Chapter 36
thirty-six
Jeremy
Happy birthday, old man.” Jax pats me on the back, hands me a cup of coffee, and takes the chair next to me. “Feel older?”
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “I don’t know if it has anything to do with me turning twenty-two today, though.”
“More to do with you being in a car accident a few months ago?”
“Probably.”
“Any updates on that?”
“No.” I sigh. “I couldn’t really give them anything, and there were no cameras and not even information for them to find the right direction. It just went cold. They told me I could come to them with any new information if I remember anything else, but until then—”
“That fucking sucks. So, the guy just gets away with it.”
“Yeah, I guess they do.” I take a drink of my coffee. “You know, when I first woke up, I was really angry. I would stay awake at night thinking about what happened and how I wanted the guy to pay for what he did.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know. I’m not at peace with it necessarily, but I’m not angry either.
At this point, I really just want closure.
I don’t care if it leads nowhere, but I just want to have some peace when it comes to that night.
” I stare at the sun beginning to peak out through the trees.
“When it first happened, it was the worst thing imaginable. I hated the person driving the car, I hated everyone telling me that I might just be made for something more than hockey, and I hated everyone being so hopeful.”
“Then you met Tristyn.”
“Yeah, then I met Tristyn. And Henry. And suddenly, I had something in my life that mattered more than hockey. Without that accident, I never would’ve met them.”
“I like who you’ve become since meeting her. Not that I didn’t like you before, but in some weird way, I feel like you’ve become more yourself.”
“Thanks, man.”
“She’s coming tonight, right?”
“Yeah, her and Henry. And her best friend, Vince, will be there. You’re coming tonight, too, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it, brother.”
“I wasn’t sure because Alex and Brinley will be there too.”
“Tonight isn’t about that, or them, it’s about you. I’m super fucking excited to celebrate how far you’ve come.”
“I couldn’t have done it without all of you.”
“Yes, you could’ve. You did. This was all you. We were just there cheering you on. You put in all the effort.”
“Did you think when we started our junior year last year, that this is where we’d be going into our Senior year?”
“No.” Jax scoffs. “This isn’t even close to what I imagined when I thought about our senior year.”
“What did you imagine?”
“Getting ready to play our last year of hockey together and mentally preparing for the day when we could be playing against each other.” He takes a sip of his coffee. “I never imagined Brinley not being in my life anymore.”
His words get soft.
He doesn’t talk about what happened between them often. Honestly, I don’t know if he fully understands what led to the distance, but I know it hurts him.
“Hell, I never imagined out of all of us, Zeke and Declan would both be in serious relationships going into our senior year.” He chuckles, pushing the thought of Brin out of his head.
“That’s fair.”
I think there was a small part of me that thought if anyone was going to get into relationships last year, it was going to be Fletcher and Tate and Jax and Brinley.
I felt so strongly that he was finally going to realize that he’s never loved her as just a friend, even if he’s tried to convince himself of that for years.
I also never saw Tate and Fletcher as temporary.
“I never thought I’d see you in a relationship either,” he continues. “I thought you’d be the kind of guy who waits until he’s set in his hockey career before he even thinks about that. Maybe even waiting until retirement before considering settling down since hockey was everything.”
“Retirement just came about fifteen years earlier than I thought.”
“Maybe. But from what I saw when we came to the rec center, coaching seems right up your alley. Maybe your future is in that instead.”
“Maybe.” I pause. “Maybe.”
Surprisingly, this is the best birthday ever. Max was nice enough to let me have everyone at the rec center so we can hang out and skate around. It feels like old times, even though so much has changed.
“Was it a good birthday?” Tristyn wraps her arms over my shoulders as we watch everyone skating around on the ice.
“The best.”
Henry is out there playing hockey with the guys. They all look like they’re having a blast. It seems like Zeke, Fletcher, and Brooks are against Declan, Cam, Jax, and Henry. They all have the biggest smiles on their faces.
“He loves them,” she whispers. “And I love how they accepted him without a second thought.”
