Chapter 17
Liam
Meetings have taken up most of my Saturday, and now I’ve got nothing left in the tank.
The lunch meeting with my agent and my new sponsor went very well.
Then, I met with a financial firm that Coop recommended.
Trusting people with your money can be tricky in this business.
It’s important to me that I get the finances under control before my parents get back.
I’m finally realizing how stressed-out Mom must have been about everything.
I just got my first sponsorship deal and I’m psyched about it.
It’s a small local firm that sells protein powders and drinks.
I’m trying them out this week, so I’ve got a case full of samples in my SUV.
I figure I’ll rope Walker into trying them out with me.
Maybe I can get Maddie to come up with a morning shake recipe using their product, too.
I grab some samples out of the trunk before heading to the parking garage elevator. This building is so convenient because I can take the elevator straight up to my floor from the parking lot and skip the lobby entirely. That’s nice if I’m too tired to deal with people, like tonight.
I can’t wait to just collapse on the couch and do absolutely nothing.
We have the weekend off, which is rare, so I plan to enjoy it.
Some of the single guys are going out, but I’m not feeling it.
Walker won’t go either. He doesn’t drink during the season, so he stays away from the bar scene.
He’s pretty serious about his training regimen.
I’m not quite as dedicated, especially after a win, because sometimes a beer really hits the spot.
The smell hits me first. Rotting garbage, funky shoes, and sweaty men. Basically, it smells like our locker room. My stomach twists and I cough, trying to breathe through my mouth.
“Walker! What the fuck is that smell?” I shout as I maneuver through the door with my arms full of sponsor samples.
No answer, but I hear video game combat from the living room.
I spare a thought of gratitude to my mom for always keeping my place clean.
I’m on the struggle bus lately with Walker.
He’s so much messier than I remember, and it’s annoying as hell.
Today it looks like he’s done nothing all damn day.
“Walker!” I yell again, my irritation increasing.
He’s camped out on the couch playing Call of Duty with his headphones on.
No wonder he didn’t hear me. There’s food and dirty dishes all over the coffee table, and it smells even worse in here.
The drapes are closed, and it’s dark despite it being a beautiful sunny afternoon.
I accidentally breathe through my nose and my stomach rolls.
Between the smell and the mess, I lose my battle to contain my anger. I’ve had enough. I’ve been busting my butt to change my life so Maddie can see me as a potential partner, and this asshole is fucking it up. Fuck that.
I yank his headphones off and toss them aside.
“What the fuck, Liam?” he yelps and then starts cursing. I reach for the controller, but he contorts his body to keep it away from me. “I’m in the middle of a battle!”
“Then get out of it. We need to talk.”
“Well, fuck. Now I’m dead. Thanks for that.” He huffs as he turns off the game and tosses his controller onto the coffee table. It lands with a thud right next to a plate with a half-eaten sandwich.
“Don’t care. It’s just a game.”
“That’s fucked up. Couldn’t you wait till I was done?”
“How long have you been playing?”
“Not too long.” He looks at his phone and winces. “Okay maybe a while now.”
“So all damn day?” I say as I stare him down. He furrows his brow, holding up his hands defensively.
“Hey, I went for a run this morning. I even went down to the gym.” As if that makes up for not cleaning up after himself.
“So most of the day then.” I say.
His eyes slide to the side, so I know he’s bullshitting me.
“Whatever. Did you notice anything in apartment? Like maybe a horrific smell.”
He sniffs, then grimaces.
“It’s not that bad.”
“It smells like something died in here.” Is he for real? Half that smell is probably his damn feet.
“Yeah, it’s a little funky.”
I move to open the drapes and then the windows. The cool breeze is literally a breath of fresh air.
“Clean that shit up.” I say, wrinkling my nose in disgust and pointing to the dishes on the coffee table. I open the glass door to the patio as well, trying to get as much air in here as possible.
“How are you such a mess, dude? You’re like a giant man-child? What the hell?” My irritation is getting the best of me.
“You sound like Maddie.” he grumbles while picking up all his dirty dishes, sulking off like a reluctant teenager.
