“So, how did Sean find you? Or did you find Sean?” Tyler asked.
Jack raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair. “I think we kind of found each other. Fated lovers and all that.”
Country chuckled. “I think you're going to fit in well here if you're willing to give Sean shit.”
Jack smirked. “Aren't you always supposed to give your captain shit?”
“One hundred, but as a rookie, I never had the balls to do it,” Tyler said.
“Do I count as a rook? Aren't we all a little old for that?”
Country stopped at a red light. “We're three grown-ass men driving around downtown Calgary on a historical scavenger hunt that our team daddy sent us on. Does it look like we're too old for that?”
Tyler shook his head. “You’re not even thirty and already nihilistic. Starting ‘em young nowadays.”
Jack looked between the two of them. “Is this what life is now? Time to settle down, be all hopeful, learn dad jokes, and start complaining about hairstyles and loud music?”
“Absolutely.” Tyler grinned from the backseat. “I’m specifically a huge fan of the settling down part.”
Country rolled his eyes and muttered, “Speaking of giving your captain shit.”
Jack spun in his seat. “I feel like I need to hear this story.”
Tyler stared at him, blank-faced, and for a minute, Country thought he was going to mess with him. “Long story, but I’ll skip to the end. I live with his hot little sister.”
A slow smile spread across Jack’s face. “Recent?”
Tyler leaned back in his seat with a smug grin. “Not recent enough for you to think about getting after it. She’s mine, bud.”
Jack laughed as Country pulled onto Tenth Ave SW and started looking for street parking. “How’s the dating scene out here these days?”
Country stopped and turned on his blinker to parallel park. “Normally, I’d say Tyler would have his finger on the panty pulse, but since he's off the market, talk to André. Or Mike.”
Tyler scoffed. “Whatever, you're always out on the weekends with those guys.”
“But I'm not a young pup like them. The pretty girls can smell my middle age from a kilometre away.” Country pulled into the spot and turned off the truck as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked the screen and frowned. Unknown number. Tyler and Jack dropped down to the sidewalk to take a picture with the unnaturally slender Lanny in a Flames jersey, and the wind gusting through the open door was enough to make Country swipe up instead of following them.
You know you left that comment on a shared company document right?
Country frowned, but it only took a few seconds before realization dawned and unease bubbled through his midsection. Jenna. His thumbs hovered over the keys. Did he want to talk to her? A little late to ask that question since he’d already impulse-typed his number on the bottom of her talking points.
He deleted three messages before finally typing,
Is this Glen, then?
He felt like he was sitting on the bench waiting to get on the ice in the middle of a playoff game as he watched those three dots below his message. He hated texting, not only because it was impossible to have a real back-and-forth, but because he never knew how to make his thoughts come out right. Not that he was much better in person. At least in real time people could see on his face that he was joking when he snarked.
Yes, it’s Glen. I was so flustered by your knowledge of the game, I simply had to reach out
Country dragged a hand over his mouth to hide his stupid grin as Jack and Tyler piled back into the truck. Just hearing her voice through typed text made his heart gallop, but it was disturbing that his first reaction was elation.
Jenna had left him thirteen years ago. With zero explanation and radio silence for a month until her number had finally popped up on his phone. At that point, he’d been so pissed, he hadn’t picked up. Why would he? She’d put him through literal hell for four weeks, then called him on a whim. What did she expect?
“Is everything all right?” Tyler asked.
Country cleared his throat and nodded. “Yeah, just a message I needed to get back to.”
Tyler pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “Something on the team chat?”
