“Yeah, well, you haven’t been single in a long time, so I’m just giving you a refresher.” Dad squeezes my shoulder. “I know how focused you’ve always been and how restrained. I can tell you’ve been happy before, but if your idea of happy has changed. If you’re feeling compelled to be different, then be different. Make different choices. We have always got your back. Just be smart and careful.”
“You know I was out all night, don’t you?” He nods, and I try not to blush. It’s fine. I’m sure he had one-night stands before my mom. I’m sure my mom did too. Not that I want to think of any of that in any detail. “I’ll be careful, not that it matters much because the doctor said there’s a chance I’m sterile now anyway.”
“There was a chance I would die from a skate to the neck, but I didn’t,” he reminds me. “Casco men defy odds so don’t assume anything if you haven’t had your swimmers checked. And also, condoms stop other things, not just pregnancy. Use them.”
There’s a knock on the front door before I can remind him that’s more of the same conversation we had when I was sixteen. We both make our way to the porch, where Grady is standing on the other side of the screen door. He’s dressed in a tracksuit like me and has a shocked expression on his face. “Oh. Hey. I didn’t know your family was here.”
“Neither did I.” I smile and actually have to remind myself to tone it down. Seeing him makes me want to grin way too big. “Dad, you remember Grady Garrison?”
I hold open the door, and Grady steps onto the porch and shakes my dad’s hand. “Good to see you again.”
“Always a pleasure to shake the hand of the best goalie the league has known in decades,” Grady tells my dad, and I roll my eyes. He’s made it no secret that my dad was his idol growing up.
“Are you here to fangirl over my dad or…”
Grady smiles at me. “I was hoping we could Uber it back to the rink together. For practice.”
“I left the truck there and Grady left his SUV because we went out with his family after the game,” I explain to my dad, who nods. I turn back to Grady. “Yeah. Cool. I’ll grab my wallet.”
“Say hi to Larue for me,” Dad offers. “And I’ll say goodbye to Callan and Mom for you.”
“Thanks.” I hug my dad. He holds on a little longer than normal and gives me a big squeeze. “Will you guys be here when I get back?”
He shakes his head. “We gotta get Callan back to campus and take Lola out to dinner. Her demand for spending all our time with the rink rats. Her words.”
I smile. “Ah, yes, the poor neglected non-hockey-playing sibling.”
I head into the living room and fish my wallet out of the dress coat I was wearing last night, and then I grab my keys and throw on a puffer jacket and head back onto the porch. Dad and Grady are talking goalie things. Something about a kind of lighter pads.
“We’ll see you in a couple of days on your West Coast road trip.”
I nod, and Grady and I head out the door. He had already ordered the Uber, and it’s pulling up as our feet hit the icy sidewalk. We wave to my dad and get in, and we don’t speak until the driver turns onto the turnpike. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just worried because I left you and… I thought you might be freaking out.”
I watch him nervously scratch at his thick beard and resist the urge to reach up and touch it. It was so soft against my thighs last night. Instead, I press my hand into the seat between us and ask, “What about you? Everything alright with Harlow? Your note said she needed help?”
“She’s worried about her brother. Theo likes to party, maybe a little too hard,” Grady replies. “She never asks anything of me, or anyone, so I had to meet her. I promised I’d watch Theo and figure out if she’s overreacting or he really is off the rails.”
This sounds serious, but Grady doesn’t look overly worried. I have heard of Theo Richard’s partying antics. He’s slightly notorious in the league, but I thought it was all just good fun. I don’t know much about him except that when he’s on his game, he’s a bitch to play against. One of the best defensemen in the league when he’s not just trying to get you to punch him.
His eyes move to the driver and then back to me as he subtly slides his hand over to rest with the tips of his fingers on mine. My heart flutters again. I stare at our hands. “You’re fine?”
“I’m good,” I promise.
Am I too good? I ask myself. This was just a good time, right? No need to get all fluttery and shit. I move my hand but smile at him. He smiles back. “I would like a do-over, though. One that doesn’t include the walk of shame.”
I whispered that last part, but both our eyes dart to the driver. He’s whistling along with the radio, which is playing “ManChild” by Sarina Carpenter. Funny because I kind of feel like one, saying something so stupid. Until Grady winks at me, and then I feel fan-fucking-tastic. “I think you’re owed that. I’m sure your one-night stand is up for a second night. Just ask… them.”
“I might have to do that.”
This time, my fingers brush his.
Chapter 26
Landon
The cross-country plane rides are not my favorite part of the sport, even when we get a private plane like we have with the Riptide. This isn’t the plane I was on with Angie and Grady when they flew us to Portland. This one is big enough for the whole team and the coaching staff. The rows are only two-by-two and every seat is wide, plush leather. It could be worse, I guess. But I get so angsty just sitting around for hours. It reminds me of chemo.
Luckily, I have Grady sitting beside me. We spent the first half of the flight exchanging stupid Instagram videos trying to make each other laugh. Now, though he’s nodded off and so has more than half the team. I can’t sleep, so I get up and head to the snack table at the back. I’m staring at it, trying to get a granola bar to morph into a hot dog or something, when Abbott steps out of the bathroom.
