Miss Kitten: Thanks for the constructive criticism. The first couple chapters were supposed to be kinda whirlwindy. To quote Ward Burton, "It's been a whirlpool week."

Emador: I think that's a trait all guys have. It's that fear of women drivers. They should really get over that.

Lia06: I haven't actually decided on the ending yet. I've got about 8 different endings in my head, but I think I can safely promise that she ends up with someone. Who that is I don't know yet.

Klinoa:All shall be revealed soon.

Miraclegirl: Enjoy the chapter! I promise to try to update more often. Damn school gets in the way!


Chapter 7

Emily's POV

What am I doing? I can't date Jack O'Callahan. No, wait, scratch that. I can date him…but I shouldn't. See, I wasn't entirely truthful in my explanation to him as to why I disregarded his attempts to contact me. Sure, I did panic after the break up with Robbie, but it was for a completely different reason than merely picking a boy.

"Penny for your thoughts," I heard a soft voice whisper behind me, causing me to snap quickly out of my thoughts. Oh, and almost spill scalding hot coffee on whoever it was. I turned in the arms around my waist to see Jack.

"Hey," I greeted him. "Is it just me, or this an ungodly hour for hockey?"

He glanced quickly at his watch, then replied, "Six AM is not a bad hour for hockey. I'm used to at least four."

"Well, at least I don't have to be out there on the ice at the mercy of the satanic Herb Brooks," I said, relishing in the fact that I could sleep in my office. "I think I'll be in my office if any of you guys need me. Not that you would, though. I'm only around as a glorified secretary. Ya know, book plane tickets, hotels, arrange press. That kind of thing."

"Done rambling?" Jack asked before lowering his lips to mine.

"Jack, we can't do this here," I told him breathlessly, trying to sound scolding. Yeah, that didn't work. "Jack, seriously, it's time to stop."

"Okay, okay. Stopping now," he surrendered. "Come watch practice."

"I might," I replied, untangling myself from his strong arms. He just looked at me like a little lost puppy. Damn him for looking that cute and convincing.

"Please?" he asked, no wait, begged. Damn him!

"Okay, I will. Now get out of here and go get dressed," I gave in, giving him a nice pat on the butt. Ya know, for luck. My eyes are rolling themselves at me for that one.

Who knew a hockey practice could be that action packed? Oh sure it started out kind of boring. Ten cups of coffee wouldn't be able to keep me awake at first.

Mark Johnson was practically skating circles around some of these guys. Eh, you've seen one circle, you've seen them all.

And then it happened.

Herb started yelling about coast-to-coast something or other, which of course was making me think of frequent flier miles. Don't ask. I don't even know. Then, he called for the next line.

Morrow hopped out of the box, but I heard Jack tell him to let him take this one. So Morrow jumped back in the box. Robbie and Jack were on the ice—together. Those two together can't be good. In fact, I imagine being run over by a tractor-trailer would be better than the two of them playing against each other.

Robbie stood there, tapping his stick on the ice and calling for the puck. All of a sudden, Jack smashes into him, sending Robbie to the ice. It almost look like Jack broke him. He just laid there like a lump.

"Tell your boy to keep his head up and he won't have to worry about it," Jack taunted. Oh, those words that Robbie had uttered three years ago just came back and bit him in the ass.

"Let's go!" Robbie yelled and lunged at Jack. Jack's not an idiot. Okay, sometimes he could be, but right now he wasn't. He knew to fight back.

Why isn't Herb or Craig, or even Doc, breaking this up?

Robbie and Jack fell to the ice and the fists just kept on flying. Finally, Rizzo and Buzz had the good sense to pull the two dumbasses apart.

"Does this look like hockey to you boys? Looks like a monkey trying to hump a football," Herb observed. "I don't know. What do you think Craig?"

Craig looked just as confused as I was by that whole football humping monkey comment. He just replied with a simple "Yeah."

