24. Perfect Line
Chapter 24
Perfect Line
Dev
The swishing of skates close behind pushes me to my limits. Blood rushing through my ears, I channel my inner speed skater, bending low and pushing hard to gain momentum and keep my advantage.
“Fuck yes!” I throw my hands in the air to celebrate my victory as Beau slides up beside me.
His face is red with exertion and the look of shock would be insulting if it wasn’t well earned. I’ve never beaten him in a sprint before, but after upping my training regime this summer, and putting extra emphasis on speed training, I finally did it.
“I can’t believe you fucking beat me. You beast.” He eyes me up and down.
“Maybe it’s not me,” I say, still smirking. “Maybe you’ve let yourself get soft. Don’t worry, it happens. ”
I slide back as he shoves me, and then grab him in a headlock. “This may be the first time I’ve beaten you in the speed department, but I’ve always been able to take you in a fight. Don’t push me.”
“I’m not fucking soft, asshole!”
I shrug. “Want another round? Or maybe we should try a shootout. I’m pretty sure I could hit the back of the net more times than you, too. Make it a trifecta.”
His face hardens, and I can tell he’s thinking it over even if we’re getting low on time.
“We should really get back to the house. Do you really trust JJ to finish your dinner?”
“He’s got Grant to keep him in line. And Grant’s girlfriend is over too. She can handle a roast. But if you’re chicken, just say so.”
What’s the point of having a best friend if you don’t know all his buttons? A couple of cracks sound out as he stretches his neck from side to side.
“You’re on.”
This is my favorite time on the ice, and the best part of my job at the local public rink. It reminds me of all the time I spent at the one back home after I got into hockey. I’d sit in the stands to do my homework, work at the concession stand or the skate rental counter, but then I’d get the privilege of a gorgeous sheet of ice all to myself. The perfect deal. Sometimes I invite Beau or some of the other guys to join me. Sometimes I work my ass off on drills by myself.
“First to twenty. ”
“Done.”
We skate around, dropping small cones all over the rink. Each shot will be progressively more difficult until we hit unhinged territory. We probably won’t even make it to try those impossible shots out, but we still set them up as usual. This is a game we’ve played before. The highest I’ve gotten before he hits twenty is fourteen. But this is another skill I’ve been practicing while he was busy working in some stuffy office over the summer break. “Heads or tails?” I hold out my lucky puck. It’s a Steelers puck I won when I was a kid, and it’s one of the things that I keep on myself at all times. Hidden away in my backpack. A perpetual reminder of what I’m working toward.
“Heads,” he calls as I flip it in the air.
The worn black object hits the ice with a soft thump logo side up.
“Go for it.”
He’s all cocky attitude as he lines up the first easy shot, drilling it in.
“It’s looking good for our next game.” We’re moving up the standings, but we’ve got two games coming up next week after the holiday. Anything could happen, and we really need these wins to guarantee our spot in the playoffs.
“Yeah. I’m happy with the dynamic. It’s improved so much since I got Hail and Cole working together. I’m impressed even with myself. There’s still a lot to work on, though.”
We’re neck and neck after the fifth shot, and he’s lining up for his sixth .
“Always,” I agree, eyeing the angle I’m at now. I’ll need to hit the perfect line to sink this one. I point my stick, squinting, and line up the shot. Bam. The net flies back with the force of the puck.
“Nice one.”
We’re tied twelve all when Beau flubs his next shot. “Fuck!”
I’m screaming on the inside when I nail mine.
“How’s next year looking for you?” I ask him. “Planning on entering the draft after graduation?”
He misses the mark and has to skate back to the cone to line up.
Now he looks a little shaken. A look I’m seeing on his face more and more frequently this year. Like he’s unraveling at his seams. He misses the next one, slamming his puck into the ground. Maybe I should have let that one be.
“Not sure.”
I miss the next one, but he makes his, catching up.
“If you need any help with the team or anything, let me know.”
“Will do.”
I’m not sure he’s telling me the truth, but then I’m hiding things from him, too. And whatever secret he’s got, it can’t be anywhere near as bad as mine. Fuck. What am I going to do? I’m falling for his sister, but there’s no way I can tell him. He’ll murder me. As he should. I don’t have any sisters, but if I did, I wouldn’t want a guy like me near them .
His twentieth shot pings off the top bar but drops in, and he’s got it. But I was at nineteen. If it wasn’t a first to twenty situation, I might even have tied him.
We’re both sweaty from the effort and concentration when we wrap it up.
“You’re killing it out there. Good for you.”
The hand he claps on my back is a little shaky.
“Thanks. I don’t want to be just the enforcer. I want to be a well-rounded D-man. But I feel like I got targeted as a brute early on. So, I’m trying to prove I can do more than that.”
“Well, you’re doing it. We should get back now. I don’t want to get home to find my house on fire.”
“Right.”
We pack up our shit. Showers can happen at home. The facilities here are basic, not like the ones at the college. They’ve got all the amenities courtesy of the program’s wealthy donors.
“We’re out, Syd. See you on Saturday.” I duck into the office to let the rink owner know we’re leaving.
