34. Youre in Winnipeg, My Dude. Live It Up!
The startof the season almost couldn”t be going better. We”re 2-0 with wins over St. Louis and Dallas, and Milo and I are already in midseason form minus the bruises and aches. Milo only let in one goal against St. Louis, and that one should have been disallowed. The player”s stick was clearly above the crossbar. Somehow the refs and the review office missed it, and since we were already up by three in the third period, Coach didn”t want to take the chance on a challenge that could give us a penalty if we lost. So I still count that as a shutout for Milo, even if it doesn”t go down as one in the books.
My game against Dallas, though, was a good old-fashioned shutout. Nothing was getting by me. I even blocked that quick one-timer that was deflected at the last second. I had to push off the pipe to get to it, but I did. Only once the puck cleared the zone did I realize I pushed off my bad leg, and everything held. I swung my leg back and forth a couple of times while the boys were in the offensive zone just to test it, and it was perfect. Lily was the only thing I could think about when I realized I was fine. I couldn”t wait to tell her that my knee held up to its first challenge. After the game ended and we all celebrated the shutout on the ice, I foolishly looked around for her. I knew she would be back in the dressing room getting ready for postgame, but I wanted her there. Hell, I wanted her to be the first person I celebrated with.
So we”re feeling damn good now. Even if we are at the start of a week-long road trip. A trip that starts in Winnipeg. I know some players think the arenas in North Carolina and Nashville are louder, but for me, there”s no place more intimidating than Winnipeg. These fans are absolutely nuts, and the way every single one of them wears white? Playing in their arena is like being in the center of a sixteen-thousand member cult that worships hockey. Every time I play here, my ears ring until the next morning. It doesn”t help that this is where I played my first game in the league. We lost that game by five. An eighty-year-old could have scored against me that day. The coach had to burn a timeout just to yank me from the game. It”s been different since then. I”ve been different. More comfortable. And I have a winning record here now, but no matter how many times I play here, I”ll still think of that first game every time I step onto the ice.
”Branny, what the hell is wrong with you?” Kayden sits down across from me. The girl he was just talking to gives him a smiling wink and walks back to the bar. ”You”re acting like someone died. Or worse, that we”re on a ten-game losing streak.”
I look around. Our flight landed a few hours ago, and now almost all my teammates are here in this bar a couple of blocks away from the team hotel. This is the same bar we go to every time we”re in town, but I don”t like it. It”s like it was designed by a marketing firm. It”s the McDonalds of bars. Fine if you want to get drunk. Great if you”re looking to hook up with a puck bunny or two—something a few of my teammates are looking for. But it doesn”t have any character. It could be any bar in any town, and I”d never know the difference. ”Just not feeling it tonight.”
”Let me buy you a round. You”ll be feeling it soon enough.” Kayden chuckles as he flags down the server who comes over right away. ”A mermaid lemonade for my cute little mermaid here.” He hooks a thumb toward me, and I bury my head in my hands.
”What the hell did you just order for me? You know I don”t drink the night before a game.”
”The server turned me onto these when we first got here. It”s blue and fruity and has rum. You”ll be in a better mood just looking at it.”
You could give Kayden anything and as long as it had some bright color and way too much sugar, he would drink it. ”I”ll take your word for it. I”m sticking to water tonight.”
”That”s no fun. You”re in Winnipeg, my dude. Live it up!”
”Said no one ever.”
Kayden pushes his half empty drink to the side and leans over the table. His eyes bore into me. ”It”s about Lily.” He says, as if there”s no question in his mind.
My body goes still, and I look around to make sure no one overheard him. Princeling is just a few feet away at the bar, but he”s wrapped in a deep conversation with a cute little brunette. No one else is nearby. But it”s still reckless of Kayden to mention her name. ”Keep it down,” I hiss at him. ”You know she might get in trouble if anyone found out.”
