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“I—” Georgia furrowed her brow. “Hm. I don’t know.” She tapped a finger to her lips. “Actually, now that you mention it, maybe it could’ve been KT.”

Relief coursed through me, and I started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Georgia.” I spun in the chair to face her. “He wasn’t texting with Katie. He was texting with KT,” I said, enunciating each letter. “I’m KT. That’s Carson’s nickname for me.”

“What?” She searched my eyes. “Seriously?”

“Yes. Seriously.” I laughed again, feeling lighter still. I grabbed my phone, showing her the screen where our text messages were displayed.

“Wow.” She resumed styling my hair. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you there.”

I faced the mirror once more. “I appreciate you looking out for me, but even if he was texting someone else, Carson and I both agreed to no strings. No drama.”

“Mm,” Georgia hummed, clearly unconvinced as she resumed styling my hair.

Hell, I didn’t blame her. I wasn’t sure I believed me. Ever since Carson had shown up before the Walter Cup Final, there’d been a shift—in our relationship, in my heart. But I wasn’t sure what to do, or even think, about it. And we’d both been so focused on finishing our respective seasons on a high, I hadn’t wanted to bring it up.

“Oh, come on, Logan.” Georgia eyed me in the mirror. “You might be lying to yourself, but don’t lie to me.”

“We have an…arrangement,” I said, finally settling on the word. “And it’s ending soon. It was only to help each other through the play-offs.”

“Seems like odd timing to end your ‘arrangement.’ You were together while you were apart. But now you’ll be apart when you’re together?”

“It’s not like that,” I said.

“Maybe not, but it could be.” She held my gaze, unwilling to back down. “You’re going to be living in the same city for the next few months. In the same building. Why not see where it goes?”

“What would be the point?” I asked, though the idea was certainly tempting. Carson was important to me, but… “At the end of the summer, I’m likely going back to Minnesota, and he’ll stay here. I’d merely be prolonging the inevitable. If I end things now, we can still be friends.”

As much as I might be tempted to want more, losing Carson as a friend was too painful to contemplate.

“You know…” Georgia planted a hand on her hip. “I was listening to my favorite hockey podcast, and I heard the PWHL is adding three new expansion teams. And one of them will be based in Anaheim. Can you believe it? A PWHL team right outside of LA?”

As if I didn’t know she was referring to the most recent episode of Hot as Puck. I was always delighted when my friends admitted they were fans of the show, but that was beside the point.

I laughed. “Super subtle, G. I might be an unrestricted free agent, but that doesn’t mean I just get to pick and choose where I want to play next.”

Georgia scoffed. “Oh, please. You’re one of the best players in the league. I’m sure if you made your wishes known, any team would be happy to snap you up, including Anaheim.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. Maybe not. There are a lot of factors at play. You of all people know that.” Her brother was the GM for the Hawks, so she was fully aware it wasn’t as simple as she was making it out to be.

Teams had to evaluate their roster and chem among players but also their salary caps. My agent had mentioned that both Minnesota and Anaheim were interested a few weeks ago, but I hadn’t heard anything since. I had no idea where I would be playing in the fall, and I was trying not to get too attached to a particular outcome. Whether I stayed in Minnesota or moved to Anaheim, I’d get to play the sport I loved. But there would definitely be some trade-offs.

Regardless of what happened, I was grateful several teams were interested in me. For now, I tried to simply have faith it would all work out.

“True,” Georgia said, and I could see the wheels turning. “But if you could pick, would you want to move to LA?”

“Maybe,” I said. “I’d love to spend more time with you and our friends⁠—”

“And Carson,” she interjected.

I neither confirmed nor denied it because whatever was happening with Carson shouldn’t be a consideration when it came to my career.

“I also have to think about my teammates. I’m their captain. It would be difficult to leave, especially after how great the past three years have been.” The bridge of my nose stung just thinking about it.

We’d had an amazing season, and in some ways, it felt as if we’d just hit our stride. Was I really willing to give that up so I could move to LA?