“Maybe she’s right. Maybe we do need to get our shit together.”
“Whatever. You’re being a dick.”
“Oh, so sorry for not wanting to live in a pig sty that smells like your fucking feet.”
He ignores me and takes the dishes to the kitchen, where he just dumps them in the sink, food still on the plates. Gross. He then has the audacity to head toward the hall. Oh no, my guy, you are not leaving me without cleaning up your mess.
“You are not leaving these for me, Walker. I will punch you in the nuts. Get your lazy ass back here.”
I point to the kitchen and say one word.
“Dishes.” No arguments. This is getting done.
He sighs, then moving at the pace of a sloth, heads toward the kitchen sink. I hold back a sarcastic retort as I turn away.
I take the trash out because I need a minute to cool down, or I’m going to throat punch my best friend. We have a daily trash valet service, so I leave the bag outside the door, hoping it doesn’t stink up the hallway.
I take a few calming breaths before I head back into the kitchen. Taking it out on Walker isn’t really fair. It’s not like we set up any expectations when he moved in. We never talked about what being roommates would look like, so it’s past time we discuss it.
“We need cleaning tunes.” He says as he hooks his phone up to the bluetooth speakers in my living room and cranks up some Linkin’ Park. We spend the next hour cleaning up the apartment and rocking out. When everything is clean and we’ve calmed down, we head for the couch to relax.
“How much of my fight with Maddie did you hear?” he asks me, proving he’s smarter than I give him credit for.
“Most of it.” I admit. “I was in the bathroom and you guys were pretty loud. How’d you know?”
“Yeah, you never use the word man-child.” We both chuckle. He’s not wrong.
“You know she didn’t mean at least half of what she said. It’s how she is. She attacks first before you can attack her. Which is great, unless she’s yelling at you.” I know he’s trying to reassure me, but I’ve already moved past the pained embarrassment I originally felt.
“I don’t think it matters if she meant it or not. It was a wake-up call for me. She wasn’t the only one to get on me about adulting. Dad had a lot to say to me before they left on their trip. You know how Dad feels about things like that.” I say. He chuckles.
“Oh, I remember...” we say it together because we’ve heard it so much. “If more than one person tells you the same thing about something you’ve done or said, you need to take a closer look what they tell you.”
“Sage advice from Pop Ferguson.” He smiles fondly. Dad was really there for him after his parents’ accident, and Walker kind of adopted him as his surrogate dad.
We sit for a moment, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I’ve got all these jumbled emotions swirling around, but now that he knows I’ve heard it all, we can finally discuss it.
I tell him everything that’s been happening with me for the last few weeks.
Starting with the captain’s meeting, the discussion with my parents, and how it felt to hear Maddie’s censure.
I vent about how heavy the additional responsibility and the pressure of a new season have become, and the added pressure of policing Karl.
He stays silent, just listening, as I verbally vomit all over him.
With anyone but Walker, this would be embarrassing, but we’ve known each other so long that it’s just a relief to finally get it all out.
He’s always willing to listen, no matter what’s happened. He knows I’d do the same for him.
“I let my parents down, Walks, and Maddie, too. I’m trying to fix that now, but it’s hard and I feel like shit about it.
Maddie’s dealt with so much since your parents passed.
” I pause. Talking about his parents’ death is hard for him, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.
“I feel like we haven’t helped as much as we could have.
It was easier just to let her handle it.
Same with my mom. It was easier to let her fix all my problems and just focus on hockey.
But it wasn’t fair and I’m ashamed that I didn’t see what was going on around me.
That I was blind to everyone’s efforts. I’m not that guy, or at least, I don’t want to be that guy.
Neither my dad or Mads were wrong about what they said, although Dad was a bit less harsh.
” I say with a depreciating laugh. “Not gonna lie, Mads was the hardest to hear. You know how I feel about her.”
Walker nods and looks thoughtful for a minute. He takes the time to think things through when it’s important. I appreciate him for that.
“Are your dad and Maddie the only thing driving these changes? Or are you doing it for you too?” he asks. That’s a fair question.