I smile and as I carry the plates into the kitchen I realize it doesn’t explain all his scars…and I’m suddenly more interested than ever in learning where his biggest ones came from.
Chapter 12
Alex
The three-day road trip feels like ten days. I usually love road trips. I love being around the guys twenty-four/seven. No wives, no girlfriends, just my boys and hockey. But on this trip I can’t stop thinking about Mac and Brie. I’ve called Brie every day to check in. At first the conversations were short. I asked how it was going, she told me it was okay and we hung up. But the conversations started to get longer. After I found out how things were going with Mac we’d start talking about other things, like how our days were.
Last night we talked for almost half an hour, which stunned me when I realized it because I don’t think I’ve ever talked to anyone on the phone for that long in my life. The conversation wasn’t particularly deep. She told me about how the fund-raiser didn’t make as much money as they’d hoped, but she was working on some new fund-raising ideas. Then she asked me about why a guy took a swing at me during the game, which made me smile because it meant she’d watched it.
I want to call her tonight after the game, but with the time difference it’s too late. She and Mac are going to court tomorrow to see if a judge will let Mac live at Daphne’s House and it’s all I can think about so I decide to head down to the lobby bar for a beer. I text Jordan to see if he’ll join me and he texts back that he’s heading down.
I often grab a drink and unwind in the bar after a game but this trip, I haven’t enjoyed it like I usually do. My brain is preoccupied worrying about Mac’s case and for some reason that I can’t figure out, it starts thinking of Brie when I’m getting hit on by the bunnies at the bar. Both of the previous nights I left early to call Brie.
Jordan saunters into the bar in sweatpants, a hoodie and a baseball cap. I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t even try to look decent anymore.”
He shrugs. “Married. I’ve got no one to impress here anymore.”
I laugh. He sits down on the stool beside me and flags the waiter, ordering a pale ale. He yawns and turns to me. “So what have you been up to besides pissing off the coach and blowing off TV shows?”
I groan. “I didn’t blow them off. I just haven’t had a chance to call them yet.”
Jordan gives me a look that screamsBullshit.He knows me too well. Thankfully the coach doesn’t and when he confronted me, steam nearly pouring out his ears, for not getting in touch with the producer ofOff the Ice, he believed that excuse. But I don’t know what excuse I’ll give him next because the fact is, I am not going to call them. Not ever.
“You’re going to get yourself benched again, you know that right?” Jordan asks.
I lift my Guinness to my lips and shrug. “Yeah, well if it means I don’t have to yack about my life in front of a TV camera, it’s worth it. Now can we change the subject?”
“Okay. Tell me about this charity thing you got Rosie all pumped about,” Jordan replies. “She’s been bouncing off the walls about it. She says she’s going to teach a GED course or something.”
I’m tell him about Daphne’s House and how Brie started the charity from her inheritance and how I’ve been volunteering there and I even mention Mac, and how I’m hoping she gets into the program.
“You know, you’re not the same guy I knew in Seattle,” he says, smiling. “I don’t know if I should be impressed or scared. It feels like I’m witnessing some modern-day miracle or omen or something.”
“Why? Because I volunteer with kids? Surprise! I did that in Seattle too,” I confess and sip my beer. “I just didn’t make a big deal about it.”
“No, not that. I know you’re a good guy and also a private guy, so I’m not surprised you do charity work and didn’t tell me.” His blue eyes glance around the room before landing back on me. “You’re a kid in the middle of a candy shop right now and it’s like you haven’t even noticed.”
I scan the room. Bunnies are always the most plentiful in Canadian cities so I’m not shocked that the Vancouver hotel bar is flooded with them. A very cute blonde smiles when our eyes meet. I raise my beer at her as a hello but cut off any further interaction by turning back to Jordan. “I’ve probably fucked half this room already,” I reply since I recognize a few of the pretty faces. “I’m just taking a breather right now. I’m sure one day soon I’ll feel like conquering the other half.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “And here I was thinking maybe our little Alex was growing up.”
“Nah. Like I’ve said before, you Garrisons took all the good women.”
“Despite your best efforts,” Jordan adds with an evil grin. I groan. He knows I hate it when he brings up the fact that I tried to sleep with Jessie. I didn’t know she was his long-lost love. “Speaking of our good women, can you keep a secret?”
“I’m a human vault,” I promise him and think about the fact Devin told me at the beginning of our trip that Callie is, in fact, pregnant but the doctor suggested they wait another month before they tell anyone. He was beaming when he told me.
Jordan glances around probably to make sure none of our teammates were lingering nearby. There was a group of rookies over at a booth in the corner most with bunnies on their laps, and two other guys playing pool but no one within earshot. He gets a look really similar to his brother’s earlier and he whispers, “Jessie is pregnant!”
I start to laugh, which I instantly realize is confusing by the way his eyebrows pinch and his eyes narrow. It’s just the fact that I’m the only one to know that both Jessie and Callie are pregnant is hysterical. “You should be sharing this with Devin not with me.”
“I can’t tell Dev because he’ll end up telling Callie who will tell Rose.” Jordan sips his beer. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone for another couple of weeks, but I’m dying here.”
I reach in and hug him. “Congrats, buddy. It’s going to be hysterical seeing you try to parent. You’re a disaster.”
“Thanks, asshole,” he says, but he’s smiling because he sees the humor in my expression.
“I hope it’s a girl and she grows up to be hot like her mom because that’ll make it even more hysterical,” I add and chuckle. “You’re going to have to buy a baseball bat to keep the boys away.”
