The other lie I’ve been telling myself is that this won’t be a huge disruption to my quiet, carefully regimented life.
And maybe it won’t. Heather and April don’t seem disruptive or loud, from what I’ve seen. I know Heather works hard and April seems like a genuinely bright, good kid.
But it would be better if I knew what to plan for. My whole life revolves around hockey. On the ice, I know where I’m supposed to be and how to react to any given play at any given moment.
But this situation has too many variables, and I’m not calling any of the shots.
Instead, I have a million questions that I can’t answer on my own. Will they like the place? Will it be comfortable for them? Will there be so much space that it feels impersonal, like a mostly-empty museum?
I’ve been running every possible scenario through my head, from best case to complete disaster. I need to get this right, fortheir sake as well as my own, so making sure this works out has become as important to me as eating, sleeping, or training.
“Earth to Goalie-Bot,” Reese calls out from across the ice where the team is lining up. “Are we gonna make this last drill count, or have you powered down for the day?”
Noah snorts. “You’d better watch out, Sutton. Parker doesn’t have an auto-pilot setting. If you piss him off, he’ll go full cyborg on your ass. You won’t know what hit you until you wake up in recovery. Or the E.R.”
“At least I can say I had a challenge.”
I shake my head and tap my stick against the goal post three times. It’s the only warning Reese—or any of the others—is going to get. My head is in the game now, and I have just enough fire in my belly after their trash talk that I know I’m going to make this last shooting drill count.
I settle in and let my muscle memory take over, confident in my ability to predict where the shots will land even as my teammates try to feint one direction or the other.
Theo.
Reese.
Sawyer.
Noah.
And on, and on down the line.
One by one, they take their best shots. One by one, I shut them down until practice is over.
“I almost got your ass on that last one, Parker.” Theo nudges me with his shoulder as we head for the locker room.
“Whatever makes you sleep better at night.” I don’t even have to look over at his face to know he’s shooting a half-joking glare my way.
But only half-joking.
We might all be on the same team, but we’re still competitive as fuck. My mom and dad sacrificed their time together, theirtime off work, and ultimately their lives to get me a shot at the big leagues, and I’ve promised them every day since then that I’ll never, ever take their sacrifices for granted. That’s why the hours of practice don’t bother me. That’s why I can still be content waking up, going to bed, and thinking about nothing but hockey in between.
That’s why I’m great at what I do, when a lot of people coast along at good enough.
“One of these days,” Theo grumbles, “I’m going to get past those fast-ass hands of yours. You can’t predict which direction we’re going to shoot every damn time. Not unless you actually are a robot.”
“Not a robot. Just good at my job.”
Noah laughs. “You know you’re going to make his head explode if you keep this up, right?”
I shrug. “What did I do? Tell the truth?”
Maybe Iamtrying to goad Theo a little. But only a little. There’s a time and place for all the back-slapping and ball-busting, but I try to leave it to the guys who seem to get a kick out of that stuff.
I’ll still be here at the end of the day, reviewing my tapes and executing my drills, just like I’ve always done.
After I shower and change clothes, I head to physical therapy. The PT rooms are just on the other side of the building, and while I walk, my mind keeps drifting back to all the things I still want to check on at the house before Heather and April move in.
I’ll need to get two extra sets of keys made. And check that every guest room has clean bedding, just in case they want to try out a few different mattresses before they commit to a room. And I should probably look up what kind of snack foods kids are into these days—oh, and I should also probably check with Heather to make sure April is allowed to have junk food.
