Chapter 3 #2
His English was fantastic. I wouldn’t have been half as confident about speaking French to anyone in Quebec, and I’d taken, like, twelve years’ worth of classes in school.
More often than not, English expressions and idioms rarely made any sense.
Kovac’s eyes lit with recognition. “Ah, yes. He did say that. I think he enjoys messing with me. I found a thesaurus on the kitchen counter the other day.” He winked, not showing any signs of ill will toward the man.
He stepped back, carefully extending one arm toward the interior of the apartment.
“Come in. I will show you your new home for the season.” Kovac’s smile appeared genuine, his straight, white teeth a testament to his talent on the ice, considering he still had all of them.
Home.
Could I feel that way about Lakeside if given enough time?
Kovac had just finished giving me a thorough tour of our modest-sized apartment when my new captain, Nathan Hawkins, appeared from behind the closed door of what had to be the master bedroom.
Considering the deal he was giving me on rent, Hawkins could offer me the storage closet without a window, and I’d have nothing to complain about.
“Caden Kelly?” He strode toward me with a confidence that simply had to translate onto the ice.
His stare didn’t waver as he closed the space between us and brought up his hand to shake mine.
His natural command of the moment had me raising my hand unconsciously.
“Nathan Hawkins, but I go by Hawk to most of the team. Nate works too. Glad to have you as part of the team.”
Hawkins’ smile was warm and welcoming, and instead of putting me at ease like I’m sure he intended, his friendliness made me even more afraid to say something that would fuck things up for me.
“Yep. That’s me.” Fuck. I was off to a great start as far as first impressions went.
I jerked my gaze to the side, hoping Leo would make small talk so I could get my bearings back.
Being an introvert sucked when it came to meeting more than one person at a time. The muscles in my limbs had tightened with the pressure of making a good impression on my new roommates. That, in turn, led to my brain rebelling harder than a teenager whose phone had just been taken away.
The more I willed my mouth to say something, the tighter my brain locked down on refusing to let me say anything.
It reminded me of the massive glitches the first PC I’d ever built would have when I tried to run one too many programs.
Unfortunately, unlike my PCs, I didn’t have a restart button to unlock the anxiousness inside me.
“Captain,” Kovac, my new savior, picked up the conversation before it became more awkward, “I was just showing Caden around the apartment. I hadn’t gotten to the part where you have an ensuite, while he and I must share the second bathroom between us.”
He waved his massive hand in the direction of Hawkin’s room.
“Erm, nooo, that’s more than fine with me. I’m just lucky to be here,” I protested. I shook my head almost violently, not wanting to offend my new captain in any way.
“But he should know the reason why he and I must share such a minuscule space while your bathroom, in comparison, is practically palatial?” Kovak continued as if he hadn’t heard me interject.
For all his bulk, Kovac stepped gracefully to Hawkins’ side, wrapping an arm around our captain with an easygoing affection, but kept his gaze on mine.
“I will tell you a little secret, Caden,” he spoke earnestly, as if his next words held vital information. “Hawk needs all that counter space to himself because of his hair, you see? He’s terribly obsessed with it and spends hours styling it only to cover it with a helmet.”
Kovac’s eyes crinkled with mischief as he spoke, moving his hand from Hawkins’ shoulder to rub his head as if he were patting an unruly puppy. The hair in question was shaved so short on the sides that I could almost see Hawkins’ scalp underneath the dirty blond strands.
Kovac’s true accomplishment lay in how he was able to make sharing a bathroom sound like an injustice done to us, rather than a playful dig at the captain.
He reminded me a bit of Kait in that way, always looking to stir up shit and watch the chaos unfold.
I’d have to reevaluate my initial assessment of his quiet, unassuming demeanor. There was a shit disturber under all those muscles.
Hawkins, for his part, rolled his eyes with an amused smile.
“Okay, Tiger. You can have first dibs on the primary bedroom next season, deal? It’s only gonna cost you,” he paused, miming counting out bills of money, “six hundred extra a month!”
“You wish, Captain.”
A smug smile appeared on Hawk’s face despite receiving another, slightly rougher pat on the head from Kovac. These two really did seem to be best friends.
He beckoned me closer to his opposite side, as if Hawkins wasn’t right there to hear everything. Once I closed the three feet of distance separating us, Kovac leaned down. Shit, I might have been six feet, but I was not Kovac tall. He spoke out of the corner of his mouth.
“Perhaps we should petition Coach Wilder for a new captain. At least one who knows that Kovac was a lion and not a tiger, when assigning nicknames, yes?” He winked before straightening once more.
Hawkins ducked under the defenseman’s arm to move into the galley kitchen on the opposite side of the living room. He retrieved two beers from the fridge and set them on the counter before bracing himself on the granite surface.
Kovac, his good-natured teasing complete, headed in the direction of his own room.
“Wait until he finds out his nickname comes from Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. He’s more likely to bowl you over on the ice after a particularly good shot on goal in all his enthusiasm,” Hawkins chuckled.
I offered him a genuine, if slightly belated, smile in return.
I was shocked to find that the rigidity of my stance had loosened amid the sibling-like banter between them. My breaths came a little easier knowing that they both seemed to have a chill vibe in rooming together.
Now, all I had to do was make sure I didn’t say or do anything to fuck up in the face of their warm welcome.