“Well, I don’t know your neighbors, but if they really don’t want to see that show, they’re missing out,” I tease, and we both laugh again.
“C’mere” he says, extending his good arm for a hug, so I step into him, and he plants a soft kiss on my lips. “Thank you. That was…. amazing.”
“It was,” I murmur in return. But then I let out a heavy sigh. “I wish you were coming on this road trip. I’m… a little nervous.”
We’ve played three more games since that disastrous night in Edmonton, winning two of them, but in each game, there were goals I let in that I shouldn’t have, and I know I’m capable of playing better. Louis just shakes his head in response though.
“I’ll be on the next one, but you don’t need me to be there. You’ll do great. Remember what I told the other guys: Dallas’s rink does get loud, so you just need to shut them out. Call me if you want to talk before the game, but you’ll do fine. They’re a decent team, but not a great one.” He looks into my eyes before planting another quick kiss on my lips. “You got this, Rookie.”
I smile. “Okay. Yeah. I got this.”
As I walk to my car, the smile is still on my face.
Chapter 14
Louis
I’m stretched out on my couch, Cookie sprawled on my chest like a scaly little heating pad, watching the Dallas Mustangs press hard in the last few minutes of the game. My shoulder is throbbing with a dull, rhythmic ache that the pain meds are only dampening, not killing, but I don’t care. We’re winning, 2-1, but Dallas has pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. It’s six-on-five chaos in the Sasquatch zone. A Dallas winger winds up from the point. He fakes the shot and slides it across to the sniper in the circle, who fires off a one-timer. It’s a rocket destined for the top corner.
Tanner doesn’t just react; he anticipates. He pushes off his post to cut down on the angle, but instead of dropping into the butterfly too early, his bad habit when he panics, he stays tall and keeps his glove hand high.
The puck snaps into his leather webbing so loudly I can almost hear it through the TV.Thwack.
“Fuck, yeah!” I yell, scaring the shit out of Cookie. “He kept the hand up!”
Last night with Tanner was amazing, but because we’re both weirdos, I think we both enjoyed the hockey talk that came after the sex nearly as much as the sex itself. Man, goalies really are weird.
Cookie puffs out his beard, shooting me a glare that seems to saykeep it down, cowboy, or I’m gonna poop on your shirt, but I ignore him. I grab my notebook sitting on the coffee table to jot down the timestamp so we can go over it later.18:42, 3rd. Glove discipline.
The horn goes a minute later, locking down the win.
On-screen, Rylan is the first one to the net, tapping Tanner’s helmet. He’s followed quickly by the other guys, surrounding our rookie goalie on stealing those two critical points from a top-tier team. Tanner, of course, is doing that thing he does, nodding seriously, not showing much emotion, but inside, he must be screaming for joy.
The feed cuts to the commentators, so I hit the mute button. Silence crashes into the condo instantly.
A week ago, I would have been there, smelling the sweat and the ice and the rush of adrenaline in my chest. Now, I’m just a guy in a sling, watching TV in an empty apartment with a very judgy lizard.
The pride I had when Tanner made that save is still warm in my chest, but it’s mixed up with an ache that has nothing to do with my stitches.
I miss hockey. Fuck, I miss it so much I can barely breathe.
But looking at the silent TV, where Tanner’s drinking from his water bottle as he skates off the ice, I realize the truth is even scarier: I misshim.
I reach for my phone. My thumb hovers over the text app.Great gamefeels weak.Proud of youfeels weirdly parental.
18:42 in the 3rd. You stayed tall. Kept the glove up. Textbook.
I stare at the screen, waiting. The guys are probably still celebrating. Coach is probably giving his speech. He won’t see this for twenty minutes.
But three dots appear, and my heart does a stupid flip. He checked his phone before he even took his skates off.
Tanner: Could hear your voice in my head telling me not to drop early.
I smile.
Good. Keep listening to those voices. As long as they’re mine.
Tanner: Always. Wish you were here to break down the rest of it.
