Page 11 of Center Ice
“Hmmm.”
After a nearly sleepless night, my mind is mush today. I don’t know if I’m reading too much into Colt’s noncommittal reply, or not enough, but it leaves me wondering what he thinks he knows.
“Flynn said you two went to college together?” Colt says.
“Yeah,” I say, taken aback that Jameson knows this. Given that his fiancée clearly didn’t know that I knew Audrey until last night, I’m guessing maybe she told him? I decide this is the most likely scenario, since how could Lauren havenotmentioned that scene in the kitchen? Then again, if she suspects I’m Graham’s father, she clearly hasn’t told Jameson, because there’s no way he knows or I would have already heard from him. “She was a year behind me at BU and tutored me in calculus.”
“Calculus?” Colt lets out a laugh that’s practically a snort. “So you’re smart, then?”
“Not at math, hence needing a tutor.”
Like my fellow new player Zach, I know that Colt didn’t go to college. They both came to the NHL through the Canadian Hockey League when they were barely twenty. And while Zach’s still in his mid-twenties, Colt’s got at least a decade and a half in the league. There’s a ton of speculation about him being close to retirement, but the guy doesn’t seem ready to leave the crease any time soon.
Colt lets out another noncommittal noise, then says, “Yeah, math makes sense, given that she’s an architect now.”
“Is she?” I spend a second trying to remember if I knew she wanted to be an architect or not. It’s shameful how little I remember about her—my memories are more like short clips from a movie: meeting her for the first time in the library, the way she always smelled like honey and citrus, us sitting cross-legged on my bed as we reviewed problems before my mid-term exam, the way she tasted with my face between her legs, how hername sounded rolling off my lips while she was coming with me buried inside her…
“Yeah, she and her sister run a construction company. Jules is the contractor, and Audrey is the architect. It’s actually…” Colt pauses with a proud smile and a quick shake of his head. “It’s amazing what they’ve accomplished in the last couple years. Who knew so many people wanted a company that only hires women?”
“You mean all the contractors they work with are women?”
“Yep. And they’re one of the fastest growing construction companies in Boston. They keep making all these ‘Best of’ lists.” He tells me how they were featured in a famous Boston magazine last year, and how things really took off from there. I don’t even know how to process what she’s accomplished while also raising our child, except that I’m not surprised. If anyone could do it, it would be her.
“Hey,” Walsh says, turning back toward us, “let’s check out the locker room so you know where to go tomorrow.”
After a brief tour of the locker room and some of the other parts of the facility, we head out. I’m walking into the parking garage attached to the rink, when Colt calls out from behind me.
“Hey, I like you, so I’m going to give you some advice.”
I can’t help but notice that he waited to share his advice until we were in an empty parking garage with no one else around. I turn to face him. “Alright.”
“Stay far away from Flynn’s sister… That’s a path you do not want to walk down. He’s overly protective of those girls, and you’d have to be crazy to test him like that.”
“Why’s he so protective? They’re adults, and they’re his sisters, not his daughters.”
“Same difference, really.”
“I’m going to need you to explain that, because if they’re his sistersandhis daughters, that would mean?—”
Colt punches me in the shoulder hard enough that it actually hurts. “Dude, watch your fucking mouth. First of all, they’re his half-sisters. And second, he pretty much raised them.”
I can tell there’s a lot more to the story, but if Colt wanted to tell me, he would. Jameson’s always struck me as an intensely private person, so maybe he’s sworn Colt to secrecy, or maybe Colt’s just the kind of guy who knows when to keep his mouth shut.
“Do you know them well?”
Colt shrugs. “He’s my best friend. I’ve spent my whole adult life around that family. Those girls are practically like my little sisters, too.”
It’s hard to imagine looking at Audrey and thinking of her like a sister. It’s her eyes that get me every time—they’re a crisp, bright blue, and I’ve always found them hard to look away from. Last night was no different.
“So I’m saying this not just on Jameson’s behalf. If you know what’s good for you”—he raises his eyebrows—“you’ll stay away from them.”
Well, fuck.
Chapter Six
AUDREY
I’m just coming down the stairs into my basement office, the newest episode of my favorite horror podcast blasting in my ears while I try to get the nerve up to call Drew back. When I step onto the bottom stair, there’s a loud knock on the glass door. I’m not expecting anyone, so it takes me by surprise, and I fumble my lunch, spilling salad all over as the plate and fork go clattering to the floor. Maybe if I wasn’t listening to a terrifying story unfolding, the knock wouldn’t have scared me so much?