His white hair is bent over a document, and he’s got a phone pressed up to his ear, but he holds out his hand to stop me, gesturing the seat across from him.
I shrug, looking back at Beau. We take up a lot of space in the tiny office, settling into the two small plastic chairs. I can almost see my friend’s brain overheating at the piles of paper on the desk, cardboard boxes piled in the corners, and overflowing trash cans. Syd does a lot of work for this place with not enough funding, which is one of the reasons I help out wherever I can, even when I’m off the clock. These places are so important to people in the community. Kids like me.
“Fine. Got it. It’ll be ready. I’ve gotta go.” Syd pauses, drumming his fingers on the cheap pine desk as he listens.
“I told you I’ve got it. Now I’ve got to go. I’ve got someone waiting to talk to me.”
“Will do. Bye.”
He smacks his phone on the desk a little too hard.
“Sup? Need some help?”
He shakes his head, locking his faded blue eyes on me.
“I’m glad I snagged you before you headed off for the day. We’ve actually got to close the rink over the holiday weekend. We’ve got the go ahead on the repairs the city has been promising for the last couple of years, but we’re going to be shut down until the new year. So that means. You’re free for Thanksgiving.”
I can feel Beau’s eyes on me, and I know what he’s thinking.
“Are you sure? There’s nothing you need from me to prep the place? Clean up? I’m not going to leave you stranded by yourself here. I was planning on being here, anyway.”
“No. I don’t even have to be here. My daughter invited me to her place in Boston, and I can actually go. You enjoy yourself.”
I nod, swallowing hard.
“That’s awesome, dude. You can come home with me for the holiday. That will be great. I could use you at my back.”
A smile deepens the creases on Syd’s worn face. “You’ve got somewhere to go? That’s great.” He nods at Beau. Syd is one of the few people who knows a little of my back story. He knows I work all the holidays because I haven’t got any family to visit.
“I’m glad you’ve got a place to go.”
“Come on, let’s get home. You can pack up your stuff after dinner. We’ll leave first thing Thursday morning.”
All of the fucks. I can’t get out of this. Working at the rink was my excuse. It’s always my excuse. I’ve never been able to take Beau up on any of his offers. In the past, it was more about not accepting charity and inviting myself over to my wealthy friend’s house. But now. Now there’s Cece. I can’t stay in the same house with her all weekend and not give myself away.
“It’s okay. Your family already has plans. I can’t insert myself in there at the last minute.” I protest, shaking my head as we leave the office.
“Nah, it’s all good.” He’s tapping away on his phone. “Sent my mother a text. She can make an extra reservation at the club and get an extra room ready. She’s always telling me to invite my friends home. She enjoys showing off for as many people as possible.”
“But.”
“No, buts. You’re coming. It’s done. You’ll be helping me out, too. My father will keep some of the asshole contained if we have company.”
I can hardly say no to that.
They managed not to burn the dinner or the house, but my stomach was in knots, so it was hard to enjoy dinner. I slammed it back, rushed through the cleanup, and raced up to my room. Now I’m sitting on my bed, eyeing my cell. I have to call Cece. I have to at least give her a warning that I’ll be there. Beau roped her into the trip home, too. It’s like he’s setting up an intricate trap even he doesn’t know about.
“Dev?” She’s all smiles when her face pops up on the video call. She’s got on some sort of white sheet on her face, and her hair is piled on her head.
“I thought we already did Halloween,” I say.
“What? Oh, this? This is a face mask. Moisturizing, you know. Maybe I’ll pick you one up. It’s good for your skin.”
“I’ll pass.”
“As you wish. What’s up? Is everything all right?”
“No.”
Her eyes fly open. “What? What’s...”
Shit. I should have been a little more verbose. “Nothing. Everyone is fine, healthy. It’s this weekend.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I have to go home. I promised Beau, and then Dad called me to drive in the screws. I’m totally committed now. I couldn’t get out of it if I got hit by a train. They’d just send a wheelchair to roll me in.”
“That’s the thing. I did too.”
“You did what? Got hit by a train?”
“No, I got roped in to coming home with Beau for Thanksgiving. The rink is shutting down and Beau just happened to be with me when I found out, so he insisted. I couldn’t say no. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh.” She shakes her head so vigorously her face mask flaps off her face. “That’s not what I expected.”
“Me either. I’m so sorry. Maybe I’ll pretend to be sick in the morning?”
“No, no. It’ll be fine. I have to stay in the guest house, anyway. My animals are not welcome in the main house. It might actually be nice to have you there for emotional support. Although I can’t say it will be fun for you. My family is a lot.”
I nod, as if I know anything about what it will be like. My experience with family holiday meals is limited. A couple of my foster families prepared meals or brought me to family events. But some of them left me at home since I wasn’t a permanent fixture. So mostly I’ve always picked up shifts at whatever job I was currently working.
“But it’ll be fine. We can keep our raging hormones under control for one weekend.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay then. I guess I’ll see you Thursday.”
“See you then.”
It’ll be great to see her, but I’m not so confident I can keep my hands off her if we’re sharing space for that long. But I have to. It’s even more important now that I can see Beau is under some pressure. I don’t need to add to that.