Cole thanked her time and time again for all her help. They exchanged numbers, because even if she wasn’t into guys, it was still nice to have a friend outside of just one of the guys from the team. They parted ways with some tentative plans to hang out when their schedules allowed it.

Not 2 days later they crossed paths again. Turns out they were both enrolled in the same Biology class. Mid-lecture, Cole sneakily typed in a text with an offer to be study buddies, which she thankfully accepted, because sure, he was a week behind in the course, but he was completely lost. They shared a laugh at the coincidence once the class had concluded. Later that week they found the time to hang out, a few hours after Cole’s early morning skills session with the team’s assistant coaches, which he felt he did pretty well in.

Monday after classes was another full team practice. Coach Bombay announced that the league had submitted the finalized schedule for their season, and their first game was that Saturday against Anaheim’s team. Cole chuckled to himself at the obvious parallel to the NHL’s LA/Anaheim rivalry and listened up for his assignments. He was paired up with Sam Gelinas, a two-way Center who was one of their faster skaters, and Trevor Whitmore, one of the bigger players on the team, a true heavyweight who was defensively sound. He was also told he’d be part of the special teams- secondary power play and he’d possibly see some time on the penalty kill. They’d be the ‘third line’ throughout normal play, the veterans of the team clearly getting more ice time due to their previous work. At the end of a successful practice, the coaches told all of the newer players that they could get a handful of free tickets if they wanted them. Cole fished out his phone and made an offer to the only person he knew in the city.

[i]Hey Alex, we’ve got a game coming up this weekend, interested in being my cheering gallery? *laughing emoji* if you don’t have any other plans of course![/i]