Cory, who’s rather spectacularly naked and star-fished in the dead center of the bed, is still asleep. Nothing would make me happier than to slide in beside him and pretend our world wasn’t about to implode, but I just don’t have that luxury. It hits me then, as I rest my palm on the small of his back, that this may be the last time I get to see him like this, and a small part of my heart breaks away, becoming lost in that sea of nausea.
“Cub. Cub,” I whisper, lightly shaking him despite the urgency of the situation. “I’m sorry mate, but you have to wake up.”
“No,” he grumbles, voice heavy from sleep. “You have to un-wake up.”
“Can’t I’m afraid. Coach is already here, Cub. He saw what’s left of my chest hair. He knows. We’ve only got a few minutes before he brings the team up.”
Cory is one of the fastest skaters I’ve seen, but nothing he’s done on ice could compare to the way he moves out of that bed. “You’re fucking with me,” he scoffs disbelievingly while also whipping his briefs off the floor, and hopping into them. “You’re not clutching your chest, or sweating, and I hear no screaming. He would definitely be screaming if he knew.”
“See, I thought that too, but it was even worse. He was calm. Scarily so. Maybe that’s why I am, too.”
“Oh, we’re fucked.” Warranted panic ensues. Dressing as we go, we race around the apartment, tidying and opening windows before meeting back in the bedroom, red-faced and panting and not in a good way. “Maybe we can tell him it was just a joke? What rhymes with Bofrend. Kofend? Lofend? Weekend! We can say it was supposed to say Cory’s weekend. ‘Cause it’s my birthday. It’s perfect.”
The sneaker I was sliding my foot into drops to the floor. “That is not perfect. It’s quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, I know. Shit. We’re fucked.” The wall-to-ceiling window that overlooks Chestnut Hill Reserve shakes as he slumps against it. Beholding such a beautiful man back lit by an equally beautiful backdrop is something I’d normally appreciate as one would art in a gallery, but now’s not the time. Instead I take a mental picture, and lock it safely away for another day.
Cory seems to realize his position too and turns to peer outside. “Damn. No fire escape. How far up are we, do you think? Jumpable? Looks like it might be. I reckon I could?—”
I wander over to the window, wrap my arms around his waist and drop my head against his shoulder. “You’re not jumping, Kid. If you think Coach is going to kill me now, imagine what he’d do if I let his star player break every bone in his body.” His body melts into mine as he sighs.
The chance to reply is stolen by the sound of a dozen or so brutish hockey players, and one frustrated Irish catholic woman pounding on the front door. “Cory it’s the boys and your mom. I can’t find my damn key, Honey. Let us in.”
“Yeah, Honey.” Chorus the idiots. “Let us in.”
Turning in my arms, Cory stands on his tip toes and kisses me. It sweet and soft, and so fucking sad I could cry. “Whatever happens, even if I get kicked off the team, this weekend, and every thing that came before it, has been totally worth it.”
Fuck, I hope he means that.
Pressing a kiss to the top of his head, before what may be the last on his lips. “I love you, Cub.”
“I love you too, Jamie.”
The most awkwardmoving day ever has come to a close. The team is finishing the last of the pizzas we had delivered. Everything has been carried in, set up and packed away with quite remarkable efficiency and a surprising lack of breakage.
What’s not in tact though, is the relationship, perhaps friendship I built up with David Harris. The man has barely looked at me all day, and when he did I was met with a cold stare reminiscent of a great white shark. Cory has fared a little better. Harris has actually referred to him by name instead of grunting in his general vicinity. He’s also made damn sure Cory and I were never left alone for more than a few seconds.
I miss him so much already it hurts. I’m not sure if that’s romantic or sad.
Maybe it’s both.
Either way it is what it is and now that the food is gone, and everything is in place, it’s done. Billie’s sleeping soundly in her cot. Deirdre is tucked up beneath a blanket on the sofa, and Cherry, well Cherry is making eyes at Sam as she has been all day.
“That’s it boys,” Coach declares as he crushes the last of the moving boxes. “Time to let the Malkovich’s enjoy their new home.”
“I don’t know how to thank you, David. You too, boys,” Deirdre says around a yawn as she attempts to unfold her self from her cocoon.
“Please, don’t get up,” he says, flashing her a smile I can’t imagine receiving any time soon. “You’ve had to pack up your life in a week. You must be exhausted. I’m just glad we could help.”
“Help you have. You’re a wonderful man. Cory has been blessed to have you watch over, protect and mentor him.”
On our way to the door, David pulls me and Cubby aside. “I want both of you in my office at nine tomorrow.”
“We can do earlier if you like,” Cory says with more enthusiasm than I can muster right now. “I’ll be there at seven for training.”
“No you won’t,” Harris mutters over his shoulder while marching to the door. “Consider yourself suspended.”
“Suspended! How long for?”
