Chapter 21 Theo
Theo
It isn’t until warm-up that I let myself think about my night with Lola again.
I had spent most of the day occupying my mind with other things.
I had the AA meeting, then the morning skate, and a quick strategy meeting with the rest of the defense and our video coach.
Then I forced myself to take the pre-game nap and go through my usual pre-game rituals.
It was hard because I couldn’t keep Lola out of my head.
We’d had a great night of conversation and sorting through her career dilemma, and it felt really good to help someone else with their problems. I’ve been the one with problems for so long now, being on the other side felt good.
And then the sex… I don’t care what she says, that was a ten.
But I’m almost grateful that she didn’t give it top marks because then I wouldn’t have a reason to proposition her again. And I really want to keep this going.
I’m still in no place for a real relationship, especially with someone like Lola. She deserves better than a guy who falls off a roof drunk while outing his cousin. She’s had some really bad men in her life already. I don’t need to add to that.
The team bus is out front, and I board it, finding a seat next to Callan.
As always, he’s got his headphones in and is getting himself in the zone.
I love playing with Callan, and I’m grateful he’s not making this situationship with Lola an issue between us.
It probably helps that I don’t bring it up, which has been fine until now.
Now I want to question him about her ex.
And why she claims he’s likely to run into that gaslighting mother fucker.
The ride to the arena isn’t long, but there’s traffic, and as we sit there not moving, Landon leans over from his seat across the aisle. “So, how was the team dinner last night?”
“Good,” I say. “I mean, the food was, I left when the tequila shots came out, so if any of these guys are hungover, it’s not on me.”
Landon smiles. “Yeah, I heard from Redov that my sister disappeared early, too.”
I just nod and become super interested in the weave of my suit fabric, suddenly. When silence falls between us, I glance up and see he is, in fact, staring at me. So I squeak out a fact that shouldn’t get me in trouble. “We shared an Uber.”
“Cool,” Landon says, and Grady chuckles.
I lean forward to see him grinning like a shithead beside Landon. “Is that a code word I don’t know?”
“Hey, G, why don’t you shut the fuck up?” I say with a big smile.
“Look, if something is going on with you and Lola, I’m not going to freak out,” Landon says. “In fact, I don’t even want to know. But if you hurt her, I will make it a problem.”
“Fair,” I say. I glance up, and he isn’t smiling, but Grady still is. “If you hurt Grady, I’d be the same way.”
“Aww…” Grady puts a big hand over his chest. “Love you, cousin.”
Landon takes Grady’s hand. “I’m not hurting him. He matters. He’s the only one who can get Randie to sleep when she’s colicky.”
I laugh. “Yeah, he’s great at putting women to sleep. I should’ve guessed he was gay before I saw Grindr on his phone.”
They both laugh, but then Grady uses his free hand to flip me the bird, which just makes me grin deeper. Landon glances at Callan, and I realize he’s taken his headphones out. “I’m a little shocked Cal hasn’t tried to trip you in practice or something, at the very least.”
“I’m cool with it. They both say it’s not serious,” Callan says, and I start nodding. “And who am I to deny her fun, or him for that matter?”
Landon nods. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It would be hypocritical of you. And you’re right. Lola would never get serious with a hockey player after Cordon.”
I stop nodding. “Cordon?”
Landon looks at me, and his brow furrows. His gaze darts to Callan and then back to me. “Yeah. He was her first boyfriend, she dated him for years.”
“Ryan Cordon,” Callan grumbles out his full name, in case there was any doubt in my mind who Lola’s ex was. “The Thunder’s own pride and joy.”
He rolls his eyes, and Landon frowns. “Hate that kid.”
My brain digs through past games against the Thunder.
When I was with Vegas, we played them a lot, whereas on the East Coast, we only play them twice a season, this being the first. Ryan has been with the Thunder for…
two years? Which makes sense if he went to college and entered the draft from there.
He was… not that remarkable. I mean, I don’t remember him standing out in any game.
“What?” Grady says, and my attention flips to him. He’s studying my face. “You’re scowling, T.”
“Oh. I’m just thinking about the game,” I mutter.
“Mmmm hmmm…” Grady says it like he knows my words are lies. I flip him the bird again.
I hit the ice for warm-up and immediately glide at top speed along the center line, so I can get a clear view of the Thunder as they hit the ice.
I spot Ryan on my second pass. He’s helmet-less like most of us are for warm-ups, so I get a good look at him, something I’ve never bothered to do before.