Kayden laughs and rocks back, and I wonder if he”s had more drinks than I think. Maybe I need to cut him off already. ”Dude, just invite her to come out here. That”s obviously what you want.”
”I can”t.”
”There are no coaches or execs here. It”s just us. Us and some of the absolute finest and smartest women in Manitoba. But you”re sitting here like someone stole your dog. How is Silver, by the way? You need to bring him to practice again. We all miss him.”
”Silver”s not my dog. He”s not even Lily”s. And he”s fine.” I don”t know what”s so hard about just accepting that not all of us feel like hanging out tonight. And it”s not because I”m thinking about Lily and how none of the women in this bar even come close to comparing to her. And it”s not like I”ve spent the last hour wishing she was sitting across from me where Kayden is now.
”Call her, Branny. Do it.”
”Are you two talking about Lily? You should invite her.” Milo and Poppy come out of nowhere. Milo squeezes in beside me, and Poppy sits next to Kayden. ”Maybe she would cheer you up.”
”That”s what I was just telling him,” Kayden says.
The server sets the drink in front of me. I smile my thanks to her and then stare at the glass. It is certainly blue. ”I don”t need cheering up, guys. I”m fine.”
”But Lily would make you finer?” Milo elbows me in the ribs.
I shoot a look at Kayden. I told you not to tell anyone.
He gives me an innocent look and shakes his head. I didn”t say a word.
”Did I hear you say Lily was coming down?” Princeling pops up at the end of the table. The woman he was talking to at the bar just a few minutes ago is at his side with her hands on her hips. ”That would be sweet. Lily”s fucking great.”
”Agreed. She”s fucking great, but I”m not inviting her down here. How would I even get ahold of her?”
”Maybe text her using that brand new cellular phone technology, grandpa?” Princeling smirks. He has no clue that his practices are going to be hell for the next week now.
I hold my hands up like I couldn”t possibly know her number when Milo cuts me off. ”We know you have her number.” Everyone at the table nods. I look at the woman next to Princeling for some kind of help, but she just shrugs. So much for the kindness of strangers.
”It”s obvious to all of us,” Poppy says.
I shoot a panicked look at Kayden, who just raises his shoulders. ”I don”t know what you”re talking about,” I insist.
”The way you kept looking back at her during the flight today?” Princeling imitates someone looking over their shoulder every second.
”And that smile after every time you see her?” Milo adds.
Poppy points a finger at me across the table. ”All the times you look at her during practice too. Anyone can see.”
”Oh, and remember how you looked for her after that pad save against Dallas?” The others look at Milo like they didn”t notice it, but he just nods. Leave it to another goalie to track where my eyes go after a save.
Kayden gives me a look that tells me I might as well give up.
When the woman beside Princeling says ”I don”t know who this Lily is, but it”s obvious you”re pining for someone,” I know it”s over. But really? Pining? Who uses that word? Is that how people in Winnipeg talk? Did Princeling find this woman in the 1890s?
I look at everyone around the table, pointing and hopefully staring my seriousness into them. ”You can”t tell anyone about this.” Milo starts to say something, but I put my finger in front of his mouth. ”I mean it. She could lose her job over this, and I will destroy each of you if you ruin this for her. You all claim to like her so much, so you don”t want that, do you?” I look around at each of them again, and they all shake their heads.
”Harsh. I like it. So we calling this girl or what?” the woman asks. ”You”re ruining the vibe of the entire bar.”
”And you are?”
She smiles and holds her hand out for me to shake. ”Samara. Who are you?”
I was trying to not-so-gently let her know this is none of her business, but she obviously did not pick that up at all. ”This is Brant Morrison,” Princeling answers for me. ”One of the greatest goaltenders of all time.” Milo growls under his breath, but I think maybe Princeling isn”t so bad after all. Maybe I won”t be quite so hard on him at practice this week.
”So are you going to ask her to join us?” Kayden leans across the table to push my phone closer to me.
”Fine.”
”Yes!” Everyone does a little hop as if I said the next round is on me.