upsets me a little bit but I know that it's just something that is going to take time for her. I just want her to feel confident and understand that I literally cannot get enough of her.
Her shirt lifts with my face as I move up, her breathing getting heavier the further I go. She grips onto my shoulders as I gently bite between her breasts, my hand still moving against one. I can feel her heart beating beneath my lips and I take her other one in my mouth.
"Jesus Christ," she cries out, causing me to groan. I press my tongue flush against her and her hands go into my hair, tugging lightly. I groan again, feeling fulfilled in some way.
"Finn, you're killing me," she sighs, her head falling back again. I smirk against her, keeping up my actions. She brings me closer and I feel her head fall onto mine.
We both jump and she lets out a gasp at her phone ringing, the sound seeming foreign combined with our soft moans. She looks towards the front seat but I go back to my previous position, mumbling, "Leave it."
She doesn't resist and after a few minutes, the phone stops and we're still going strong. After I definitely paid too much attention to her chest, I break away and press my lips to hers again, feeling like it's been too long since I've kissed her.
"You make me feel so-" She breathes against my lips, completely breathless and not finishing her sentence. "What, baby?"
"Wanted," she finishes as she presses her forehead to mine. I can't help but smile and press my lips to her cheek gently. Suddenly, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a hug.
I'm taken back for a minute, because I don't think I've ever been hugged after hooking up with someone. But I feel like this is such an Avery thing to do and it makes my heart swell. I hug her too, my arms under her shirt and against her bare skin, a smile on my face and feeling like she's holding my heart in her bare hands. In this moment, I wouldn't even care if she crushed it.
We stay like that for a long time - until I check my watch and see that I had to be on the ice in 20 minutes. "Fuck."
"Back to reality?" She sighs deeply, but she still has a content smile on her face. I shake my head and press my lips to her temple. She looks around for a second, her cheeks reddening again. "Uh- Where's my bra?"
I laugh, looking around as well. I rub my hands down her bare sides before slipping them from under her shirt, leaning down and picking up the black lace fabric that's peaking from under the seat. I dangle it in between us from my pointer finger and she snatches it, glaring at me. She takes her arms out of the sleeves of her shirt, putting the garment back on. "Lace today. I wish I got a chance to see you in it."
"Well, someone had to be eager and take it off before they could," She bites back. My eyes narrow, "'Finn, take it off. Please, Finn!'"
Her jaw drops. "Literally not how it went down, but okay."
She climbs off my lap and opens the back door, getting out. I take a second to collect myself before climbing into the front seat. When she gets back in the car, she lets out a deep breath before buckling her seatbelt, making me smirk. She goes for her bag and pulls out her phone, making me remember that it rang during our little hookup.
"Okay-" She shakes her head, confusion evident in her voice. "What?"
I lean over and see his name again, causing the muscles in my jaw to contract. "Why the fuck did he call you again?"
"I don't- I don't know." She continues to look at the missed call. "Maybe it's another accident?"
"Seriously, Aves?" I raise my eyebrows, knowing she's just trying to entertain me. "Did he try and talk to you today?"
"No." She denies easily. "I didn't even see him."
I want to believe her, but I know she tends to lie in fear of my reactions. "Are you sure?"
She looks up at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Yes, Finn. I'm not lying to you."
"Okay." I nod, not wanting our time together to be ruined. "I'll talk to him."
She rolls her eyes. "Or we can just ignore it."
"No, I'm not ignoring it anymore." I don't even consider the idea. I start the car and take her hand. "I can't sit next to that dickhead and pretend he's not calling my girlfriend."
She sighs deeply. "Let's just go, okay? I don't want you to be late for practice."
I nod, not wanting to argue with her. I start the drive back to the school, a comfortable silence overtaking us.
I have to calm myself down. I have to stop thinking about her withering away at my touch, at my tongue. I have to calm down.
I pull up next to her car in the lot, getting out with her. I jog around to the other side of the car as she's bending down to pick back into the passenger seat to pick up her bag.