"This is not the team for old rivalries… Let's start with some introductions," Herb lectured. I didn't pay attention to most of it, having been seething with anger at Jack. "You. Where you're from. Who are you?"

This was when I tuned back in. Herb was pointing to Robbie, who looked absolutely baffled. Herb knew exactly who he was, so why was he asking?

"Rob McClanahan. St. Paul, Minnesota," he finally answered, sniffling to stop the blood that was slowing spilling from his nose.

"Who do you play for?" Herb asked.

You, you dumbass! I screamed in my head. What's with this moronic questioning?

"For you, here at the U," Robbie answered. Baffled just became the understatement of the century.

"Jack?" Herb inquired, obviously done with Rob.

"Jack O'Callahan. Charlestown, Mass. Boston University," he replied unhappily.

"Over here," Herb stated, pointing to Ralph.

"I'm Ralph Cox and I'm from wherever's not gonna get me hit," Coxie answered, producing laughter from everyone.

"Alright, gentlemen. That's it for today," Herb said, skating off the ice.

Jack's POV

Lesson one—never hit your girlfriend's ex, no matter what the reason may be.

The look on Emily's face made me want the beat myself to a bloody pulp. Boy was she gonna be mad at me. I completely forgot she'd been watching. Or maybe I just got too wrapped up in vengeance.

Once Herb was gone, Emily had moved over to the entrance and was examining Robbie's nose.

Oh god, it's a bloody nose. The boy's not gonna die, I thought as I walked past her. It was probably better to just not say anything at this point. Give her some cool down time.

"What the hell did you do that for, man?" Rizzo angrily inquired when I got into the locker room.

Geez, you'd think I hit him.

"Why the hell did I do what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Rizzo yelled. "There was no reason for you to pull that."

"Look, I told you last night. I just needed to do that and it'd be done. And now it's done," I replied, throwing my practice jersey on the floor.

"Yeah, it better be done. You'll be lucky if you and Mac don't get kicked off the team," Rizzo spat out, walking to the showers.

Oh shit. I didn't even think about that. Herb didn't seem too mad about the fight. Unless that was a cover. Could that be a cover?

Great! Now Rizzo's got me paranoid. I gotta go talk to Emily. Maybe she can help me clear my head on this.

Walking down the hall to her office was like walking to death row. I knew I was in for an earful, especially since this wasn't the brightest move I've made to date.

I took a deep breath and knocked on her door.

"Come in," she called. Looking up at me, she scowled. "What do you want?"

"Can I apologize?" I asked meekly.

"If you apologize does that mean I have to forgive you?" she shot back.

"I probably don't deserve it," I muttered. God am I starting to sound pathetic or what?

"Yeah, you've hit the nail on the head there, O'Callahan," Emily retorted. "This can't still all be over a game three years ago, could it?"

"Yes, and I realize now that it was the dumbest thing I could do," I replied, moving closer to her desk and kneeling next to her. "I'm so sorry."

"You're not gonna start crying are you?" she asked, giving me a strange look. I must have been doing a good job with the pathetic, remorseful act.

"I'll try to restrain myself," I replied with a small laugh. "Have I convinced you to forgive me yet?"

"No, but keep groveling. You're getting closer to reprieve here," Emily said with a smile. I love that smile. Must remember to never make the smile go away. We'll call that lesson two.

"Is Mac okay?" I questioned. That's gotta earn me some brownie points.

"Yeah, he's fine. He was just being more dramatic about it than he should have. You'd think you cut his arm off or something," Emily responded, rolling her eyes. "Can you say drama queen?"

"I can't believe you just called him a drama queen!" I laughed.

"I just call them like I see them," Emily replied passively. "Look, I've got a little more work to get done. And unless you have no plans of seeing me tonight, you should probably go so I can do it."

"Aye, ma'am," I said, mock saluting her. "Come over to my room when you're done."

"Sounds good. There's something I need to talk to you about anyway," she replied. "Now go!"

What could she want to talk to me about? She better hurry up with that work pretty damn fast. I don't have a good feeling about this.