“I miss the Arizona heat.” I miss my friends.
“Same. I forget how exhausting dressing in layers is. I feel like I need to climb out of an extra skin every time I walk into a building since I’m dressed for the arctic. That’s why I choose the freeze and sprint method so I don’t have to worry about the layers.”
“Meaning?”
“When the cold wind bites, I sprint from one door to the next to get out of the cold.”
I snort. Honestly, I tend to do that too some days. “Then mud season’s right around the corner, and that’s a new kind of fun.”
He grunts. “Seriously.”
“Toronto’s having a decent season, though,” I say.
“Yeah, not bad. Chicago is not.”
I laugh. “Tell me about it. I’m not the best player on the team, but I’ve still managed to score the most goals this season. It’s like we can’t get out of our own way.”
“That’s a lot like Caulder’s team. They have the fucking talent to take it all and yet, they fumble all the time.”
“It’s a lack of cohesion across all players,” Caulder says, his voice clear as if he’s speaking directly into Lo’s mic. “We have some killer players, but it’s like we all need to be paired exactly right to make sense. Once those pairs break apart, we’reliterallytripping over each other. It’s maddening.”
“At least you havesomecohesion. I think we lack it entirely. I’m not sure it’d hurt if they just stripped down the entire team and built it again from the ground up.”
“That bad, huh?”
“We’re last in the division. There’s no lower we can possibly go, and yet, I’m sure we’re going to reach a new depth of low.”
“That sucks, man.”
I shrug. “I’m still living the dream, right? I get to play pro hockey for a living. And at this rate, there’s a big chance that I’ll be traded in the spring since that’s been my pattern.”
“That also sucks,” Caulder says. “I know that my situation isn’t usual, but I’ve really loved staying on the same team for my entire career so far.”
“I bet that’s cool. It’s kind of hard to settle in when you’re uprooted every year. I didn’t even buy this condo since I’m probably leaving in a year, anyway.”
“Twice could just be a coincidence,” Lo points out.
“The only reason my places sold so readily over the last two years is because housing in these areas is at a premium. It’s fine.I like this condo, so if I stay for more than a year, I’ll think about buying one in the building.”
“Is it nice?” Caulder asks.
I glance at the bank of windows that affords me a view of the city. “It’s all about the view, but yeah, the building itself is pretty nice too.”
“Nice.”
Our game is quick. We die quickly. It’s difficult to take on other teams when you know they’re cheating. How do you know? When there are cheaters around, the entire game freezes and glitches. I was practically frozen in mid-air while being shot.
“Well, that was entertaining,” Lo says.
I huff. “I think they need a server just for the hackers to play. This game gets boring when it’s filled with cheaters.”
“Agreed,” Lo says. “I’m gonna take off, man. I’m around this weekend if you want to play a game or two.”
“Thanks. Sounds good.”
“Later.”
“See ya.”
