Tyler turned back at the sound of his bag hitting the railing. "I was kidding, I can—"
"I'm fine, bud. It's good." Brett was already sweating when he made it to the passenger door.
"Gorgeous day." Tyler slid into the driver's seat as Brett threw his bag in the back.
Brett hoisted himself up, wincing as his knee knocked against the dash. "That it is." He rolled down the window as Tyler drove down the street and turned left at the stop sign. Something as simple as the summer breeze slipping over his arm made him long to move. To run or even just walk faster than a geriatric.
"You okay?" Tyler asked.
Brett nodded. "Haven't been out of the house much. Feels good."
"You know I'll swing by whenever."
Brett picked at a loose string on the sleeve of his shirt. "I know." Tyler was serious, no doubt, but Brett wasn't going to ask him for anything else. Since Tony moved, Tyler had come to as many AA meetings with him as Sean had, and he was already picking him up for practice on top of it.
Brett asked about the property renovations Tyler and Emma were overseeing, successfully keeping the spotlight off himself and his lack of coping skills until they reached the ice arena and parked.
Tyler insisted on walking next to him, even though Brett was slow. It wasn't like they were late for practice, but he still hated holding him back. He despised everything about being a charity case. At least his surgery wasn't in the middle of the season when he'd truly be letting the team down, especially after that last loss to Puck's Deep to finish out the tourney. They’d lost the cup in the last minutes of that game because he’d gone down and left his team a man short. All the Snowballs were dead-set on redemption.
Tyler held the door for him as they walked into the atrium. "I'll take the elevator." Brett adjusted the strap of the bag on his shoulder, expecting Tyler to take the stairs, but instead he walked with him.
"What plans do you have this weekend? Want to come out on Friday to the Perch?" Tyler asked as the elevator doors opened.
Brett shuffled in. "Friday? Not sure."
"Your calendar's all booked up, eh?"
Brett chuckled and ran a hand over his days-old stubble. "Like a sexy librarian." All of this felt strange. As roommates, Brett had felt like the stable one. Consistent with his routine while Tyler was constantly rebounding from his late nights and sleepover guests. Now Tyler was in a committed relationship and running a business. He still went out on the weekends but was spending more time with guys like Curtis, Fly, and Suraj—all either married or with long-term girlfriends.
More than once, Tyler had texted to invite him out with Sean and Kelty, which wasn't surprising. Now that he and Emma were together, Sean and Tyler had buried their proverbial hatchets, but if they thought Brett was going to come out as their fifth wheel, they didn't understand the only camping he did was in a tent under the stars.
When the elevator doors opened, they walked to the locker room. Half the guys were already there, and Brett took up residence in the corner so he wouldn't get in their way. He didn't have to change, but being here with all of them made not getting out on the ice almost bearable.
"How's Gimpy?" Darcy called out.
"Ask your mom, Winfield," Brett shot back. “Pretty sure with only one working leg my performance was still more than satisfactory.”
Boyd chortled, and André stripped off his shirt with flare. Darcy punched André’s shoulder, knocking him into the locker.
"Missed you, buddy." Country clapped Brett on the back.
"Country, what the hell is this I hear about you getting on TikTok? Isn't that for young bucks?" Fly pulled up his socks.
Country's face coloured as he dropped his bag on the bench. "I didn'tget onTikTok."
"I saw the video. It was hilarious." Curtis glanced up as he wriggled into his pads.
"My brother posted it. I didn't know he was filming!"
Brett pulled out his phone, more than a little intrigued. He occasionally spent some time scrolling on TikTok, but he’d never seen one of his teammates’ faces pop up on the app. "What's the handle?"
Country muttered under his breath as he started stripping. "I told Cole to take it down."
Curtis scoffed. "He can't take it down. It has almost half a million views!" He leaned past Country to hiss, "It's @MapleStickHandler."
Country knocked him back next to the bench, but not before Brett had already started typing. "Cole made it up—I had nothing to do with this."
"Bud, you have to look at his followers. They're all hot women—" André started, and Country threw a glove at his head. "What? That's a compliment! You don't want hot women sliding into your DM's? What's wrong with you people in western Canada?" André tossed the glove back, but missed the bench entirely.