I smirk to myself and squeeze her sides, causing her to involuntarily squeal and stand up suddenly.
I turn her in my arms and clasp my hands at the bottom of her back. Hers go around my neck as she smiles up at me. I can't believe this is my life. I can't believe I'm looking at my girlfriend, Avery Harrison. She sees me thinking and smiling at her. "What?"
"I just can't believe Avery Harrison is my girlfriend," I tease, knowing she's going to roll her eyes at the comment I tend to make often. I'm proved correct when she does, shaking her head as well.
"Okay." She goes on her toes and pecks my lips. "Go to practice."
I groan, knowing she's right. My head will be on a stick if I'm late. I peck her back, before bringing her into a hug and pressing my lips to the top of her head. She speaks up one more time, "Can you do me a favor, though?"
"Anything," I respond, resting my chin on the top of her head. I'm not ready to let go yet.
"Don't fight with Jack tonight," She mutters quietly, like she's afraid I'll snap. "I don't want you to risk being on the team. He's not worth it."
I stay silent for a second because honestly, I've been forcing myself not to think about the fact that I'm seeing Jack later. I become livid just at the thought of him. I know he isn't worth it, but I've just never felt this type of anger or aggression before.
Regardless, I have to keep a lid on it. No one can know what happened. I don't want anyone to think it will affect my game play. It's not going to affect my game play.
"Okay." I rub her back, my lip coming in between my teeth. "I won't."
My eyes close at the feeling of her soft lips against my collarbone, pressing a sweet kiss to my skin. I'm really just digging myself into a deeper hole here. I don't think I'm going to be able to let her go back to New York.
*
I walk back to the locker room, sweaty and sore. Tonight's practice was rough, our coach going hard on us because of our performance in the last game. We ended up winning, but we really did not do well until the last period.
Not to mention having to be civil with Jack. It absolutely sucks being on the same line as him, because that means I have to play with him pretty much every shift I'm in the game. I have to work with him when I can barely even look at him.
I sit down with a sigh, my body feeling heavy with exhaustion. I can't wait to go to sleep.
"Wilder," Casey walks in. I look up at him as I take my skates off, replying, "Eh?"
"John called for you. He wants to take those stitches out," He points to my forehead. I groan for multiple reasons. One being that I'll have to get poked about when I just want to go home and go to bed. And the other being that I've been actively ignoring both John and Jack. None of this is John's fault, but he saw it go down and I just don't want him involved. I also just don't want to think about it.
"Alright," I let out the word in a sigh. "Thanks, Case."
He looks around for a second before sighing and sitting next to me. I raise a single eyebrow at him, wondering what he's doing. He turns to face me, "Listen, I can tell something went down between you and Jack."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because you two are usually inseparable and you can barely look at him," he deadpans. Fuck. I really didn't want people on the team finding out about this. I need to get my shit together before my coach figures out something is going on.
I don't respond, shaking out my hair and pushing it back. He speaks up again, "You don't have to tell me, but if you need to let it out you can."
I look back over at him as I bite the inside of my cheek. I've always liked Casey and he's a great teammate. We have a lot of laughs together and I would consider him a good friend. I guess it wouldn't hurt to confide in him. The only people who know besides John is Aves and Lindsey. It would be nice to have a guys perspective, though.
"He tried to get with my girlfriend." I take a deep breath and close my eyes, the familiar filling me once again.
"Whoa." Casey's hand comes up to rub his stubbled chin. "I was not expecting you to say that."
"You can imagine how I felt, then." I huff, pulling my practice sweater over my head. I start to take off my pads as a way to distract myself from the fire thats boiling under my skin.
"I really can't, honestly." He sighs. He leans against the wall behind him, still decked out in his uniform and skates. "When did this happen?"
"At the dinner you met her at." I put my pads and skates away and lean next to him with a sigh. "So thanks for not going after her when I wasn't looking."
He laughs lightly next to me. "No problem, buddy."
