Scoring Position (Hockey Ever After #2)

by Ashlyn Kane

Barb was… nice. She was nonjudgmental and easier to talk to than he expected, but not the same way Ryan was easy to talk to—though he would never admit Rees was right about that. Barb would wait endlessly for Nico to answer, while Ryan didn’t make him do that. But still…. After a little small talk, they started in on Nico’s… he didn’t even know what to call it. Episode, maybe. He described what he’d been thinking and feeling and his desire to get away from everyone until he could get himself under control because he knew he’d behaved abominably. Barb rebuked him gently a few times for being too harsh on himself. Nico didn’t agree, but if he was going to actually talk to a professional, he might as well try to do things the way she wanted. Eventually she offered, “Well, I don’t think it was quite a panic attack, but it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. Let’s talk about ways we can keep you from feeling that way again,” and then they did. She did give him homework, including a book she recommended called Chop Wood Carry Water, made an appointment for a follow-up session, and that was it. He got an Uber to take him to the arena, then drove his car home and went through his usual workout routine in his home gym, listening to the audiobook of Chop Wood as he did so. He wanted to listen again when he could devote more attention to it, but so far it seemed helpful. But when he got through the exercises he was supposed to do, to the part where he usually started doing extra sets, h...