When Alec Met Evie (Appies, #6)

by Jenny Proctor

I step to the side while Camden and Nathan bring in Evie’s mattress and lean it against the wall. “There are a few pillows in the back if you can’t handle anything heavier,” Nathan says, eyeing the crate of books with a grin. The last few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time with the trainers after practice, icing my knee, babying it like I have to if I have any hope of staying in the game. But then yesterday on the ice, Coach Davis made a comment about my age. “You aren’t as young as you used to be, Sheridan. This season, you have to play with your brain as much as your body.” Since then, the guys have been ribbing me with merciless consistency. My level of play hasn’t been impacted—at least I don’t think it has been—so the teasing has all been very good-natured. But I’m guessing if the guys knew the kind of pain I’m ignoring, they’d take the whole situation a little more seriously. Still, I can’t fault them for what they don’t know, and I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it yet. “What was that about?” Evie asks as we watch Camden and Nathan walk back to the pod. “What was what about?” I ask. “The teasing? They just like to make fun of me for being old.” She eyes me curiously. “Okay. But it seemed like your face did a thing.” “A thing?” I raise my eyebrows, but it’s not lost on me that Evie just picked up on something being off when, so far, none of my friends have done the same.