To You, With Love

Chapter Sixteen: Tears Don't Fall

It had been two days, and the only words my father and I had exchanged were the ones spoken at practice.

Luckily, today, I was instructed to work with the goalies.

No Jiri.

But it was brought to my attention by James that something was clearly wrong with me.

"Are you okay, Mist?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah," I choked, trying to hold back the tears, "I'm fine."

You know when you're really upset, and someone starts to show that they care, and then it makes you even more upset? Yeah, that's what was happening to me. I was completely fine until James brought it up.

Actually, completely fine would be an overstatement.

There was no way I could be fine after just losing my boyfriend, then getting in a huge fight with my dad. And on top of all that, word got out that I was dating both Jake and Jiri at the same time, so Jake eventually dumped me, too.

Myself and men do not mix; I love them, but they don't love me.

"Are you sure?" James pushed.

"Y-yeah." I stuttered, still trying to hide the tears.

"You know you can tell me anything." He whispered, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

I nodded inanely and sniffled. Having his strong arm around me made me feel more relaxed.

More comfortable.

It made me wonder why I never went for him instead. As much as I loved Jiri, James was always there for me. Through thick and thin, he stood by my side.

But, come to think of it, looking back at my past history with men, I think it's a good idea we never went any further than just friends.

"Misty, can you give the guys the next task?" Our goalie coach asked in a hurry. "I need to ask your dad something."

I turned around to watch him skate over to my dad, then I turned back to the two expectant goalies in front of me.

"Alright, so this is what I'd like you to do," I started, taking this leader role very seriously, "For starters, James, I'd like you to do a five minute bag skate."

"What?" His shout caught everyone's attention.

The smile on his face indicated that he'd detected the hint of sarcasm in my voice.

"I'm not doing that." He said softly.

"Yes, you are," I teased, "I was declared assistant coach, remember?"

James just rolled his eyes and smiled, starting his five minute skate.

He's lucky I didn't assign him a ten minute one.

I spun in a 360, my eyes glued to James.

Periodically I'd check my watch.

"Alright, Riems!" I called, turning off the alarm on my watch.

He came back to centre ice, huffing and puffing. I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Someone's out of shape." I teased, laughing at my own stupid comment.

Instead of having some sort of witty comeback like he usually did, he slapped my arm lightly.

I guess he was too tired to speak.

I gave him five minutes to catch his breath.

By the time those five minutes were up, I could no longer hear him breathe. The way he sounded now, it seemed like he could go for another round.