Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
R owdy
“Hey, son. Got a minute?”
“Yeah, Pop. What’s up?”
“Everything go okay this morning?”
The Colonel sounded distracted, which wasn’t unusual. The opening game of the season was always hectic. All the opening-night festivities plus a meeting with the visiting team’s owner, in addition to the team dinner and the after-party. It was a lot, but my dad thrived on being over-worked.
“Of course. The rookies got into it after a while. Nessy and Reb helped me keep them in line.”
“And Tressy and her little girl? How are they settling in?”
My brows rose as I slid into the chair on the other side of my dad’s desk. Pop wasn’t oblivious, but my mom’s strays didn’t normally warrant notice until they’d been around for a few weeks.
“I think they might be staying a little longer. ”
Pop nodded, as if he’d expected that. “Your mom’ll be happy to hear that. She’s taken a real liking to those girls.”
“Something bothering you, Pop?”
His brow drew down. “No, no. Nothing’s bothering me. It’s just…”
I waited a second for my dad to continue. But he just kept staring out the window of his office on the second floor of the arena, like he saw something I didn’t.
“Just what?”
My dad shook his head, mouth pursed. He looked like he had something weighing on his mind, but I couldn’t believe it was connected to Tressy and Krista. It had to be something else. Something he didn’t want to discuss. Which was strange because my dad always talked to me.
When he finally turned to me, his pursed lips turned into a half grin, but it still didn’t look completely genuine. “She just reminds me of someone, I guess. I just can’t figure out who.”
“Tressy? You think you know her?”
Pop shook his head “No. That’s the weird thing. I know we’ve never met. Just a weird case of déjà vu, I guess. So, you ready for tonight?”
I shrugged. “Of course.”
My dad leaned back in his chair. “You don’t sound all that excited.”
Now I had his full attention, like a ray gun of intense heat focused directly at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
My dad’s focus intensified. “You haven’t seemed yourself lately. Something you want to talk about?”
“Nothing’s going on, Pop. Why do you ask?”
“You just don’t seem…here all the time.”
I returned my dad’s stare for a few long seconds. “What does that mean?”
“It means your attention isn’t here, on the team. ”
Well, shit. I’d thought I was keeping my secret pretty well. But that phone call I’d gotten three weeks ago had been weighing on my mind. Not that I was seriously considering the offer. It’d been a pity toss from an old friend. I was doing what I loved right here. And when I didn’t love it anymore…
I’d figure that out later. When my dad retired. Which was something I could never imagine happening.
“What’s going on here, Pop?”
My dad shook his head. “We’re just having a conversation.”
“Yeah, but why are we having this conversation?”
“You ever think about doing something else?”
My eyes rounded, and my brain blipped. My dad usually left the deep conversations to his wife, because the Colonel was a bull in a china shop.
“Like…something other than hockey?”
My dad rolled his eyes, which just left me more confused.
“Well, yeah. What the hell else would I be talking about?”
I threw my hands in the air. “Jesus, Pop, I don’t have a clue. Why would I want to do anything other than play hockey?”
“Maybe because you want more than to live here all your life.”
“Why would I want to live anywhere else?”
My dad shook his head, his exasperation growing. “Rowdy. I love you, son, but you’re the most damn stubborn kid.”
“Well, at least you know I’m definitely yours.”
My dad’s laughter filled the room, making me breathe a little easier. Now my dad sounded more like himself and less like he wanted to dig into things I didn’t want to discuss.
“You’re a chip off the damn block, kid. Which is how I know you got something on your mind.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a pain in the ass, old man?”
My dad’s grin grew. “All the damn time. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
“Well, if there’s something on my mind, it’s gonna stay there.” I gave my dad my best determined glare, which just made my dad’s grin widen. “Honestly, there’s nothing wrong, Now, do you wanna talk about whatever’s got you in this mood?”
“Well, I guess you do have some of your mom in you. She’d good at turning the tables on me.” My dad huffed. “I’ll tell you what’s on my mind. You are. You seem lost lately, and I’m worried.”
Well, damn. This wasn’t good. My mom was usually the one who worried after me and my brothers and sister. She called for no reason other than to reassure herself we were still alive and had clean underwear, although I was pretty sure she didn’t ask my sister that. Growing up in a house full of boys, Rain had learned to carve out her own space and make her own way. Independent was an understatement with that one.
