Anders takes over as coach for the next hour, yelling at us like we are back in college trying to impress scouts. I don’t think I have ever seen Edge this shade of red before and he has more stamina than me, god knows the state I’m in.

Eventually I look over at my friend and see the same desperation in his eyes that I feel, so without an ounce of subtlety I fall back onto the ice. Edge lays down next to me. A mixture of the body exhaustion and the feeling of being reprimanded by our captain is just funny right now and we break into hysterics. Anders doesn’t share our humour if the look on his face when he stands over us is anything to go by.

“What do y’all think you’re doing? I didn’t tell you to stop.”

“Who knew he was such a hard ass?” Edge whispers out the side of his mouth, making me laugh even harder.

“I love you, Cap, but it was either stop or pass out on the ice.” I give him my best shit-eating grin and he rolls his eyes before leaving us hurting.

“I think my body is shutting down now I’m becoming a dad,” I tell Edge while trying to stand back up again.

“No that’s not it, you’re just getting old.” He laughs and smacks my ass before skating off leaving me to chase after him.

I spent more time at the rink than I planned, but it was nice to spend time with Edge. Since we traded from Vancouver I feel like we haven’t spent much time together alone. For a while when we got here I clung to him, I was insecure about being home again thinking my life was going backwards and he was my tether to reality.

But now, I want to spend all my time by Ellis’s side, so naturally our friendship has taken a back seat. Out there on the ice though, we are as tight as we’ve always been.

After jumping out of the shower I change quickly so I can get to Ellis’s place in time to see her before she has to leave to get Jack. I offered to get him on my way back from the rink, but she likes their car rides together, I think she wants everything to be as normal as possible before everything changes.

My heart stops when I pull my phone out of my bag to see:

9 Missed Calls from Sunshine

5 Missed Calls from Lyndsey

2 Voicemails from Sunshine

1 Voicemail from Lyndsey

6 Texts from Sunshine

The first voicemail stops me in my tracks, “Hi Liam it’s Lyndsey, Ellis is on her way to the hospital, she will probably downplay it but she fainted and was having some cramping. I have the shop covered but someone will need to pick up Jack later. Give her my love when you see her.”