“Two more days for most of your Ontario relatives. I know your grandmother’s flying out on Sunday. I think your aunt Heidi’s here through Tuesday.”
“I want my house back.” He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. “How are they Mom’s relatives? The things they said. I want… I wish—” His voice was lost in a tight cough.
I figured I knew what he wished. I’d been older when Dad died, but I remembered. Nothing would bring back his mother or his old life, though. “Your mom loved you. Her relatives are their own people, and we’re not seeing them at their best, but that says nothing about who your mom was.” Despite her dislike of me, Krystal had always taken good care of Josiah. “Their grief or attitudes have nothing to do with yours or your mom’s. Youdon’t have to go down and you don’t have to hang out with them anymore.”
“Not even Grandma?”
“Not even. I promise.” I’d run interference now I knew he needed that. When the Thompsons had arrived, I’d hoped that a grandmotherly touch would help Josiah more than I could, but clearly not.
“Okay then.” He set his cheek on his knees and closed his eyes.
I hovered for a moment, but his tightly self-contained posture didn’t suggest he wanted anything from me. So I let myself out, closing the door behind me, and headed downstairs to deal with the tail end of Krystal’s funeral.
CHAPTER 3
CALLUM
“You’re kidding, right? You’re ditching me?” I stared at Sully across our small apartment kitchen two days after the funeral. “Fuck. I need coffee.” I grabbed the pot out of the coffeemaker and poured myself a big mug. I wasnotat my best in the mornings, even after our brief pregame practice.
“Sorry.” He ran a hand over his wild blond curls. “But Hannah needs a roommate ASAP, and we were already talking about moving in together, so this is perfect.”
“Perfect,” I said, deadpan.
“Well, other than leaving you needing a new roomie, but I’m sure you’ll find someone in no time.”
“Sure. Because I’m so easy to live with.”
Sully laughed. “Aw, you’re not that bad. Make sure they know not to talk to you before you’ve had coffee, and to hide their junk food, and you’ll be fine.”
I couldn’t believe my trusted roommate was hanging me out to dry like this. We’d shared the small apartment since our first development camp a year and a half ago, and I trusted him. The idea of someone new in my space, messing up my routines, made me twitchy. But the PHL didn’t have a housing allowance, and our meagre salaries barely covered shared rent in expensivecities like Vancouver. As soon as Sully stopped paying his half, our modest apartment would be way out of my price range.
“I’ll put it up on the team chat,” Sully said. “Maybe someone else is looking for a change. A lot of the guys are on month-to-month leases like ours.”
With the chance of being traded, a lot of us were willing to pay a bit more every month, to not be landed with a lease we couldn’t pay as we moved across the country. Which was how Sully could just walk out on me. I rapped my knuckles on the cabinet to keep the thought of being traded at bay.
Sully was swiping through his phone. “Hey, maybe Brosky’s tired of rooming with Kegger.”
“You want me to room with the guy who’s gunning for my job?” Brosky wasn’t close to my equal as a goalie, but he sure would like to be in my spot.
Sully eyed me and sighed. “Okay, maybe not. But there’s sure to be somebody, right?”
I said, “Sure,” because I liked Sully better grinning about getting to move in with Hannah, rather than looking guilty. Even if he should feel fucking guilty. “So how much of our shit are you taking with you? Do we need to plan a moving day?”
“Just my own things from my room and my favourite mug, my books and electronics, a few bits and pieces. Her roommate ditched her with barely a note on the table, cleared her room but left all the rest behind. You can keep our furniture and kitchen supplies and everything.”
“Aw, so generous.”
Sully grinned. “Hannah’s stuff is in better shape anyhow.”
“Your sacrifice touches me right here.” I whacked myself in the stomach and pretended to gag. “You didn’t say when.”
“Um. This afternoon?” His grin went a little sideways. “No reason to wait, right? I’ll pay my rent for next month, since we’re halfway there. By April, you should be able to find someone.”
I grunted. I hated this. I wasn’t good with change, and although I wouldn’t tell Sully, Grandpa’s request to come by the store two days ago had really been to help him identify ways to cut costs and pull out a few furnishings we could sell. Money was tight, and I planned to tighten my belt even more to help him out. This was a crappy time to lose my roommate.
But Sully’s homely face lit up every time he talked about Hannah, and I wouldn’t piss on that. “You need boxes? I could drive out to Grandpa’s and get some.”
“That’s kind of a long way, isn’t it? I can run to the grocery store.”
