Graham fucking Fisher.
Graham
This is quite possiblythe worst idea ever. Not that it was my idea to begin with. But when the captain suggests something, it’s not really a suggestion. I don’t want to get on Marcus’s bad side, so here I am. Clearing out my second bedroom to make room for Noah Fields.
Maybe Noah moving in with me will help mend the fences between the two of us. I have no idea where things went wrong. It doesn’t help that I hit him just right and took him out of the game. It wasn’t intentional, just a bad luck of the draw for him.
Things defrosted after our first road trip. Not entirely thawed, but enough for our coaches and team to see that we won’t repeat what happened at practice.
But having to room with him both on the road and at home? I haven’t lived with anyone since my freshman year of college. I like having my own space. After a hard practice or a tough loss, the silence of my own space was always just what I needed. To not be around people and decompress by myself.
The buzzer from the living room has me tossing the last pillow on the bed and heading out to let him up.
Nerves start to swarm as I wait for my new roommate to come up. The building isn’t new, but my place was recently renovated. It’s what made it so appealing when I got drafted by the Knights out of college.
A soft knock echoes around the living room. I open the door, and there’s Noah, with one bag slung over his shoulder and a duffle at his feet.
“Hey.” I sweep the front door open and watch as he brushes past me.
“Graham.” Noah nods at me as he drops his bags on the floor in the entryway and heads inside.
A flat screen TV takes up one wall in the living room with every gaming system you could ever dream of. One couch faces the TV with a lone chair nearby with its back toward the windows. Given the small size of the condo, I don’t have a dining room table and opted for barstools in the kitchen. It’s not like I entertain a lot of the guys on the team.
“It’s not much, but you’ve got your own room and bathroom.”
Noah smiles at me. “I know you don’t really want me here, so thanks. It’s better than a hotel room, that’s for sure.”
“Hey, make yourself at home. Definitely better than a hotel. Want to unpack or want to play some video games?”
It’s an olive branch if I’ve ever extended one. This place is my haven from the world. From the press and all the negatives I’ve heard over the last few seasons about the Knights.
No point in my making things harder for both of us by ignoring Noah.
My teammate.
Andmy new roommate.
That’s going to take some getting used to.
“How about some video games?” Noah walks into the living room. “You got anything to drink?”
“Uhh.” Heading into the kitchen, I open the fridge to a few pre-cooked meals, moldy veggies, and a six-pack of beer. Thank God. Maybe a little buzz might help break the proverbial ice.
“Beer okay?”
“Sure.”
I hand one to Noah and he drops down onto the couch. Following suit, I grab the controllers, hand him one, and choose a hockey game that we’ll both be able to play. Firing up the game, we pick our players and start playing.
The silence doesn’t feel as heavy. Like we’re not going to go after one another for some stupid reason.
A memory from when we were kids slams into me. One I haven’t thought of in years.
It was one of the first times I was ever on the ice. Noah was the first one of us to play hockey, and I wanted to play.
Just like Noah.
I didn’t start out with a lot of skill, but Noah had patience. I couldn’t have been more than seven at the time, and he was already in high school, starting for the varsity team. He could have brushed me off, but he didn’t. Noah showed me all his tricks on how to train to be a better player.
