I didn’t think I’d ever had more fun on the ice than I did that afternoon. Coach would’ve been rolling his eyes so much he’d have given himself a monster headache, but everyone had a blast.
After convincing myself the guys would handle me with kid gloves or resent me, I couldn’t even describe the relief that came from skating, screwing off, and laughing so much my face hurt. They didn’t treat me any differently. They didn’t side-eye me or make backhanded remarks about keeping things going while I got myself together. Which… that wasn’t how any of them were, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d just created this narrative in my head that they’d all hate me or pity me.
Created this narrative in my head? Good God, I’ve been going to therapy too long.
I was a little disappointed when our informal practice ended. It had been so much fun, I wasn’t ready for it to be over.
That disappointment was short-lived, though.
“We’re gonna do this again, right?” Eminem asked. “When do you guys have the ice again?”
Peyton looked up from taking off his shinpads. “When do you want to do this?” He jerked his chin toward the door. “I can talk to the rink before we leave and nail down a time.”
Just like that, everyone was debating when to schedule something. Texts went out to some of the guys who hadn’t been able to come today. The team was leaving for a four-game road trip after tomorrow night’s game, but there were some days after they came back that would work for everyone.
“What about you, Calds?” Baddy turned to me and gestured with his phone. “What’s your schedule like?”
I swallowed. “Uh. I usually have—” I hesitated. Even though these men all knew what I was doing these days, I felt weird saying it out loud. “My appointments are usually over by about noon.”
He nodded sharply. “Okay, so let’s see if the rink is available on Tuesday and Thursday at like two?”
I watched the continued conversation, still a little dazed that they were doing this. Then again, we were all rink rats, so it didn’t take much arm-twisting to get us to come skate. So… that was probably all it was.
Except as we were all heading out to our cars afterward, Eminem suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into a fierce hug.
“It was good to skate with you, man.” He slapped my back. “Been worried about you.”
I froze for a second before returning his embrace. “Thanks for coming.” As he released me, I realized some of the other guys were watching us. “Thanks to all of you. This was really great.”
“You know we got you, Calds.” Baddy slung an arm around my shoulders. “And who’s gonna miss a chance to knock you into the boards without getting in trouble?”
I laughed and gave him a shove. “Too bad you’re too slow to get that chance, right?”
“I’m not too slow!” He scoffed.
“No, but you were taking a nap at the bench when?—”
“Oh, fuck you,” he muttered as the rest of the guys laughed. “Next time we’ll dumpyouin the bench.”
“No,” Mix said with a smirk. “It’s way more fun to toss you back there.”
The banter went on like that for a minute or two, and then the guys continued toward their cars. I leaned against mine as I watched them go.
Then I turned to Peyton, who’d lingered. “You were right. I didn’t think they’d want to see me, but…” I shook my head.
He smiled, which made me warm all over. “Sometimes you just have to see it to believe it.” Gesturing at his car, he added, “You want to grab something to eat?”
Now that he mentioned it, I was starving. Not surprising after a satisfying workout like that. “Sure. Yeah. Do you, um, do you want to come back to my place? I don’t cook as well as you do, but I can order something.”
Fuck me, that smile.
“Sure. Meet you there?”
“Sounds great.”
An hour or so later, we were lounging in my living room with some Thai food.
“Holy shit,” Peyton said after a few bites. “Is this place always this good?”
