Chapter 9
When Tyler got home after dropping Dmitrii off at the hotel, he tossed the medicine on the kitchen counter while yelling so his brother could hear him, “Max! Your ear stuff is down here!”
“Tye, don’t yell. Just walk to the stairs at least.” His mom walked in from the attached garage with a gallon of milk in her hands.
“Sorry, I could have picked that up for you.” He walked over to the stairs, grabbing the railing as he yelled just as loud, “Your ear drops are by the stove!”
She let out a sigh as Tyler came back into the room and opened the fridge. “Don’t even think of it eating anything. We are having dinner in thirty minutes. Why are you so late today?” She moved past him to put the milk inside the refrigerator.
“Oh, Mitch had me on the ice forever. I probably have bruises on my bruises from being in that harness so long, but I got my quad Lutz by the end of it.” He didn’t even try to hide his smile at that.
“Good job! Did anyone take video?” She moved over to wrap him in a quick hug. “You still aren’t getting any snacks before dinner though.”
“No, it was just us. Andy and coach Truskel were working with Dmitrii.” He froze as he realized he had said the name … the name of the person he wasn’t really supposed to mention was training there. “You can’t tell anyone, Mom.”
“What can’t I tell people? That you have a quad Lutz, or – oh, who is Dmitrii?” Tyler’s panic at the name meant she had to find out what was going on. Her brow furrowed as she waited for the answer, clearly worried.
“Uhhh. Look, I don’t know if people are supposed to know he’s training here.”
“But you’ve been at the rink once this week and already know all about it?” She lifted an eyebrow as she walked over to check on something in the oven.
“I gave him a ride back to his hotel.” He took advantage of her looking away to peek into the fridge again.
“Oh, for… Tyler Jonathan Garrett, you can make it another twenty minutes until dinner. Get out of there!” With an exaggerated eye-roll, she shooed him away from the refrigerator.
“But Mom, I’m hungry.” Even as he whined, his playful smile made an appearance.
“Set the table. Your dad will be here with your sister any minute. Who is this Dmitrii, and why are you giving strangers rides to hotels?”
As he went to grab plates and silverware, Tyler tried to decide how to answer that. “He’s a Russian skater. People just aren’t supposed to know he is here, okay? He got injured at Europeans last year.”
“How old is he?” She reached into the oven to pull out the chicken so it could rest before the others got there. She tried to keep the worry and suspicion from her voice, but failed.
“Eighteen, almost nineteen. It was his first year in seniors.” He hoped that would end this line of questioning as he set out knives and forks.
“And he’s staying in a hotel? Did his parents come out with him?”
“No. Just him.” He sighed for real this time. “Look, I asked him, and he said that was normal. I gave him my number though, and told him to call if he needed anything.” Tyler was really trying to act as if he had given his number to be nice and not because he had a crush on Dmitrii.
“Well, that was nice of you. I just don’t like that he’s in a hotel alone. That’s awfully young to be staying in a foreign country by yourself.” She was still frowning as she pulled out a tray of roasted vegetables and scooped them into a bowl.
“I know, Mom, but the coaches all know about it. Coach Williamson was going to give him a ride, but it’s entirely the wrong direction for him, and it was right on my way. So that’s why he asked me.”
She still didn’t look happy, but then she made a decision. “Send him a message. Invite him over for dinner tomorrow. We’ll do something nice.” Then she paused for a second, looking at Tyler to see that he was a little flushed. “Is he cute?”
“Oh my God, Mom. Do not try to set me up with anyone.” He knew he was being dramatic, but everyone in his family was used to it by now.
“So he is cute.” She didn’t push any more.
Instead, she resumed getting dinner ready, barely in time for when Tyler’s father and sister got home.
She tried not to let Tyler see how worried she looked.
She couldn’t stop him from thinking a boy was cute.
She just worried that another boy would break her son’s heart.
Soon it would be a loud family dinner, but the subject of Dmitrii was mercifully not mentioned again that night.