11. Heidi

eleven

Heidi

" T his is over? Is that what you're telling me?" I hate that my voice cracks, making me sound as vulnerable as I feel.

"You're a sweet girl, but that's exactly what you are—a girl. We need a woman by our side." It wouldn't hurt as bad if Anders could actually look me in the eyes when he's lying to my face.

I don't understand what happened. One moment, we were in the referee's lounge having the most amazing moment, and the next, they were telling me they didn't want me anymore. It doesn't make sense unless I'm right; this was all a game to them from the beginning.

"It's just that we want different things. You're still young and have your whole life before you while we're set in our ways." Riggs says.

"It's for the best, Baby Girl," Bodie adds, and before I can yell at him and tell him he lost the right to call me his baby girl when they told me it was over, I hear someone call my name.

"Heidi!" I glance over to where Cassi is running down the hall, yelling my name, only to have Anders step in front of me like he's my personal bodyguard or something. But he doesn't get it. If they're dumping me, they have no control over who I talk to or go out with.

"Ms. Masterson, I didn't realize that was you." Anders backs down when he realizes it's just Cassi running toward me and not some crazy lady, even though she's acting pretty crazy right now.

"I need to go to the locker room and talk to my guys." Cassi stops in front of the four of us with a pleading look in her eyes I've never seen before, and I realize I was right. She is in love with Dalton, Ace, and Maverick, three of the newest and youngest players on the team, as well as her latest clients.

"They're not in the locker room. They're already on the ice. Coach Davis is trying something new for pre-game warm-ups." I shrug. I wish I could do something to help her talk to her guys.

"But…"

An idea hits me, and I snap my fingers, "We wear the same shoe size."

"And…"

"Take my skates and skate out there to your men and tell them you love them." I can't help but look from Anders to Bodie, then to Riggs. Why are they being so stubborn?

"That's brilliant!" Cassi kicks off her shoes and slips on my discarded skate, just like the rest of me—discarded by the three men I thought cared about me.

I watch as Cassi laces up her borrowed skates. With the assistance of Anders, Riggs, and Bodie, she makes her way to the ice and out to claim her men. I turn away, unable to watch the happiness in their eyes as they see her.

Instead of heading to the stands and my designated cheering section, I pick up Cassi's shoes and carefully make my way across the cold arena floor with only my sheer pantihose protecting my feet. I intended to grab my extra pair of skate, put them on, and go to my cheering section, but once I got to Cassi's office, I realized I didn't feel like cheering, and I certainly didn't feel like being forced to watch the three men I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with skate around the ice like they didn't just throw me away like I meant nothing to them.

With my mind made up, I send a quick text to Gemma, who is now the head cheerleader of the Valkyrie, after Tiffany's involvement with the whole revenge porn Gemma's ex-hockey-playing boyfriend tried to pull, which landed him in jail, and let her know I don't feel well, then I lay down on Cassi's couch and pull the throw over my body and let the darkness take me as I fall into a fitful sleep.

***

"Heidi, wake up. It's time to go home." Cassi's voice pulls me from my dreamless sleep.

I yawn and stretch my hands over my head, "How long have I been asleep?"

"It's the second-period break. I didn't see you in your normal cheering spot, so I wanted to check on you." Cassi leans down and brushes a lock of hair off my cheek. "Do you want to tell me about it? Does it have anything to do with those three hot as sin referee's you've been hanging out with?"

There's no use hiding the truth from Cassi, "I think I'm in love with them, but they don't want me. They said I'm too young. I have my whole life in front of me blah, blah, blah." I can't control the tears that roll down my cheeks. "Why did I have to go and fall in love with them?"

"Oh, honey. Life is a mystery. There's no rhyme or reason to who you fall in love with or, in our case, how many you fall in love with. But if they don't love you back, you have to let them go and move on. There's a whole wide world out there filled with guys who deserve your love—don't waste it on three who don't."

I know she's right, but it still hurts, knowing they're so close yet so far away.

"You should probably know I got an update on my phone during the first period of a change in the referee schedule—your three referees aren't on any of the Minnesota Norse games for the rest of the year."

If I didn't believe them at first, this is the final dagger to my already shattered heart: "Cassi, do you have somewhere I could stay for a while until I can figure things out?"

With a soft smile, she replies, "Actually, I do."