“Oh, I could give you a very long list.”I match his movement and sip my water as well.“But I’d probably need to get a beer for that one.Let’s just hope my failings don’t deter a potential summer roommate.I need to find someone with a spare room who wants money.And isn’t, like, a serial killer.”
Griff frowns.Apparently my joke didn’t land how I wanted.
“Statistically, though, there probably aren’t that many serial killers in Bayshore,” I say before sipping some water.
Griffin is watching me intensely, and I can’t figure out what’s going on inside his head.Just when I feel like the attention has become unbearable, he blurts out,
“Why don’t you just stay here for the summer?”
I choke a little on the water I just drank.“What?”
“Be my roommate till you move back to Chicago.How many weeks is that going to be…ten?Nine?”
“Griffin.”My mouth is open as I struggle to process this offer.“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.You could stay in the spare room.I wouldn’t even charge you rent.”
Now I’m stunned and growing more emotional by the second.This is a major offer.Huge.And I feel like I don’t deserve such a lucky break.“That is way too generous.I couldn’t possibly—”
“It wouldn’t be a bother, I promise.I mean, you’ve spent the night before, you’re going to spend the night again tonight.And probably other nights, now that we’ve gotten into the B-movie sleaze.But you decide.There’s no pressure.I just feel like it makes sense.I have the space, you have the need, and we’re lifelong friends.I don’t think you’re gonna rob me in the middle of the night.Plus, it’ll give me peace of mind to know you’re not living with a secret serial killer.”
My head is swimming.I want to blurt outOMG YES!but I feel like the smart thing to do is wait and think it over.I already know Griffin would be an incredible roommate.I just worry about the part I don’t want to admit out loud: I’m secretly in love with him.
Moving in with him would mean I’d have to see the puck bunnies come in and out.
He’d see the parts of me that make me hard to be around.My messiness and all the other parts my family can’t stand.The parts Jake couldn’t stand.
“I’ll think it over,” I finally say around the lump in my throat.“I have a lot of thoughts, but I should sleep on it, at least.”
“Definitely think it over.”Griffin offers me an easy smile before he takes another swig of his water.
He’s so sweet.Thoughtful.Successful.Painfully hot.
Idowant to live with him.That’s not even a question.
The issue is that I want so much more from him than that.
CHAPTER SEVEN
GRIFFIN
“Keegan!You gonna be on the ice again this season?”
The voice of someone I don’t immediately recognize travels through the huge ice rink inside the Bayshore Rec Center.I spot the person about halfway down the row of benches facing the plexiglass barrier around the rink.I’m used to being recognized, especially here in Bayshore.
Even though I don’t know who they are, I wave and call out, “You know it.We’re gonna be league champs this year, just you wait.”
That response earns me a hoot and a thumbs up.He’s unaware of the violent twist in my gut, or the way my mind immediately fixates on the upcoming draft.Whether the Crushers general manager will renew my contract or not.Or if I become a free agent, and potentially get picked up by another team, seeing my family even less than I do now because I live in who knows what corner of the US.I have no control, and it’s fucking killing me.
But he doesn’t need to know about any of that.I’m just the pro hockey player, representing Bayshore.It’s a job I love.A job I want to continue doing for…hell, as long as I can.
I watch as the guy meanders out of the practice rink before I shift my gaze to the digital clock on the other wall.
It’s one p.m.on Friday, the first day of my youth hockey workshop, and I’m here excessively early to get in the zone.I want to spend some time on the ice by myself, to really see where my knee is at.I’m going to be chasing after these kids, which I tell myself is a valid reason to push myself slightly earlier than Dex’s recommendation.But dammit.I just need toknow.
Will I make my return to the Crushers this year?
I tighten my laces one final time before I push out onto the ice.I’ve never been good at ceding control.Call it my fatal flaw, but I like to think that losing my dad at a young age could have fucked me up worse than turning me into a control freak.
