“It wasn’t my fault!” he complained.
I whirled on him and slapped his chest. “How could you do that to Griff’s pretty smile!”
“It was bound to happen!” he complained with his shoulders raised. “He’s in college hockey with a bunch of goons, babe.”
“It’s true,” Griff sighed. “Pretty boy here got to skip out on all thefighting.”
I rolled my eyes but was internally grateful… Griff could stand on his own and take the fighting. Nick on the other hand was the kind of guy who got targeted because of how flashy and taunting he was on the ice. I was pretty grateful he was in the NHL where less fighting happened… Well, with the exception of playoff time. He had only played a handful of minor league games before getting called up for his shot in the NHL around last Thanksgiving. After a stellar game, he was never sent back down, and this past spring he signed his first full NHL contract… So, he did keep his promise: it only took him a year to get himself settled in one spot.
“How did it happen?” I stared at them, also taking in the differences since I’d last seen them. Instead of wearing their matching hockey warm-up suits, which Griff and Nick had worn pretty much all last year, their styles and even builds were slightly more distinct now. Griff looked thicker, like he’d been working out a ton. He was dressed like a total college athlete with his gray sweatpants and big Carhartt jacket over a team hoodie. His messy hair was now in a foehawk. His team all buzzed the sides of their hair to sport mohawks during their college playoffs, but through the summer, Griff’s grew out and he seemed to make it his permanent style. Nick on the other hand looked more spiffy than usual. He now used some product in his hair, and he looked professional in a peacoat over lulu dress pants.
“Your dummy here thought he had perfect aim,” Griff rolled his eyes. “Who the hell knows where he got that idea because I’m the one who passes; he’s a puck hog. But there he was, bragging about his passing skills all morning. Then he tried to sauce a puck up to me when I wasn’t looking. He thought the puck would land right on my stick, but he hit me in the face… Asshole couldn’t even help me because he was laughing too hard. Laughed all the way to the dentist’s office.”
“You should be happy I did it to ya first, Griffy Boy. Better me than some asshole doing it to ya and always remembering it,” Nick said while slapping him on the back. “I did feel awfully bad about it,” he whispered down to me.
“He did,” Griff affirmed. He took a retainer out of his pants pocket and popped it in his mouth, giving him a full smile again. “Held doors open for me like I was you for about two full weeks. I liked getting the Savannah Callahan treatment,” he smirked.
“God, you guys are so dumb,” I said, feeling a goofy smile spreading on my face. I grabbed them both into another tight hug.
____
Looking at my three boys in the kitchen, it finally felt like all was right in the world again.
“So how was your summer?” Griff asked, plopping on an island stool.
“It was good,” I answered while smoothing some peanut butter and jelly on bread for a late lunch. “Victoria’s been helping me get into coaching. I did Learn to Skates about three days a week and then took on about five girls for private lessons. Almost feels like I should skip college and just coach,” I lamented.
“Yes!” Duke called out from where he sat at the kitchen table.
“Oh no, no, no,” Nick disagreed. He was a huge proponent of me going to school in Michigan so I could be closer to him. He came up from behind me and snaked his arms around my waist to give me a good squeeze. “Ya gotta go get edumacated, baby.”
I just shook my head at him and patted his cheek. He swiped a sandwich square up from my plate to eat.
Nick turned his attention back to Duke then. “Missed ya by the way, bud. How’d your season go?”
Duke, whose tongue was sticking out as he drew up hockey plays on the corner of his English notebook, seemingly ignored Nick. Duke had skipped English class almost every day last year and we had no clue why. We tried to get the answer out of him for weeks, but he wouldn’t budge. He was stuck taking summer school to make up for it.
“Huh?” Nick asked him to clarify.
“Missed you guys too,” Duke grumbled. “But I’m not too happy because now you’re all leaving me.”
“He tried to convince my parents to let him move with me. I think he got close, but no cigar… He made a PowerPoint and presented it in front of my parents and everything,” I arched an eyebrow at Nick, trying to urge him to be sensitive about the subject.
“Yeah, and now this year is going to suck even more because you’re taking my sister away too,” Duke said with downcast eyebrows. “Asshole,” he added under his breath.
“Duke, language,” I chastised him.
“It’s true though. It’s what I think,” he argued with wide eyes and looked at each one of us. “He already gets to be in the NHL and now he’s taking you too. He doesn’t need you; I do!”
I had no clue he felt that way. He never once said anything negative to me about my leaving for Detroit; if I knew he felt that way, I probably would have put more thought into it. I looked up at Nick for help. He nodded and removed his arms from my waist and moved toward Duke. “I’ll talk to him,” he whispered.
After dinner, Nick and Griff said their goodbyes to my family, and I quickly went up to my room to get changed and ready for bed.
I laid there in my new silky pajamas that I picked out just for Nick, and waited, feeling my heart race with anticipation. It’d been a year since me and Nick really saw each other in person, and shitty internet skypes didn’t capture everything new; they didn’t capture subtle changes– like how Nick seemed taller and broader than before. His jawline was sharper and the added scruff starting to appear on his face made him look older. I wondered if he noticed anything different about me… and I couldn’t help but worry about what he’d think of me now that he’d seen way more of the world than I had. He’d met so many different people and he’d gone to so many different stadiums full of beautiful girls cheering for him… As the new rookie, he drew a ton of attention…
But I was the one who loved him.
I gave him my heart.
