I wasn’t as easy to convince.
“Nicholas Patrick Johns, are you serious?” I asked.
He cracked a smirk at being addressed by his full name. “As a heart attack, Smol.” He held a hand down to help me up and I slowly took it, still unsure if I should be allowing him to miss his game.
He pulled me to my feet and immediately into a hug and I could feel his chin resting on my head. I loved his woodsy smell and was hit with immediate gratitude for him.
I felt him kiss my head and then wordlessly push me away from the driver’s seat with a chuckle before climbingin.
8. Griff
I waited patiently for a text to appear on my phone as I geared up for the game, but so far, it’d been silent.
Coach walked in the locker room then and saw Nick’s empty spot. He glared at me and demanded, “Where’s Johns?”
Nick chose that moment to text back, and my phone dinged in my hand.
Coach nodded at me to look at my phone.
His text read:Hold down the fort, Griffy. You got it. I’m gonna drive them to Minny. Hopefully Coach isn’t too mad. Tell him I have food poisoning or something. Lemme know how the game goes!
I scanned it over, trying to stall and figure out what would be the best excuse to say to Coach.
“He’s uh…” I always struggled to lie. I was shit at it. He’d see right through me.
Coach leveled his eyes with mine and lowered his voice. “Spill it kid. If you tell me the truth, I can maybe help spin it.”
“He’s…” I looked around to the guys starting to stare at us and I felt my face heating up. I pulled at the collar of my jersey. Coach turned on the heel of his fancy shoes and ushered me to follow him to his office.
I pulled the door closed quietly behind me.
Coach motioned for me to start talking.
“He has food poisoning,” I blurted out.
He dropped his head in his hands like what I said made him extremely tired.
“Try again, Griff. Where’s Johns?” he asked with a sigh.
“He’s driving to Minneapolis.”
Coach’s jaw slid to the side. “Why the fuck would he be doing that?”
Why the fuck did he care? It’s not like my answering that question was going to make him suddenly drive back and appear,I thought.
He narrowed his eyes on me. “The truth, Griff. I’m not the enemy here. I can’t help out if I don’t know the truth. I need something to tell the scouts.”
“Our uh… our friend had to drive her little brother to a hockey tournament and was scared to make the drive. Nick is helping out,” I said.
“This friend… she’s a girl?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
I noddedslowly.
“Jesus. He’s a damn lover boy,” he looked to the ceiling. “Girls. Always career-enders,” he muttered, which didn’t seem fair to me. It’s not like Sav even asked him to come help her. He chose to do it. I felt compelled to speak up on her behalf… but the words were stuck in my throat. I couldn’t even think of what to say. So, I just sat there looking at him blankly like a loser.
Coach laid his hands flat on his desk and looked up at me finally. “We’ll say he had a family emergency. He better hope no one sees him downtown. Tell him to keep a low profile, especially in the rink and around nosey parents.”
I nodded and followed him back out to the locker room.
