Collide: A Hockey Romance

People who excel in STEM fields are generally better equipped to last in partnerships.”

“So, you want to marry a robot.”

“After my master’s and Ph.D., I want to work with Olympic athletes as a sports psychologist. Then I’ll probably marry an accountant and have two kids, a boy and a girl.”

“An accountant? You’re into bald dudes who would rather choke on their coffee than sit in their cubicle?”

He winces. “It sounds a lot worse when you explain it like that, but his intentions are pure.”

“You can save that for his best man speech.”

“He’s a genuine guy,” he argues.

“And let me guess. He saves cats from burning buildings in his spare time?”

“Can I at least apologize?”

Silence.

“Come on, Sunshine.”

Her head snaps up so suddenly, I take a step back. Wrong thing to say.

belle of the ball.”

“Laura contacted me about your assignment. I understand you would like to do your project on hockey,”

I would rather do it on the gum on the bottom of his shoe, but I can’t exactly say that. “Right. It’s research on college athletes and burnout for my grad school application,” I say

It’s like the universe sent me my very own Fuck You in the form of my professor. Years of working my ass off in undergrad only to be told hockey is my saving grace. What a joke.

The word hate slips past her lips as if my aversion to the sport is completely fabricated.

If I wanted to wear sneakers and walk in the woods, I would be a serial killer

“Where is your hockey stick?”
“Why? You wanna test out a new kink?” I smirk.
“Yeah, let’s experiment by shoving it up your ass.