Needless to say, it’s slow going. Not just because it’s cold, but because we’re waddling. I even unbuckled my jeans and loosened my belt. I’m willing to bet I’ll have a protruding belly when I lay down tonight.
The walk is only just over thirty minutes. We didn’t have to worry about one-ways or lengthy lights not working in our favor when there’s no traffic on the road to warrant a ten-minute red light. However, I realize how frigid it is once we step into the toasty hotel. Every piece of me that’s frozen tingles against the warmth. I’m not sure if walking back was a good or bad idea after all.
We pile into the elevator together and tell Hilt when he gets off to give Letty and the kids our best. Julian and Horny are next. Then we’re trudging our way to our room. We didn’t even check if the other room we were assigned—mine—had a better view. We’re in downtown Detroit. I’m not sure how good the views can be. I can’t see the river or waterfront from here. But either way, I’m not all that impressed with cityscapes in general.
At least we’re not looking at the roof with its heating and cooling systems.
I strip on my way to bed and drop onto my stomach. “They should limit you to two plates and two pieces of pie,” I complain.It’s rare that we ever allow ourselves to eat that much. We have a game to focus on.
Etna snorts as the bathroom door shuts. A minute later, the shower turns on.
I manage to roll myself over and grab the remote to flick on the television. We watch an absurd number of Hallmark movies; they have a predictable pattern and there’s very little angst. It’s nice to lose yourself in something mindless and sweet.
Also, I was right. My stomach is definitely not flat right now. Ugh.
Etna’s not long in the shower. He joins me on the bed a few minutes later with a yawn. “I think I need to sleep this off.”
“You sleep now and you know you’ll be up at two AM. I don’t think it’s all-night gym access here.”
He sighs.
Silence envelops us. His quietness tonight weighs heavily on me, like something’s bothering him. I reach over and tap his fingers. “You okay? Really?”
“Sometimes, I miss Eddy more than others,” he admits, shrugging.
“You call her?”
“I did while you were in the shower earlier. She’s with her boyfriend and his family. It sounded like loud, not-at-all-contained chaos, so we didn’t talk long.”
“Sorry, man.”
“She texted me earlier, so I think she misses me, too.”
I nudge my fingers into his again, this time linking my pointer around his middle finger. “I’m sure she does.”
He smiles. It looks sad. I hate it when Etna’s sad. Usually, the thing that makes him saddest is being away from Edna for long periods of time. I’ll never understand the twin bond, but when he misses her, my chest feels tight because I know there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
“Hey, what’s your favorite Thanksgiving memory from when you were a kid?” I ask.
He hums. “There was this year when we were maybe twelve. Back when our grandmother used to host all the holidays. That was her thing. She brought the family together. My aunts, uncles, and cousins. Dinner was amazing, as always. It wasn’t until we were cleaning up that she found the corn she’d made in the microwave, having forgotten she’d put it there to keep warm while she finished other things. We all laughed and had corn for a late evening snack.”
I smile and lean in a little closer, taking his hand more fully in mine. “That’s funny.”
Etna laughs. “It was. Some years earlier—though this might have been for Christmas and not Thanksgiving—she forgot to add sugar to one of the pies. I remember tasting it and being disgusted because I love pumpkin pie, but thatwas nothow I remembered pumpkin pie from the year before.”
I squeeze his hand. “What else?”
We spend the next several hours talking about our childhood holiday memories. It’s the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving evening. I wouldn’t change a thing about today or my life. Not with this feeling of happiness and warmth and home. Not for anything.
CHAPTER 5
ETNA
I thinkan amenity the NHL takes into consideration when choosing hotels for their teams is how big the gym is. When we’re traveling endlessly for weeks at a time, we need somewhere that a large portion of the team can work out together. Not because we need to do everything together, but because there are only so many hours in the day, so it needs to accommodate upwards of fifteen or more big guys.
This hasn’t been the best series of away games ever. We’ve won four but lost six. We’re in L.A., preparing to play the Golden Tides tomorrow. They’re a damn good team, so I’m really hoping we can get our shit together and win. That would go a long way to boost morale and shit.
I’m trading out on the leg machine with Keno, which isn’t all that unusual. Like most things, we typically work out together. We enjoy spending the day together. All day.
