Duncan
First Mate Duncaroo
PROLOGUE
Do you ever get a sinking feeling in your gut? One that signals something is coming.
And I don’t mean a wicked slap shot.
Although a deflection of one of those knocked my front teeth out earlier this week.
No, I mean the uneasy feeling of change being afoot.
I hate change.
"You going to dance or meet someone tonight?" E.T. (Emmett Turner) my teammate asks over the noise of the club.
"Nah." I shrug and take a sip of my Scotch as my phone buzzes in my pocket.
"Really? I was hoping you’d wingman for me." E.T. lays a hand on my shoulder and gives it a shake but I shove it off. I feel like my skin is crawling.
Do you know what is bothering me?
No really, help me figure it out.
Don’t just shrug and shake your head befuddledly.
Is that a word?
Either way, you understand what I’m describing.
And your perplexed and indifferent response here is honestly starting to hurt my feelings.
Not really.
I just winked at you from behind my glasses.
I give E.T. a playful swat to the abdomen. "You need all the help you can get but I think I’m riding the bench tonight."
The bench is the VIP section of Aces, a club me and my boys frequent. Or, well, we used to at least. It feels good to have almost all the guys back together in our section. Their plus ones are here but Harper and Jo have been solid additions to the group.
And it’s not like Young Gun (Aiden Youngren) was one of the boys for long before he and Harper shacked up.
And, now that I think about it, my best buddy, Crocs (Crosby Loughty) not being here isn’t exactly new. He hasn’t gone out as much since he adopted his golden retriever Stella, the goodest girl in all the world. And, he might have come out with us for a bit tonight after we all attended his shit-hole father’s charity gala, but he left the dinner early with his date.
My phone buzzes with an incoming text and, again, I can’t shake this ominous cloud hanging around my head.
One quick glance at the locked screen confirms it’s my family text thread Me Hearties blowing up.
ME HEARTIES
CAPT CHIN HAIR
I can't decide if you're cuter then or now.
Side-by-side picture of Duncan as a 6yr old without his front teeth grinning at the camera next to a picture of him grinning as he walk down the tunnel three nights ago with his front teeth missing after getting hit in the face with a puck.
FIRST MATE DUNCAROO