He’s got light eyes and dark hair. He’s shorter than me but not short.
He’s probably five-eleven. He seems like he’s probably leaner than me, but it’s hard to tell with the equipment.
I refocus on the net and skate by, taking a shot on Grady that he knocks away with his blocker.
I move to stretch by the boards and scan the glass.
Callan mentioned his family has seats in the lower bowl, and while we were dressing, Landon said Randie would be up by the boards to say hi to her daddies.
I assume that means Lola will be too. And…
there she is. Holding Randie up to the glass and smiling.
Fuck, why does she have to be so beautiful?
She takes my breath away and makes my chest warm, and I have a sinking feeling that’s about more than her looks.
But she made it clear she doesn’t want to date.
Not me, and I don’t blame her. I was the worst bet possible up until recently.
And she’s been burned before. But damn, I have to fight a smile as our eyes connect.
We head off the ice as warm-up ends, and I pause at the bench to talk to Danny, one of the equipment guys, about my stick since the tape is fraying.
The Thunder leave slower, always wanting to be the last to leave their own ice, and I look up as the equipment manager digs around for the tape I like.
I see a Thunder player by the glass where Lola is. His jersey reads… Cordon.
What the fuck is he doing?
Cordon skates away a second later, joining his teammates and heading down the tunnel.
I stare after him, the blood in my veins boiling because…
did he just fucking talk to Lola? I get my stick back and turn back to where she was with her mother, but they’re barely visible now, sitting down and talking.
“Anything else, Theo?”
I shake my head and try to smile at Danny, then force myself to head down our tunnel because skating back out onto the ice would be an issue.
Even though all I want is to head straight to her.
On top of the hockey rules, why would a bed buddy have a right to know what’s going on with her and her ex?
She made it clear she’s not interested in even talking to him, and even if she was, we haven’t had the exclusive talk, so I have no right to an opinion here.
I should set that boundary, though, if we’re going to keep doing this.
I just assumed because I wasn’t with anyone, she wouldn’t be either. I’m an idiot.
Callan keeps looking over at me as we tweak our equipment and chat with each other before the game.
“Something up?” I glance at him, and he elaborates, “You look frustrated or annoyed or something. Is it because we talked about Lola on the bus? And Landon knows? I didn’t tell him. He must’ve figured it out on his own. He’s brighter than he looks.”
I smile. “Nah. I don’t care about that. I’m glad he’s cool about it.”
“Yeah, Lola made it clear from a very young age, we don’t get to treat her like she’s a pet or livestock we have ownership over.” He rolls his eyes. “She started calling herself a feminist at like six. I remember I had no idea what it was or how to say it properly. I used to call her a fermentist.”
I laugh, genuinely, and it feels good. He smiles, happy he’s succeeding in shifting the scowl off my face.
“Which is why I didn’t object when she started dating that ass Cordon.
I played junior hockey with him, and I knew he wasn’t a good guy.
I mean, I didn’t think he would hurt her or anything, then I would have definitely intervened, but even in the locker room, he used to say shit that was…
I don’t know, passive-aggressive. And he was the king of backhanded compliments and doing and saying shit that fucked with your head.
I always worried he was like that with Lo, but if I even mentioned him, I was meddling. She likes being independent.”
I nod. I didn’t ask for this word vomit, but I’m happy for it. It makes me feel like I’m getting to know her better. “He was over by where she’s sitting. When we all got off the ice, Cordon skated over there. I don’t know if he was trying to talk to her, but it seemed that way.”
Callan’s eyebrows fly up, and he stands and reaches for his helmet. “He better not be bothering her. She’s had enough with invasive assholes this year. Like that Pete guy.”
“Yeah. He was fucked. I still say he’s the one who vandalized the car.”
“I agree.” Callan shoves his helmet over his head, and his hair sticks out at weird angles under the edges. “But at least he’s disappeared. Hopefully forever. Ryan needs to do the same. Lola is great, but clearly she has bad taste in men… I mean, sometimes. No offense. I don’t mean you.”
He looks downright sheepish. I shoot him a smile that says forget about it as the coach comes in to give us a pep talk before we hit the ice.
Callan sits back down beside me. I’m not offended by his off-handed comment because he’s not wrong.
I’m not a great choice for Lola. Luckily, she’s not picking me.
Not for anything meaningful. And Callan’s right. If she were, it would be a bad choice.