Page 127 of I'm Your Guy
Coach stares.
I sigh. Then I push my Cosmo glass across the bar. “You are very good at your job. Can I have a light beer? I have to go sign some coasters now.” Then I turn to Carter. “Don’t leave. We’re not done yet.”
“Good man,” the bartender says, grabbing me a bottle of Tecate and uncapping it. “Maybe Coach Powers feels like covering your tab, since he interrupted y’all.”
“Um…” Powers says. “Sure.”
The bartender puts his beefy arms on the bar and stares at Coach. “In lieu of a tip, I really wanna get some assurances that this midseason goalie trade isn’t gonna go down as the great disaster of all time. I notice you haven’t played Hale in the net yet. Kinda wondering why.”
“We’re working on it,” Coach says through gritted teeth. Then he slaps his credit card down on the bar.
I slide off my stool. “Carter, I don’t have my car here. You feel like carpooling to my place in an hour? I’ll drive if you want to drink.”
“I think that sounds great,” he says, giving me a tiny smile.
“Hallelujah. Now excuse me, boys. But feel free to work out that whole goalie thing while I’m gone. We’re all wondering what’s up with that.”
When I walk away, Coach Powers is staring after me.
Whatever. I don’t care. So long as Carter is nearby, I can handle anything.
* * *
For the next hour, I sign so many autographs that my hand cramps. The fans are mostly men, but there are some women, too. And they come in all sizes and colors. Literally all the colors, if we’re counting hair.
The one thing they have in common is joy. The bar is loud and happy and drunk, and I’ve never met such effusive fans before. They want us to know how much it means to them to have Hudson go public.
“The world is ready, guys,” one young fan in a Cougars hoodie says. “You’re the proof. It’s happening.”
His optimism is contagious. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to give an interview to a major sports outlet and talk about my personal life. There’s some darkness in here, and I don’t feel like sharing.
But can I be open to my friends about what Carter means to me? Yeah, I can see how that works now. Hell, after tonight, I’m halfway there.
Maybe more than halfway. When I’m finally done with the fans, I find Carter sitting with Gavin at the bar. He’s introduced himself to Hudson’s fiancé, and they’re discussing…
Okay, I have no idea. None of the words are familiar. “What the hell is a fairy light canopy?”
“Gavin’s daughter wants a glow-up in her bedroom,” Carter explains. “And I have big ideas.”
“Cheap ideas,” Gavin says, “because Jordyn changes her mind a lot.”
They clink glasses. Carter looks a little drunk, which makes me happy. He deserves to have fun.
I wrap an arm around his shoulder. “Drink up. Let’s go home before I’m too tired to drive. Can we leave my car in Denver and fetch it tomorrow?”
“Sure,” he says. “Anything you want.”
Gavin looks from me to Carter and back again. “Huh. Interesting.”
“Isn’t it?” Newgate says from over my shoulder. “I feel kind of stupid right now.”
“Never,” I assure him. “We’ll talk later. Night guys.”
“Night!” Gavin says. “Nice meeting you, Carter.”
Carter sets his empty glass down and gives a slightly drunken wave. “Text me about the canopy, Gavin. I’ll help you find the fabric.”
Then I march him out of there.
