Santos keeps staring at me, like I’m a criminal about to crack. “Look, she’s definitely not giving out girlfriend vibes, okay? Andthe last time I threw a hissy fit about that, it didn’t end well. So I’m keeping my mouth shut. Besides, I’m actually passing all my classes right now. Maybe I need no-nonsense-Josie.”
Santos is shaking his head. “I give it a week.”
“Wow, dude, thanks for the vote of confidence.” I snag a fry from the basket on my tray and fling it at him. He catches it in his mouth and grins.
“Why are we throwing fries at Santos?” Deano asks, taking the seat next to me and stealing a fry from my tray.
“What the hell? You have your own—you have two orders! Don’t be stealing my fries!”
Deano shrugs. “I’m a growing boy. And why are you so grumpy? Sharing is caring, my dude.”
The rest of the guys file in, crowding around the table. We’re all eating and talking, and, of course, the conversation turns to hockey.
“Hey, since we can get back into the house tonight, we need to paint the penis,” Mikalski says, like it’s not a weird-as-fuck thing to say.
No one’s even pretending it looks like a thermometer at this point. Once you see the giant burgundy cock on our kitchen floor, you can’t unsee it.
“Uh, dude,” Santos begins, and I can tell he’s about to use his teacher voice.
“I know, guys,” Mikalski says, cutting him off. “I’m really, really sorry. I?—”
“We know, man,” Santos responds. “But listen, I haven’t been back to the house yet, so I don’t know for sure, but there was water everywhere Thursday night. I’m just warning you that it’s possible the thermomo-dick has washed away.”
A hush falls over the table, which is wild. We are never quiet, but it’s like we’re having a moment of silence for the pornographic artwork we’ve been using as a progress chart.
The silence ends when Ollie bounds over to us, his phone in hand.
“It’s still there!” he practically shouts, and we all cheer.
“How?” Santos asks
“Um…divine intervention, probably,” he says with a totally straight face. “Or it was that stuff Annabelle gave us. What was it called?”
“I don’t remember,” Deano says. “But Annabelle said it was basically like a top coat and that it would protect our artwork. Turns out my girlfriend was right, as usual.”
“You good?” I ask Pete. He’s got this confused look on his face, and that’s rare. Pete always knows what’s up.
“I’m just shocked, I guess? I mean, first off, it’s a fucking miracle the place didn’t burn to the ground. Add in the fact that the guys’, uh…‘artwork’ is still in perfect condition, and I’m blown away. Is there a patron saint of hockey? Maybe my Nana’s been lighting candles and saying prayers for us.”
“It’s St. Sebastian,” Will says around a mouthful of chicken sandwich.
“How the hell do you know that?” Ollie asks.
Will waves his phone around. “Dude. Google is free.”
“You know what else is free?” Deano asks.
“Um…these fries?” I say, snagging the little cardboard container off his tray and helping myself. Fair’s fair, after all.
“No,” he says, trying to swipe them back, but missing. “Us. We are free this weekend. It’s the first time in months that we haven’t had back-to-back games and I’m fucking here for it.”
The guys all nod, and I get it. We’ve been on fire lately, but they're ready for a break, and we just happen to have a rare weekend off. It will be nice to relax and chill, but, honestly, I’d rather be playing. Maybe I’d feel differently if Josie and I were together, but right now the weekend just seems to stretch out in front of me, waiting to be filled.
I’ll probably spend half of it at the athletic center. We’ve had a lot of success lately that I want to build on, and I know I’m not the only one. We’ve been dominating. Will’s back in action and better than ever. He’s also back with Mel, so that might have something to do with it. Rosco’s been leading the second line, and J.T. is protecting the net like it’s his baby.
I’m not trying to jinx anything, but if we keep playing like we are, we’re going to do it—we’re going back to the Frozen Four.
That means my play is as important as ever. So I need to stop worrying about getting Josie back in my bed and I need to refocus on my grades and my game.