After a few seconds, he speaks again. "You guys seemed fine since then, though."
"That's because I didn't find out until after the last game," I explain. "She hid it from me because she didn't want to come in between our friendship and he hid it because he's a coward."
As if on cue, Jack walks into the room, his jersey on his arm and his pads on full display. He stops when I see him and he starts to shift nervously on his skates. Casey looks between the two of us, not even moving a muscle. Like if he does or says anything, the room will explode.
I have to look away from him so I slip on my slides and stand up. I turn to Case, "I'm going to get these stitches out."
Casey's eyes dart to Jack for a second before they meet back with mine. "Alright. I'll hit the showers and stick around."
I grab my phone and nod at him before heading towards the door. I try my best to walk as quickly as I can past Jack since he's blocking the way, but he grips my arm. I close my eyes. Don't do it, Finn. Listen to Avery. Do not lose your temper.
"Finn." His voice sounds broken which just makes me angrier. "Can we just talk? Please?"
I open my eyes, staring straight ahead of me. I can't look at him. I'm afraid I'll snap.
I rip my arm from his grip. "No."
I'm out the door the next minute and I hear something crash from the room I just left. I don't care, though. He can get himself kicked off the team. I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't been, considering John knows about his methods of staying big and strong.
When I get to the medical office, I walk in and close the door behind me. John turns and straightens up when he sees me standing there. "Hey, Wilder."
"Hey." My voice clips, but it's unintentional. I point to my forehead. "Heard I need to get these out?"
"Yeah, have a seat." He motions to the medical table so I make my way over and sit down. The air is thick in here and I feel like I'm having trouble breathing. His back is turned to me as he goes through his supplies. A few moments later he comes over with some gauze, a pair of tweezers, and small scissors.
He goes to work on my forehead but it doesn't hurt, just a little bit of pressure as he pulls them out. He sighs. "Finn, we have to talk about what happened."
There it is.
"No, we don't." I argue. I really wish I could walk away right now but obviously that's not possible.
"How are you doing?" he asks, and I resist the eye roll that desperately wants to come out. "As good as I can be when I find out my best friend is the worlds biggest douchebag."
"That's fair." He chuckles lightly, continuing to work on me. "Are you okay with playing with him?"
"No, but I'm going too," I deadpan. "I'm not losing my shot here. Not over him."
"Good, good." He gets quiet and I ask him a question now. "Why is he still on the team anyway? Aren't you obligated to tell Ken?"
He doesn't respond and it hits me. John is trying to help Jack. I laugh humorlessly, "So he's got you roped in too, eh?"
"I don't like seeing any player struggle with steroids, Finn. If Ken wasn't so ruthless I would tell him, because he would want to help too. But he won't so I can't."
My jaw tenses. That's exactly what I said at the start of all this. "Well you better keep an eye on him around your girlfriend."
He just scoffs as a response. I add, "You're risking your job and credibility by doing this."
"I said the same to you the other day," he points out. "And I'm only risking it if you tell."
I roll my eyes at that one. I'm not going to tell anyone. As much as I fucking hate Jack right now, I could never end someone's career. "I wouldn't do that."
"I know." He sighs, pulling away from me. He looks me in the eyes and says, "You're a good kid, Finn. Jack needs help. Professional help. You did the best you could for him. I respect you for that."
I look down, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. Under all this shit with Avery, I still feel like I failed Jack. Like I didn't pay enough attention to him when he was going through his withdrawals. Like I could of done more.
"I can't even look at him, man." I shake my head, looking at my thumb as it runs over the red blister on my knuckle. "I just can't."
"Hey, I get it." I look up at him. "I don't think I could either. But give it some time. I'm not saying you guys will get back to being inseparable but maybe you'll get to the point where you can look at him without wanting to strangle him."
I laugh, nodding slightly. That seems like a pipe dream at the moment - less obtainable than playing in the NHL. But that doesn't mean I don't hope he's right.