Crossroads (Book Three)

Chapter 12

Shawn

The dressing room is as rowdy as usual as we get ready for our game tonight. Not that it's helping to distract me from my thoughts. I know Lyla is still upset after the whole Leah thing that unfolded last night. My stomach had dropped when she handed my phone back over to me last night when I got home and I read the messages. My mind started to run through scenarios as I worried that Lyla was going to assume something was going on between me and Leah.

The look on her face was one of hurt, confusion and anger as she waited for me to explain what was going on. I instantly regretted not telling her about Leah from day one of my internship, but there was nothing I could change about that. After we talked things through, I felt like a weight was off my shoulders that Lyla knew about it now, but I couldn't help but notice that weight seemed to be shifted to her shoulders which was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

This morning she seemed a bit distant and when I asked her about it she dodged the question and I didn't push her about it, wanting to give her some space to process things. We were up early and drove into campus together. I held her hand, squeezing it every so often, as I walked her to her first class.

We usually see each other for lunch on Friday's, but Lyla had a lab time scheduled and wasn't able to make it. I missed her terribly the whole day, but I know she will be here tonight for the game and can't wait to look up at her in the stands.

This semester has been tough to try and manage all my time just to optimize a spare hour here and there to spend time with her. Even when we do get time together during the school week we are both so busy studying or too tired to really give each other our full attention, thus never fulfilling my fix I need of her.

Sometimes when we're studying together I just sit and watch her, admiring the way her eyes squint a bit as she concentrates on the words in front of her. She'll be right in front of me but I'll get the weird sensation that I miss her still.

I snap my attention to coach when he walks into the dressing room and barks out some words of encouragement and strategy for the game tonight. I wait for all the boys to pass me on their way out to the ice, fist bumping each one as they pass before I step out last. I fall into my usual warm up and complete a few hard laps around our end before stretching down in the corner. When I'm back to my skates again, I search the stands for Lyla and find her right away in her usual spot behind the bench.

Annoyingly, Will is sitting next to her and the both of them are too consumed by their conversation to look down at the ice and notice me. Lyla laughs at something and Will joins in with her. I can feel my patience running thin with this guy, he always seems to be around Lyla every time I find her. He's like a damn fungus. I focus back in on my warmup, not bothering to look up to the stands again and accepting I will be heading into the game tonight without my usual good luck smile from Lyla.

I head down the hallway as I leave the dressing room, tilting my head to the side to try and stretch my neck out. I took a rough hit into the boards in the final four minutes that tweaked my head a bit. But, we won which has me feeling extremely happy. I also can't wait to see Lyla and hold her in my arms for the entire night even if Will insists on being our audience.

"Shawn!"

I hear someone call out my name as I near the end of the hallway where the staircase is to head up to the lobby. I turn around to find Leah standing with three other girls as she smiles at me and moves in my direction.

"Great game out there," she says as she comes to a stop in front of me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, the confusion I'm sure clear on my face as she smiles in amusement up at me.