Chapter 2
ROWAN
Rowan Foley anticipated spending his entire career in Texas. When the Texas Victory drafted him first overall, they hadn’t seen the playoffs in ten years. In the eight years he had spent in Dallas, they had made it to the playoffs once. And it was a first-round exit.
His confidence through his first several years in the league never wavered.
The Victory was committed to him—and put their money where their mouth was—and in turn, he wanted to win in Texas.
But he and Felix Becker could put up a thousand points each, and their team would still find a way to miss the playoffs.
When their twin contract extensions were up, he and Felix had a come-to-Jesus, and decided not to re-sign.
They wanted to win, and it was clear that wasn’t happening in Texas.
It was clear it wasn’t happening together.
Rowan didn’t want to leave another best friend behind, but they both deserved a chance at the Cup.
Felix had ended up in New Jersey, and Rowan had landed in San Jose, playing for the promising Serpents. They’d made it to the conference finals the year before. Rowan’s excitement at being on a winning team zipped through him.
His excitement at being on a team with Theo Lane again was a little more nerve-wracking. It had been a while since he had been Theo’s favorite person, but the years that had passed would have surely smoothed the sharp edges that splintered as they grew apart and broke away from each other.
Right?
* * *
Finding housing in San Jose was difficult.
Rowan chose a hotel for development camp and preseason while his real estate agent worked on finding him something permanent.
Nothing felt right. Houses that were too small, condos that were too big.
He was anxious about putting roots down, even though he had signed a big contract.
Even though he knew that Rowan Foley, Generational Talent ? didn’t need to worry about stability in this league.
He got to choose the team he signed with, and he knew they wanted him.
Still, he hesitated. He should get to know the area first before buying something, surely. Especially when he was going to be putting down Silicon Valley money for whatever he chose.
The Serpents were elated to have him, but while he felt appreciated, and technically he felt welcome, there was a sticky distance between him and his other teammates.
He could hear them whisper behind his back, recalling highlight-reel goals he’d scored, and discussing how nervous Rowan made them.
He didn’t know what to do about that, but with time he was sure it would get better as the younger guys let their hero worship wear off.
He had problems stacking up, but the one that was taking up the most of his brain space was Theo Lane.
Theo had been his best friend in junior. Theo had been more than his best friend. But after the draft they lost touch, pulled apart by hockey the way so many friendships were.
He didn’t exactly think that he would show up and fall back into the friendship he and Theo had all those years ago, but he hadn’t anticipated how chilly Theo had been so far. They lost touch. They grew up. They grew apart. He just didn’t realize how far apart that was.
“Hey, man, you still looking for a place? Heard you were in a hotel,” Vic Czeskowski asked, as they stripped down after their final preseason game against the LA Fame.
They had won, and things were already clicking with this group of guys the way the Victory only clicked after a string of wins and a miracle.
Theo might not be giving him the warmest welcome, but when they were on the ice together, they were magic.
Their friendship wasn’t coming back as quickly as their on-ice chemistry.
“Yeah, waiting for the perfect place, I guess.” Rowan pushed his black hair off his forehead.
“And you’re still in the hotel?”
“Yeah. It’s not too bad.”
“I’ve stayed at the hotel they put you up in. You need to get out of there.”
Rowan laughed. His undershirt clung to him as his sweat cooled. Having somewhere to go home to after the game that wasn’t a hotel suite, no matter how nice it was, sounded fantastic.
“I’m a little busy,” Rowan laughed.
Vic, a tall, burly guy with a kind smile and enough body hair to not need a winter coat, had been the most welcoming guy on the team.
He was the captain, and Rowan was a little ashamed to admit that he was a lot more welcoming to Rowan than Rowan had been to new Victory players when he’d held the same position in Texas.
“Move in with me. I’ve got a big fuckin’ house, and it needs more people in it. You can stay the entire season, or just until you find your own place, whatever.”
“That is super generous.”
“Help a divorcé keep his mind off of loneliness, eh? My guest rooms have super comfortable mattresses. I won’t charge you rent.”
“I can pay you rent,” Rowan said, realizing that Vic got him. At some point in that conversation, Rowan decided to go for it.
“Nah. Go get your stuff when you leave, check out of that hotel room forever, and head over. I’ll text you my address.”
“Alright, thanks, buddy,” Rowan said. Across the locker room, Theo had an arc of reporters standing in front of his stall.
Theo’s short blond hair was smashed and dark with sweat, his hands on his hips as he looked from reporter to reporter, answering their questions thoughtfully.
So few hockey players were good at post-game media, but Theo was.
Rowan couldn’t put himself in the same category.
Theo’s gaze cut over to Rowan and his eyes narrowed, then flicked back to the reporter whose question he was answering. Rowan knew it had been years since they had even exchanged birthday texts, but he couldn’t figure out why Theo was being so cold to him.
They were strangers now.
Rowan got packed up and put his suit on and headed out to his car. He may not have his own place to live, but he had his own car. The drive from Calgary to San Jose was easier than the drive he usually made at the beginning of the season from Calgary to Dallas.
He got back to his hotel room and flopped onto the bed for a second, slipping his phone out of his pocket to check his messages.
He had a handful of texts from Felix from the East Coast, who Rowan hoped was asleep by now.
They were complimentary of the game he just played and reminded Rowan he still had someone on his side.
No one had ever understood what Rowan went through in the NHL the way Felix did.
He’d never had a better advocate or bigger fan.
He missed Felix with his entire heart, and wondered if they should have stayed, and lost, in Texas.
At least they would lose together, instead of being three time zones apart from each other.
He shot off a couple of texts in response, knowing Felix wouldn’t see them until morning.
Rowan didn’t want an entire season of feeling like he was in a long-distance relationship with his best friend.
He had enough of that shit on the off-season when Felix was back in Germany.
Had they thought this through enough before making this potentially idiotic decision?
Packing his shit up didn’t take long. He’d grabbed a cart from the lobby and stacked it with largely untouched suitcases, hung up his garment bag, and tossed his toiletries into the Louis Vuitton duffel he had been peer-pressured into buying for roadies.
He let the person at the front desk know he wasn’t coming back and headed over to Vic’s house.
He would need to learn the names of the neighborhoods, but Vic wasn’t too far outside of San Jose proper.
He had the same McMansion that so many of Rowan’s teammates had back in Dallas.
It didn’t look too different from his own house in Dallas, which was sitting on the market still.
He pulled into the driveway and parked in front of the third garage stall, as out of the way as possible.
Rowan tossed his duffel over his shoulder.
He’d come back out for the rest of the stuff.
The yard was beautifully landscaped, and there was a cool breeze on the night air, a welcome change from the oppressive Texas heat.
He rang the doorbell, and when the front door opened, Theo Lane was standing there in pajama pants, his feet as bare as his chest, face immediately scowling when he saw who was on the other side of the door.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”