“Not cool, Galaxy!” I shout after him. No wonder I’m at the beginning of a slump. He messed with the sanctity of my jersey.
He lifts a hand over his head and says, “See you at MVP.”
With a shake of my head, I turn to my locker and pull out my phone. When I slide my thumb over the screen, it comes to life. The picture of Ruby in my jersey is there, just like I told him. And okay, maybe that sounds odd—having your best friend’s girlfriend as your wallpaper—but it’s a great photo.
I took it right after I’d given her the jersey. She pulled it on and smiled right at me. She looks happy and beautiful, of course,because Ruby’s a stunner. But it isn’t the whole reason I made it my background. Also, if Nick thought I was truly creeping on his girl, he would have already kicked my ass. He probably thinks I do it to get a reaction out of him, and while that is fun (I love poking the bear), I’m not in love with Ruby. I’m in love with the idea of Ruby.
Nick was the least likely guy I knew to fall into a serious relationship. Before Ruby came into his life, he was closed off to the idea of dating. He blamed it on being a single dad and needing to focus on taking care of his son, Aidan, but that was bullshit. I knew it. He knew it. He wasn’t looking at all. He had his feelings and life locked up tight. And then bam, Ruby happened. If it can happen for him, maybe it can happen for me?
That’s probably the post-game adrenaline crash talking. Being single, not having someone in the crowd here just for me, always hits hardest after home games. The rest of the guys are hurrying to get changed and meet up with their wives, girlfriends, significant others, and family that were in attendance tonight. No one is here for me. There’s never anyone here for me.
Pushing it from my mind, I head for the shower. Five minutes under the hot stream of water does wonders for my mental state and by the time I’m dried off and getting dressed, I’m ready to enjoy the night.
I’m lucky, really. I have great friends and a great career. So what if I don’t have a Ruby? There’s more to life than love and sex…right?
Tonight, I’m ready to celebrate all the things I do have. And if the night ends with a gorgeous woman accompanying me home, then I’d say the season is off to a fantastic start.
At MVP, our favorite restaurant and bar, I find my teammates already spread out in our usual spot.
It’s busy tonight, unsurprisingly. After home games, this place is always packed. But the first of the season has an entirely different vibe. It’s friendly chaos and I am living for it. My earlier worries are a vague niggling in the back of my mind and easily pushed aside as soon as I get the first drink in my hand.
There’s something soothing about the routine of it all. Same bar, same friends, same drink. I bet I could write a play-by-play of how the night will go down almost to the minute.
Any minute now, my teammate and buddy, Conrad Shepard, or Shep as we call him, is going to get bored of standing around. He’ll be the first to suggest we play shuffleboard. It’s our bar game of choice. Darts or billiards will do in a pinch. Or cards if we’re on the plane or at someone’s house. I’m not great at any of them. I get too caught up in socializing. My first juniors’ hockey coach used to say that the only place I didn’t run my mouth nonstop was on the ice. I guess that’s true. Not sure why, but I’m grateful since I’m not qualified to do a whole lot more.
Shep meets my eye across the group. We’re standing in a circle: me, Shep, D-Low, Penn, and Galaxy and Ruby. Currently Ruby and D-Low are in deep discussion about a plot point in Ruby’s new book. She’s an author and D-Low is a big reader. They could talk story stuff for hours. And Nick could (and does) stare and listen to his girl all night long.
Penn is in an uncharacteristically good mood. He should be. He had a great night in the net. After returning from another knee surgery, we’re all relieved that he’s back out there with us. He’s the best goalie in the league. Hands down.
On most nights, he fades into the background. Always listening, but rarely jumping into conversations. Tonight, though, he’s right in the middle of the book talk.
Which means me and Shep are the odd ones out.
“Shuffleboard?” He mouths the question more than speaks it.
I nod and back out of the group. On game nights, Lou, the bar owner, reserves one board for us all night. I pluck the reserved sign off the middle of the table and give Lou a nod of gratitude.
Instead of a coin flip, we decide who goes first by who had the better stats of the night. In this case, I have to concede to let Shep take the first shot.
As he’s getting into position, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I walk over to the nearest high-top table and set my beer next to Shep’s. I have a slew of unanswered messages, but I focus only on the newest one from my security company. I get an alert any time a sensor is tripped and, in this case, it’s notifying me of motion on the right side of the property.
I go to the live feed, assuming it’s wildlife that’s set off the alarm. Instead, I zoom in on what looks like a teenager climbing a tree in the neighbor’s yard. I can’t make out a lot in the dark, but the kid is wearing a hoodie that makes it hard to see their face. The tree is technically on my property, but the branches span over both lines. Ms. Martha, the older woman that lives there, is currently visiting her sister in California. I know because she often brings me baked goods and the last time she did, only a week ago, she mentioned she’d be gone until the new year.
“You’re up,” Shep says.
I glance up from my phone. “Sorry. One second.”
The alarm company is calling me now, no doubt to check that everything is okay.
“Hi,” I answer, then put the call on speaker so I can continue to watch the camera.
“Hi, Mr. Bennett. It’s Brad at Southcentral Alarm. We had an alert that the side yard motion sensor was tripped. Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure,” I say as the figure on the screen pushes open a window on the second floor and pulls themselves inside. Shit.
“Everything okay?” Shep asks quietly from beside me.
I hold out the phone so he can see. He leans down to get a closer look as the person who just went inside pulls the window down after them.