But I must have done something pretty damn blatant for my dad to realize I had something on my mind. Didn’t mean I had to spill my guts, though. Especially not on the first day of the season.
“Always a few nerves before the start of the season. Maybe I’m getting smarter with age.”
“You’ve always been smarter than you give yourself credit for.”
“Okay, Pop, now I know there’s something wrong. Did you hit your head recently?”
I hid a grin when my dad scowled. “Goddammit, Rowdy, I’m trying to be serious here.”
“You’ve got nothing to be worried about, Pop. I’m fine. Everything’s fine. We’re all fine.”
Except I wasn’t. Not completely. But it’d pass. It always did. Just part of living in a small town.
The Colonel gave me another long look before he nodded, not so much accepting but agreeing to let it go. For now. I figured my mom would be checking in sooner rather than later. If I was lucky, I’d take a hard hit in the game tonight, and Mom would take pity on me. Maybe I’d get some sympathy from another pretty woman, as well.
At least I’d gotten her to agree to go with me to the afterparty, even if that meant having it with the entire team and family, friends and fans.
“This season’s gonna be one for the books, Pop.”
“This jock’s too damn small.”
Raucous laughter bounced off the cement walls of the locker room followed by increasingly ridiculous and profane suggestions of what Denny should do with the allegedly too-small protective gear.
“You sure you don’t mean too big?”
“Are you sure you’re putting it in the right place?”
“Maybe you need help finding your dick. Let me get you a magnifying glass.”
“Dude,” I said, “your brain’s not that big. It’ll fit.”
Denny held up his hand with the offending equipment. “I don’t wear it on my head, asshole.”
That prompted another round of laughter, mostly from the guys who got the joke. Denny just looked at me like I was an idiot. Which made me laugh all that much harder.
As the guys continued to razz the rookie, I just shook my head and continued to get ready.
The first game of the year was always a fun night for the guys. It was a clean slate and a leap into the unknown. Anything could happen. Hell, we could start with a win and maybe have a winning season.
Not that it’d happened for a while, but there were more important things than winning,
Like women. And tonight, that meant only one woman.
“Rowdy! You planning to go out there in your jock? I mean, the crowd would love if you did it again, but maybe wait for the middle of the season when we’ve lost a couple games.”
I didn’t give my brother the dignity of a verbal response, I just flipped him the finger and went back to dressing.
“Hey, man, never known you to have opening night jitters.”
I shook my head at Bobby’s quiet comment. My longtime teammate, who’d earned the nickname Bonesaw for using his stick like a precision instrument to slash and sometimes score goals, sank onto the bench next to me.
Bonesaw was the only one of the guys who’d actually played in the NHL. Before his demons got the worst of him. The Colonel had signed him the month he’d gotten out of rehab.
“No jitters. Just ready to get started.”
Bobby kept staring at me. “Or ready for the game to be over. Hear you have a date afterward.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. “Dude, who are you? My mother? And where did you hear that?”
Bobby smiled, white teeth gleaming against his dark skin. “So, you do have a date?”
“No. It’s not a date. I just invited a little girl and her mom to the afterparty.”
“Little girl, huh. Must really like the mom if you’re willing to spend the night with someone else’s kid.”
I figured I should take offense to that. “What the hell, man? I like kids.”
“You don’t usually like women who have kids.”
Okay, valid point. Still…
“You really wanna talk about this now?”
Bobby shrugged, grabbing his helmet off the bench next to him and tapping his stick blade against my pads. “Just thought I’d find out what’s up. You ready for the game?”
“I was before you started asking me questions like we’re in junior high. ”
Bobby huffed. “Neither of us have been in high school in a long time.”
“Jesus, now you’re calling me old. Next you’ll be telling me I need to retire.”
“Don’t get ahead of me. Just saying we’re not getting any younger.”
“Now you really sound like my mom.”
Bobby’s smile was designed to get a rise out of me. “I like your mom.”
I threw an elbow hard enough to make Bobby grunt. “Don’t even go there.”
Bobby shrugged. “I like your sister, too.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I stood, my skates an extension of my body, my uniform a second skin. “Devils! Are we ready?”
“Yes, Captain!”
The cheer rose up from the team, who stood and slapped their sticks on the floor.
I looked around the room, at the excitement on the rookies’ faces and the smiles on the veterans’ faces. And if the sight didn’t make me as excited as in years past, well, I’d just keep that to myself.