“Of course you can,” I said. “You can work like a demon and live, eat, sleep, and breathe hockey. And, like I said, don’t ever let complications derail your hopes and dreams.”
“Okay, I’ll play along. What are you going to do once you’ve willed your way to those things?”
“I’m going to be married, of course. To a woman, De Ruiter. She’ll be this drop-dead gorgeous blond. And she’ll have an exotic-sounding name, but she’ll be totally American. She might be a model or maybe she won’t be. Hey, maybe she’ll make more money than me, same as when Giselle was worth more than Tom Brady.”
He snorted as if to accuse me of dreaming. He could laugh all he wanted. It was so totally gonna happen—because I said so.
“And we’re going to have three kids,” I said.
“Not two-point-five like the rest of America, eh?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Three kids. Sounds like a good number to me. I’m the middle of three kids. The oldest will be named after me. The other two will have names that sound madeup but are cool anyway. And they’ll all be born with hockey sticks in their hands.”
He shook his head.
“After my first Stanley Cup win, I’m going to have more endorsement deals than I’ll know what to do with. That’s what I’ll live off of and bank my hockey salary. You never know how long your hockey career is going to last.”
“You mean you can’t control when your hockey career will end? Oh my, say it ain’t so.”
“Maybe other players can’t control it. I can. But in case something totally unexpected happens, I’ll need something to fall back on.”
“That’s about the first sensible thing you’ve said in this entire conversation, you know that?”
“It’s a lot more sensible than your bullshit about everyone on the planet fooling around with the same sex.”
Erik had never said that. Not exactly. I knew it but didn’t care. He’d been so much of a pain in the ass that I saw no reason not to return the same maddening behavior.
“And then I’ll retire,” I said. “On my own terms, naturally, but not until I have at least four Stanley Cup rings on my fingers.”
“Well, thank goodness you haven’t put an exact number on it.”
“Think that’s funny?”
“No way, dude. I’m a little worried. Whatever you’re on, it’s time to cut the dose.”
“Fuck off.”
“What a clever response. You’re acting like the future is written.”
I shook my head again. “It might not be written, but you can make your life whatever you want it to be. You’d be amazed what you can make happen through sheer willpower.”
“And you can make thingsnothappen by the exact same means.”
“I’ll still be doing endorsements after retirement, but the big bucks will come on the lecture circuit.”
“Oh, get over yourself…”
“That’s right. Organizations will be dying to pay me at least ten grand per speech. No, twenty. And I’ll be picked up in limousines. I’ll stay in the best hotels—all expenses paid for, of course. And people will be patting themselves on the back for landing me for a speaking engagement. And do you know why? Because I’m the greatest fucking hockey player that ever lived.”
“That’s nice, Kayden. You going to put that in your Hall of Fame speech?”
“I’ve already written a draft of it if you want to read it.”
Erik waved his hand in front my eyes as if to make sure I was feeling okay. Pretty soon, he would ask how many fingers he was holding up.
“Don’t believe me?” I asked.
“I think you’ve gone completely delusional, Kayden. Wait, I take that back. You might’ve been this delusional before I met you, and you didn’t realize it. The kiss—especially the hard-on I gave you—must’ve pushed you over the edge.”