“Henry’s a great kid, why wouldn’t they?”
“Ten minutes and we’re doing the cake!” Ember yells, setting the cake down on the table. Then she joins Avalon and Becca on the ice. Brinley is hanging out with Alex, who is sitting on the visiting bench.
“You’ve got a great group of people in your life. I know a lot of people who wouldn’t have stuck around after what you went through.”
She doesn’t need to specify. I’m assuming it’s the same group of people who dropped her when they found out she was having a baby.
“Things like this make you realize who the real people are in your life.”
“Hey, man.” Brooks skates over to us. “Liv got done with her sorority meeting early. Is it alright if she stops by?”
“Of course, the more the merrier.”
He fist bumps my shoulder before joining the guys back on the ice.
“Liv?” Tristyn stands up.
“Brooks' girlfriend. I think I told you about her. They’ve been together since before freshman year.”
“He wants to propose.”
“That’s the one.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea?”
“I think it doesn’t matter what I think. I think what matters is Brooks being happy, and she seems to make him happy.”
“You’re a good friend.”
“Speaking of good friends, what happened to Vince?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in like twenty minutes.”
“You guys talking about me?” Vince hops down the steps and throws an arm over Tristyn.
“Where’d you disappear to?”
“I was on a work call. Surprisingly, even when it’s the weekend, and I’m off, I’m not.”
“Thanks for coming, man.”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Thanks for making this one so happy. She deserves it.”
“That she does.”
“Jeremy Moore, you old fuck, happy birthday.” Marcus claps his hands together as he comes downstairs. “Thanks for the invite.”
“I didn’t think you were coming, dude.” I grab onto the ledge to help me get to my feet.
All this skating today has worn me out, and I’m starting to feel it in my back, but it’s all worth it.
“I didn’t know if I’d be able to. I had some football thing, but we got done early, and I couldn’t miss celebrating you, dude.”
Marcus is one of Zeke’s best friends, and even though we aren’t as close to him as Zeke is, he’s a great guy.
“I appreciate it.”
Marcus’ eyes land on Vince, and there’s a complete shift in his body language.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
I look at Tristyn, who is holding back a smile. She loops her arms around mine and squeezes my hand.
“Sorry, I forgot you haven’t met.” I hit Marcus’ back, bringing him back to reality. “This is my girlfriend, Tristyn, and her best friend, Vince. This is Marcus.”
“Ah, you’re the girlfriend.” Marcus shifts his body in her direction, but his eyes continue to dart back and forth between her and Vince. “I’ve heard a lot about you. And about the kid. Zeke never shuts up about people who beat him in NHL 17.”
“And Henry did. Eight times, I think.” I chuckle.
He reaches a handout, and Tristyn shakes it. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“You want to grab some skates? Get out there.”
“I think I’m good, Jere.” Marcus looks down at Vince’s feet, noticing his lack of skates, then back to me. “You know it’s not really my thing.”
“Oh, it’s not?” I raise an eyebrow, and his lips tighten.
Marcus has played hockey with us a number of times. He may be a football player, but that’s never stopped him from joining us on the ice.
“Nope, it’s not. I think I’ll just hang,” he scans Vince up and down, “over here.”
“Suit yourself.”
Marcus finds a spot and sits down, and without a word, Vince goes over to him. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d think they’ve known each other for ages.
“Were they flirting?” Tristyn asks.
“Marcus definitely was.”
“Vince had his flirty eyes going.”
“Flirty eyes?”
“His gaze changes when he’s attracted to someone. They did they same thing when he met you for the first time.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“You mean like your flirty eyes when you met Jax?” I tease.
“Shut up.” She rolls her eyes. “But, they were a little more extreme today. I’m assuming it’s because he picked up on the fact that there might be an actual chance there.”
“As long as Vince doesn’t want a relationship. I don’t know if Marcus even does those. Not for long, anyway.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes you meet that one person who changes your stance on relationships. I, of all people, understand that.”
I rest my head against her head.
“Ditto.”