The campus was beautiful; it was everything I imagined a cool college would look like. The arena he played in was enormous, and pride hit me in the chest when I saw how packed the parking lot was.
Fuck, I didn’t think about buying a ticket.
I had to park in the street and walk about five minutes to the stadium. The game started at one and it was already twelve fifty-five. There was no ticket booth I could see so I went to the main doors, hoping I could still snag a ticket.
“Ticket, please,” a young girl asked me when I finally made it to her.
“Hi, I came to surprise my brother last minute and I don’t have one,” I said, hoping for some sympathy.
“Jeff! Do we still have tickets?” the young girl yelled.
“Yeah, send him through,” he said.
I exhaled in relief as she pointed me out to Jeff.
“Hi, sorry. I didn’t know I was going to come see my brother and the ticket booths were closed out there,” I said, pulling my wallet out.
“It’s cool,” he said. “I only have the second tier available. The closest will be these seats.”
He showed me on his iPad and it was far from the rink, but I had no choice.
“It’s just you, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, just me.”
“Hold up, let me make sure we don’t have any one-seaters,” he said, taking the iPad and looking again.
An announcer came out on the PA announcing the start of the game and my stomach dropped.
“I have one right here,” he said, showing me one pretty close to the rink.
“I’ll take it,” I handed him my card, not caring how much it cost. “Do you know what number Parker Yarbrough is?”
“Yeah, he’s number thirty-four,” he said, printing me a ticket.
“Awesome. Thanks, man,” I said, walking quickly as the crowd went wild.
I made it out to see the game start. Parker was in the middle fighting for the puck, and I was so damn proud of him. After finding my seat I was in awe for most of the game. Parker was a grown-ass man who was brutal on the ice, hitting guys against the wall, stealing the puck and he even made a goal. I was even seated close to some professional hockey players.
Jo had talked about the Romeo Gomez and Hunter Riggs scandal and how they had turned their coming out to benefit them. They were teammates who were also boyfriends, but they also shared a girlfriend. Jo was pissed she wasn’t a part of their PR team critiquing what she could have, should have and wouldhave done. I was jealous I didn’t have the same coming out story they had.
Parker’s team didn’t win, and by the way his head was hanging after the buzzer rang, I felt his pain. There was nothing worse than losing when you were so close to the championship. I watched Parker skate around before making his way back to his bench following his teammates and his coach to what I assumed were the locker rooms.
I let most of the crowd disperse before getting up and looking around for where the players might leave. The game made me nervous, but talking to Parker made me want to run to my truck. A few parents were talking about meeting their kids and I followed them to the back of the arena where a group of people were waiting, even some of the hockey players. I stayed off to the side, keeping my hat low.
The door opened periodically, making my heart drop each time. By the time I saw Parker, I was sweating so badly, and my heart was beating so erratically I thought I might pass out. Parker was walking out with one coach, looking indifferent, but I saw the disappointment.
“Parker!” I called out when he got closer.
“What the hell are you doing here, Nash?” he grumbled, looking a little surprised.
“I heard my baby brother was on his way to the frozen four,” I said, trying not to sound nervous.
“I’ll see you later, Coach,” he said, walking to me with narrowed eyes.
“Hey, Parks,” I said with a smile.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled.
