Line change – The entire forward line and/or defensive line will be replaced at once, which put players on the ice who work well together.
Death sucks. Losing your family sucks. Rape sucks. No one likes to talk about it. People are raped every day. Some remember it, and then there are the lucky ones, like me, that don't. Even though we can't remember it, we know it happened, and that really sucks because someone has taken something from you, something sacred that we can never get back. Something that's meant to be given not taken. I was reminded of it and had a few scars, but I wasn't going to let it control me. There were worse things that could have happened. I thought that all the time. I could have died. I almost did die. That would have been worse.
Your whole family dying...that was worse.
The worst part for me was after the funeral when I was left alone and forced to deal with it on my own. My aunts and uncles were gone, friends and other relatives stopped coming around, and it was just me, alone in the house. I was stuck. I couldn't move on from it, and no one seemed to understand that. Everywhere I looked I was reminded of them and that they were gone. I'd look at Andrew's baseball glove and knew that he'd never put that on again. That was truly heartbreaking for me.
When Josh, my boyfriend of three years, couldn't deal with it either, he left. Then it really was just me.
One day it hit me that was no life to have.
I left.
I did the only thing that could help me move on. New city, new life.
I was just starting to move on, had a job, had a place to stay, and then…well, like I said. It sucked.
But then came Evan Masen.
Remembering his touch, I smiled. I'd never felt sparks of electricity when a man touched me before, but I did with Evan. And then he kissed me. Sweet Jesus.
Having just left Evan outside, and disappointed he hadn't tried to kiss me again, I walked down the hall to his room where his mom had placed my bag. That was when pictures of his childhood caught my attention. They were mostly of him playing hockey and reminded me of the ones we used to have up of Andrew: a proud family supporting their pride.
Evan Masen was handsome. There was no way around that one. He had the dark messy hair, scruffy face, slightly crooked nose, and a good strong jaw. His eyes were blue like mine and spoke when he didn't. When he was in a good mood they were brighter, and when he was upset, they had more depth, entrancing almost. Then there was that body. I hadn't seen him in anything other than jeans and sweatshirts so far, but I knew enough to know from just a few touches he was definitely noteworthy under those clothes.
"Hey, Ami, are you all right?" My eyes snapped up to his mother with a mixture of surprise and confusion. She was standing beside me holding a blanket and pillow. My eyes dropped to the blanket. "It gets kind of cold in Evan's room, so I thought you might like extra blankets. Evan said you like to keep warm."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I wasn't trying to snoop or anything," I responded, simultaneously trying to act like I wasn't just staring at Evan's school pictures on the wall.
"It's all right, sweetie." Judy pointed to a picture of Caitlin and Evan when they were kids, both with big smiles. "He's always been protective of her, but they have never really gotten along."
I gazed at the picture again. "It's strange to admit and even stranger to feel, but it's like I know him already, like he was meant to find me that day because we were meant to know each other."
The two of us walked down the hall to Evan's room. I sat down on the edge of the bed, as did she, and I arranged the blankets and my bag so I didn't have to bend over to get them. I got dizzy and nauseated anytime I bent over. Physically, I healed since the accident. There was no permanent damage to speak of, but I still had stomach pains and then of course the headaches and vertigo. Emotionally, I was fine. It wasn't any worse than what happened to my family, and it definitely wasn't something I was struggling with. I had Evan.
I didn't want to attach myself to anyone. Believe me, that was the last thing I wanted, but there was something about him that made me feel alive again.
Judy smiled, her soft spoken voice gentle as always. "Sweetie, that's Evan. It's not strange at all." She moved to sit closer. Her arm draped over my shoulders in a loving manner I hadn't felt since my own mother was taken from me. "When Evan was first placed in my arms, I knew the power he had. I was young when I had him, seventeen…his dad was eighteen and just getting out of junior hockey. Once we had Evan, there wasn't much time for our own dreams, but we had him. That's all that mattered."