She beamed just like she did every time I called her ‘Ma’. I tried. I really did. It just didn’t come to the tongue easily, but she and Coach never forced the issue.
The door closed, and I grabbed my laptop and headed to Coach’s desk.. I pulled open the texts there and clicked the registration link. If I submitted the paperwork today, maybe I’d get approval before the team moved in for the fall semester. I didn’t have access to the event calendar on the website yet; I tried but got a message stating that it was a members-only portion of the site, but they listed some events, including a Daddy Night that I really wanted to check out.
I worked through all the questions. There were so many, and it wasn’t just stuff about who I was; it included hobbies, interests, limits, questions about things I tried, and how I found the site.
I hit submit just as my phone rang. Morrison’s name and photo popped up on the screen. I sent him to voicemail. We’d just talked less than an hour ago, but he called back before my voicemail could’ve possibly finished.
“Hey, we just talked. What’s up?” I said as I answered.
“They fired the coach.”
“What coach? Your coach?”
“No! Your coach. My coach isn’t going anywhere, and he’s not the one we’ve been worried about.”
“How do you know? Who’s replacing him? Is there an article?”
“Slow your roll, Mercer. You know what I know.”
His words sparked, setting fire to the tiny ember of panic I’d been keeping a lid on since taking the transfer offer. I wasn’t a fan of the coach at MU, but it was Coach’s alma mater and a spectacular school, one I was lucky to get into. Losing the coach, even one I didn’t like, this close to the start of the season, was bad. Seriously bad.
The door opened to reveal Coach walking in with a plate of food. The look on his face told me he had already heard about Coach Muncy.
“It’s going to be okay, kiddo,” Coach reassured me.
I nodded. I wanted to believe him. I did, but…
“Is that Coach?” Shane’s voice cut in. “If so, tell him I said hi and don’t forget to let me know what’s going on. I’m sure he’s heard something about Muncy. He did play there and they touted him as one of the school’s hockey legends.”
I nodded, not that he could see that, then said, “I’ll call you back later, Shane.”
TWO
AIDEN
Mikal & I drove onto campus at Manchester University, and excited didn’t begin to cover how I felt. I’d been here to visit a few times, but knowing this would be my home for the next year or two blew my mind. My eyes widened, and my mouth dropped open as I tried taking everything in at once. JUCO had been eye-opening for a former street kid turned hockey star, but the campus wasn’t much bigger than the high school I attended before hockey took over my life and Anya started home-schooling me.
This was… yeah, there were no words. Other than much, much different.
And bigger. So much bigger.
I glanced in the passenger side mirror, catching a glimpse of Anya behind the wheel of my Jeep. Coach’s big hand patted my thigh, and I turned back to look at him as he navigated his truck through the throng of parents and kids moving in early.
“It’s a beautiful campus, no?”
I nodded, swallowing as we continued driving, passing brick building after brick building until he stopped.
“You will do well here, Aiden. You’ll see. It is large, but it quickly becomes home.”
I nodded, clearing my throat to say, “I know.”
And I did. JUCO had stressed me out as well, but I fell back to what I knew at the end of the day. It gave me the opportunity to regroup before the next day. I wasn’t really a people person. I didn’t know if it was my personality or just another… what was it my therapist called it? Another trauma response. Either way, I didn’t much care for people in general, and being able to live at home during JUCO had limited my exposure to others. That wouldn’t be an option here. I would be sharing an apartment in the hockey dorm with three other guys. And it worried me.
What if I couldn’t get along with them?
What if they hated me?
Those thoughts spiraled, always to the other worries I’m sure all elite-level athletes had.
