Page 2 of Home for the Hockey-Days

“There he is.” Justin Ashe makes a beeline for me as soon as he steps into the cafe, but the twins, Apollo and Artemis de la Peña, go to the counter. Raffi says something to the brothers as he passes before joining me at the table.

“You good?” Raffi cocks a finger at me.

I shrug, because not really.

Fuck, I should have brought a hip flask to this intervention—that’s absolutely what this is—because no matter what comes out of the guys’ mouths, I’m not going to be happy with their solution to my problem.

Apollo grabs my shoulder, squeezing as he sits down. “Are you good for a drink? Want a refill?”

I’m tempted to ask for a second mug of mocha to survive the next few minutes—please God let it only be a few minutes—but I shake my head with a grunt. “I’m good. Thanks.”

After a few minutes of waiting for their drinks and getting situated, it’s Justin who opens the discussion. “We have a plan.”

That should loosen the knot in my chest, but it doesn’t. There’s no guarantee I’m gonna like their fucking plan. In fact, ten—very precious—dollars say I’m not going to like it.

Without breaking eye contact, Apollo slides a piece of paper across the table. “It’s not charity.”

Fuck. Any sentence that starts with those words is bound to raise my hackles. My grip on my mug tightens as Justin and Raffi get extraordinarily interested in their drinks.

“Don’t scowl at me, August. I mean it, it’s not charity.”

“But?” I jerk my head at him to continue because hissentence was most definitely punctuated with a pause, not a period.

“We found a tutor to help you out.” He lets the words hang between us while he takes a long, slow sip from his steaming mug.

A tutor. Crap. I mean, it makes sense. I’m flunking two classes, and Coach says I can’t play if I fail. Not to mention my scholarship is tied to good grades. Getting someone to help me get my shit together in the classroom makes sense but I can’t affo—ah. That’s where the charity comes in. The de la Peñas are going to pay for me to be tutored.

Fuck.

“You must be desperate, eh?” I stare into my mug, not wanting to make eye contact with my friends, my teammates, my brothers, as my voice thickens with shame and embarrassment.

“You’re the best defenseman on the ice.” Raffi cringes. “Sorry, man.” He shrugs at Artemis who shakes his head.

“He’s right,” Artemis pokes my arm like he’s trying to get me to look at him.

“We aren’tdesperate.” Apollo takes up the conversation baton. “But we need our captain, the heart of our team. If we throw some money at the problem, we get to keep you.”

Justin touches my forearm. “Please just go with it, August. Please?” His voice is soft, like he’s afraid I’m going to blow my stack.

I weighed up my options the day Coach called me into his office and told me I was flunking. Like I didn’t know my grades were in the fucking toilet. If I don’t get into the NHL for a regular hockey gig, or even for coaching, my prospects are limited. And without a college degree or a trade of some kind to fall back on, they’d be limited even further.

I can’t affordnotto get a good job.

Now that Todd’s serving out the next decade and a half inFort Dodge Correctional Facility, and my parents are approaching retirement age, I need to step up. Ineedto bring in a good wage to make sure my folks are looked after in their senior years. They gave up so much for me to be able to play hockey, I have to pay them back somehow, even a little.

Guilt swirls in my gut as I gulp down some of my drink. I’ll pay my teammates back when I’m a rich and famous defenseman in the National Hockey League. It won’t be forever, it’s not charity, it’s just a loan, and it means we all win. The team will do better with me on the blue line, and I won’t flunk out of the team, and school because I lose my scholarship.

“Okay.”

Raffi opens his mouth, presumably geared up to argue because he snaps it shut just as fast.

“Okay?” Justin tips his head to the side. “Just... okay?”

I shrug. “It’s better for everyone if I’m on the ice, and to do that I need to do better in class.”

Apollo nods slowly, like he’s expecting me to have something else to say. “It’s better for everyone,” he repeats.

Artemis simply stares at me like he’s not sure whether I’m being serious, or telling them what they want to hear. Justin and Raffi start talking about a hockey game they watched on TV last night while I gaze out the window. I shift in my seat drawing Artemis’s attention to me, and, if possible, he stares at me even harder.

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