Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“You smell good too, Mason.”
I slept like a rock, better than I had in a long while.
I woke in the morning light and padded down the stairs to find my kitchen immaculately clean.
Jesse had done the dishes. He’d cleaned up, tidied the counter, and even put back the pillows and blankets I’d messed up on the couch. When I went out to see the horses they were happy as clams, well taken care of and water buckets full.
When I went back in the kitchen I noticed a note he’d left on the little magnet whiteboard I kept on the fridge.
It was the name of an indoor ice rink, and then a note scrawled at the bottom:
If you really want to see how I play.
8
JESSE
“Puck’s mine. Back off.”
“Keep dreaming, Daniels,” I growled, cutting over and protecting it, keeping possession just by a centimeter.
I got out away from him, beelining for Robbie as I eyed the potential pass.
Easy in. We get this, we win the game.
I made a break for it. I cut my blade across and slammed the puck toward Robbie, praying to high heaven that he could connect.
And a split second later I watched as one of the guys from Indiana darted in, trying to intercept but just missing as Robbie controlled the puck like a king.
“That’s it!” I screamed as I watched him take it to the end.
Robbie hit, scored, and the crowd around us broke out into a roar as we won the game, 2-1.
All around me, TNU green and gold shimmered in the crowd. I met up with the other guys who were crowded around Robbie, smacking him and telling him he was the man.
“Fuck, yes,” I told him.
“All you, Sanocki,” he told me.
“Nah. You were totally clutch in that moment. Enjoy the win.”
My eyes went out to scan the crowd another time.
Throughout the whole game, I’d periodically been looking for Mason in the stands. I knew it was a small possibility that he’d show up, but something inside me liked the idea of it. Out on the ice I’d made every move hoping he was seeing it form out there.
But so far, the only familiar face I saw in the crowd was Kane.
After we won the game I showered off in the locker room, got dressed, and came out into the stands, finding Kane and giving him a bear hug.
It was the first game of mine that Kane had attended in two years. I felt a surge of pride, knowing that he’d seen us play a good one, and that maybe he could come to more games in the future… not that he usually got nights off from the bar.
“I forget how good you are on the ice sometimes,” Kane said. “You only get better, you know that?”
“Shucks,” I said. “Seriously, though. Thank you. Did you come alone?”
“Yeah,” Kane said. “Why? You expecting someone else?”
I glanced around, realizing that Mason definitely hadn’t come. “Nah,” I lied.
“You guys owned Indiana,” Kane said. “Dinner’s on me. “Hank’s BBQ, Barbecue Den, Down Home BBQ, or Red Fox?”
I snorted. “Only in Tennessee.”
“Hey, we know how to cook meat.”
“Let’s go to the Red Fox, actually,” I said. “I need that chicken sandwich again. I don’t know what they do to their bacon, but it’s like a drug.”
“I think they glaze it with a tiny bit of maple syrup, every time,” Kane said. “It’s on another level. Let’s do it.”
We headed down to the diner in our separate cars. When we got into town, Kane went to park at the Hard Spot across the street, because he was going to be heading there afterward, anyway.
I stood outside the Red Fox Diner, waiting for him, looking all around. The street was pretty quiet on a weekday night, without too many crowds on Laurel Ave. I waited, leaning against a brick wall, watching the night go by.
When I glanced through the big windows of the diner, though, my heart did a little flip in my chest.
There, all the way at the big red corner booth, I saw Mason.
He was with other people. Quite a few of them. There were a few guys his age, but also more—on one end of the booth there was an old woman, even, rounding out the motley crew of people.
I realized that they were all looking down at the table, playing some sort of board game.
Mason was smiling as he reached for a big pitcher of water, refilling everyone’s glasses. He seemed like he was conducting the board game, helping everyone out around the table, maybe even teaching them how to play.
They looked happy. Really happy.
Yeah, Sanocki. Mason has a lot of friends, because not everybody hates social interactions like you.
Just because you invited him to a hockey game doesn’t mean that he didn’t have other plans.
Even if I was a little disappointed, I still liked something about it. Mason was practically acting like a doting mom, helping everybody else out at the table, constantly making sure they were happy.