Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
MIKAEL
I head to the gym to meet Finn.
“You're late,” he jokes.
“Yeah. Well…I broke it off with Steph.”
“Already?” He gives me a perplexed look. “The last I heard, you were contemplating it.”
“Mm. Well, when my mind is made up, why wait? I don't have time to waste. I want to find my soul mate before I’m thirty-one.” He laughs. Apparently, this is funny to him.
“I get it. I'm a bit younger and I have time,” he replies as he pumps the leg press. “I mean, more time,” he scoffs just to rub in the fact that I’m getting closer to the end of my career.
“It doesn't hurt to keep your options open, but playing the field has set me back. I thought I'd be settled by now,” I add. I had girlfriends in high school and college. They were fun. When I made it to the pros, I immersed myself in my life with new teammates and friends. I wonder where the years have gone. My best prospects might have been lost in my youth. I like to think I’m older and wiser now, but am I?
“You won't believe what happened to me this morning,” I say as I climb onto the machine beside him.
“What? Don't tell me you have a date lined up with someone new.”
I chuckle. Kenzie is on my mind.
Why didn't I talk to her?
I was an asshole to say I’ll see you around. She must live close to the park to have walked there in winter. It’s a miracle her dog is okay. She’s compassionate and caring. I chuckle at the memory of Sherlock licking her face. She’s not afraid of dog drool on her face.
“I'm not sure. I was messing around with the puck and stick, and a white dog appeared out of nowhere. I started to play with him on the frozen pond. A woman showed up, and it was her dog. He loved the ice and flopped on it like it was a great adventure. I swear, he was smiling.” I take my focus off the weights to look at him. “I think he could play hockey.”
“You're shitting me. Now this, I have to see. Do you have pictures?”
“Sadly—no. But I kid you not. The dog's even has a black heart on his ear that looks like it was made with a Sharpie. And the owner’s name is Kenzie. She’s a pretty young woman who adores this dog. It appears he got loose on his walk.”
“Let me guess, she has legs that go forever and a pretty face?”
“Yes.” I pause. Her piercing green eyes remind me of a Granny Smith apple. “There was something about her. She was distraught over the fact her dog escaped. She was distraught that she might have lost him. I know it would have wrecked her if something happened to her dog. I don’t know. It’s as if the two of them have a special connection.”
“Okay, so a cute chick loves her dog. Did you ask her out?”
“No. She offered me a coffee at some shop on Main Street. I guess she works there or something.”
“You're a free man. You should have been all over that.”
“I am free. Oh, and guess the dog's name!”
“Puck. And she's a hockey fan,” Finn says.
I chuckle. “No.” P erhaps I should find out more about her. “The dog's name is Sherlock. If I'm being technical, it's Sherlock Holmes. Her last name is Holmes. Isn’t that clever?”
“Now you're pulling my leg! How do you find the one woman who names her dog after your favorite movie?”
“I'm lucky that way,” I smirk.
“You're a jerk. The coincidence of that is a million to one. Maybe you should buy a lotto ticket.”
“Maybe I should.”
“Are you seeing her again?”
“I might check out the bakery. It looks a bit bougie to me, but it has great reviews. I'm a sucker for a great cup of coffee.”
“Aren't we all?”
Is Kenzie a hockey fan? I'm on the fence. The women I've dated all know who I am. What if she doesn't know I'm a famous hockey player?
Do I tell her? Or do I let her find out on her own?
I want to meet someone who knows me for me. Maybe my success is holding me back. Maybe if I don’t bring my life into the mix, my results will be better. But on the other side of the coin is the fact that she’s a nice woman. Do I want to mess it up with dating? My dating life is one disaster after another.
Will I be a bachelor forever?
I’m getting older.
I don’t want to be sixty when I have kids for fuck’s sake. Maybe it’s time to figure out what I’m doing wrong.