Chapter 3 #2
“Eh,” Sebastian shrugs. “She was trying to pretend like they were not together, but I got the message loud and clear when he found us together once and kissed the hell out of her.”
I take a moment to look over the crowd as I process what Sebastian just told me.
“That’s a lot you unloaded on me,” I finally say. “It’s always best when you meet someone organically. I can only imagine that it’s uncomfortable when your aunt is trying to force you to hang out with some chick.”
“Eh,” he shrugs again. “Aunt Kathy’s always felt responsible for me.
My mom was her sister. She died when I was really young.
My dad was having a hard time balancing a shitload of hours at the office while also taking care of me, so Aunt Kathy stepped in.
That’s how I know she means well when she tries to set me up. ”
I nod in understanding at everything he’s telling me.
Our life stories are fairly similar. I, too, lost a parent when I was really young.
My father died in a freak accident at work.
My mother never fully recovered from the shock.
Her way of coping was to buy me all the expensive things to assuage the guilt she felt every time she’d bring a new man home.
She tried so hard to find with someone else what she had with my father.
But she didn’t seem to grasp the fact that people were different, and she was different with them than she’d been with my father.
Either way, her guilt helped to pay for the endless hours of hockey, the equipment and camps. I was passionate about the sport, and I hoped to become a professional player. That’s why it was such a huge deal when the Sliders picked me, and an even bigger thing when they decided to drop me.
“Women,” I shake my head at no one in particular, feeling like the only reason I am now in Austin is because of all my troubles involving the opposite sex.
Sebastian pats me hard on the back. “You’ll find someone, dude. The chicks in Texas are a lot more obsessed with hockey than they were in New York,” he informs me. “There are puck bunnies all over the damn place, and a lot of them travel, too, when we have away games.”
I don’t respond to that. Instead, I walk over to a table where one of our teammates is waving us over.
“It looks like Karl started the celebrations early,” Sebastian mutters.
I chuckle at that because he is right. Karl Gustaff, who is a giant of a man, looking every bit the Swedish Viking that he is, is unnaturally happy when he motions for us to join him at the long table.
There are ten seats around it, and all are taken except for two.
Both me and Sebastian pull the chairs out at the same time.
As soon as our asses hit the seats, a bucket of beer bottles is placed closest to us, igniting a wave of cheers from the people already at the table.
“This is our newest addition to the Aces,” Karl speaks to no one in particular while pointing at me. “He came from New York, so he thinks he’s a fancy man,” he continues. “We’ll have to get him accustomed to the Texas way of living.”
“Says the man from Sweden,” someone comments from the other end of the table, making us all laugh.
“Logan,” one of them calls out to me. “The new team nutritionist is from New York, too. You should talk to her, you’ll have something in common.”
“I can do that,” I nod in confirmation. My right hand goes for a bottle of beer, with my left hand at the ready to twist the cap off.
“Once you talk to her for a bit,” the guy continues, “make sure to introduce her to the rest of us, too. We’re all interested in our diets, more so than before,” he adds.
I grin around the bottle of beer, my lips wrapped around the top as I take a couple of long sips.
“Her name is Elizabeth.”
Beer splatters all over the place when I choke on my sip. The liquid gets stuck in the back of my throat for a brief second before it decides to go down the wrong pipe, and I am struggling to catch my breath as I cough up a storm.
“The fuck are you doing there, Mantei?” someone slams me hard on the back. “You need a sippy cup or something?”
I’m not sure how long it takes before I can finally breathe normally, but the back of my throat still feels like it is on fire, and my eyes are watery from the trauma I just put myself through.
“Where’s the new girl?” I manage to ask, my voice sounding extra gravely.
Karl looks at me like he is trying to figure out if I have any mental disability going.
“The nutritionist?” he asks. “She’s at the table behind you.”
I turn in my seat so fast that the chair almost flies out from under me. With my heart beating out of my chest, I frantically look around, premonition taking residence in my stomach.
I first notice her dark hair that falls down in waves over her shoulders. It is as lush and vibrant as I remember. Then, I finally meet her incredible green eyes.
“Elizabeth,” I somehow manage to choke out.
She gives me an awkward smile before lifting her hand to wiggle her fingers at me.
“Hi, Logan.”