One and Only

19. Like a Date?

November 16th, 2023. 2:00 PM.

We just finished our last practice before we played the Detroit Red Wings in our first game of the Global Series.

We were all looking forward to the game, the guys especially, as they were all excited that both Alfie and I are going to be helping out behind the bench for the duration of the series.

"Yo, Soph! Rids, Timmy, Jake, Sandy and I are going out for lunch. Want to join?" Brady asked me as we exited the rink.

"Yeah, sure," I shrugged. "As long as everyone else's cool with it."

"Lia, du kommst mit uns zum Mittagessen, und es gibt keine Möglichkeit, das zu verhindern." Timmy told me. Why he started speaking German, I have no idea, but at least I knew what he was saying.

"Timmy, du weißt doch, dass ich vielleicht eher bereit wäre, mit dir mitzukommen, wenn du ein bisschen netter mit mir reden würdest." I suggested.

"Lia, wir wissen beide, dass du mich immer lieben wirst, egal wie sehr ich dich ärgere." Timmy teased, a smirk on his face, knowing that he had won this argument.

"Wie auch immer." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Can you guys please stop speaking German!" Jake cut in. "You two are the only people on the entire fricking team that actually understands it! The rest of us are English, French, Russian, Swedish, Finnish and Czech noobies!"

"Jake, my guy, you need to take a chill pill." I giggled, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry though. Timmy and I didn't say anything bad about any of you guys. Just arguing like usual."

"I swear, Soph. You two are like an old married couple." Sandy chuckled. "Next thing I know, you and Timmy are going to reveal to the team that you two are actually dating."

Timmy and I just looked at each other, locking eyes, having a silent conversation between the two of us.

Did I hear that right? I asked Timmy, a smile breaking onto my face.

Yup. Timmy replied.

Almost a second later, the two of us simply burst out into laughter.

"N-no, no!" I was barely able to tell Sandy as I was laughing so hard. "W-we're just friends."

After the six of us had recovered from Sandy's sudden comment, we all made our way to the restaurant for a late lunch, but little did I know that Rids was clenching his fists in anger, remaining silent for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

November 16th, 2023. 8:00 PM

"Okay, team! Tonight is going to be a great night!" D.J anounced as the Sens, Alife and I were all gathered in the dressing room. "Alfie is going to be recognised tonight, and not only do we have him helping us out behind the bench tonight, but we also have Sophie Tkachuk!"

"Woohoo!" I heard Brady cheer, embarrassing me further.

"Now, let's go out there and kick Detroit's asses, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

The team all filed out of the dressing room, skating onto the ice and I followed behind D.J and Alfie to the bench, nerves flowing through my body.

"Nervous, Soph?" Alfie asked me. I was always very appreciative of Alfie, as he was kind of like a second father figure to me. As he played around the same time that my dad did, the two of them had created a connection early in their careers, and he'd frequently visit our house when I was younger, so I've known him for a long time. I knew that having Alfie as some sort of coach for Brady meant a lot to him as well, as he definitely connected with Alfie more, so it was incredible that we both got to work with him.