“Think about it. If you’re single now, you should stay that way, bro. Get married after your career is over. Enjoy all the tits and ass you can get your hands on as a pro hockey player now. You can save yourself a shitload of pain and heartache that way.”
I stopped to think about that. He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t want him to be right.
“Come ooooon,” my teammate said. “I know that look. But think about it. You don’t have to be tied down to anyone. It’s the perfect excuse to play the field for as long as possible. When beautiful women throw themselves at you—and they will—you won’t have a nagging wife at home to accuse you of cheating on her.”
Braxton sounded so much like a used car salesman when he said it that I couldn’t help laughing a little. I had to get back to my original topic, though.
“I guess I would just feel bad,” I said. “You know, leaving De Ruiter behind and all.”
“Why would you worry about De Ruiter? You in love with him or something?”
Beer sprayed out of my mouth, all over him. He pulled back and stared down at his chest. Then I wiped my mouth with my forearm and passed some napkins to my teammate, for what good it would do.
“Holy shit, dude,” he said. “Say it, don’t spray it, huh?”
“It’s not what you think,” I said. “Can’t a guy care about his teammates?”
“Yeah, sure, you can care about them, but draw the line somewhere. You’ve got to admit he’s a big boy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Just about kicked your ass one time, right?”
“In your dreams.”
“But he’s got to fend for himself sometime, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that settles it.”
Only I knew it didn’t really settle anything. Sure, you practically had to draw Braxton Wilson a picture, but he’d caught on about Erik and me eventually. He might’ve been joking, but he’d drawn far too close to the truth for comfort. But that wasn’t the point. If even a moron like him could be right about a hockey player’s life, maybe Erik and I really would be screwed.
39
ERIK
“Ifeel bad,” I told Ryan Detenbeck before sinking my teeth into a burger at the Lake Effect Diner.
“Why?”
“Why? Because I should feel happy for Kayden. Hell, I should be leading his cheering section, but I’m not. And it’s not just a flat feeling. The whole thing makes me feel crappy.”
That was the truth. I’ve told you that once already, but almost a week had passed since hearing the news, and the same funk still throttled me. Yeah, I’d rationalized the whole thing left and right, but nothing seemed to set my mind at ease.
“It won’t be all bad, will it?” he asked.
“I’m not following.”
“Well, if he’s going to the NHL, that can only be good for you.”
What do you mean?I wanted to ask.Are you an idiot?Then I realized that my teammate couldn’t know how high the stakes really were for me.
“I still don’t get it.”
Ryan set his own burger on the plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “If Kayden’s in the NHL, then you can have the Larkin Lions team captain role all to yourself.”
I rolled my eyes, already regretting this conversation. Leave it to Ryan to completely miss the point. Besides, I didn’t care about having the team to myself. Maybe I would have at the start of the season, but so much had changed since then.
