Page 70 of For the Win

“Still funny, though.”

Coach calls me out when I’m skating around in my own little world when we’re supposed to be working.“Fucking pay attention!”he yells at me.

“He’s thinking about his future wife,” Scotty says.

Coach frowns.

Shit.

I need to focus.We have two home games left to play.Tomorrow night we’re motivated to salvage our pride by beating Calgary, then our last game is against the Long Beach Golden Eagles, ending the season with a Beach Barn Battle.With the intense rivalry between the two teams, it will be a good game to end the regular season.We’ve both made the playoffs, though, and could face each other in the second round depending on what happens in the first round.

I convinced Arya to come to the game.She’s going to bring a friend, maybe Janey, who I haven’t met, or Taj.The game is ostensibly sold out, but there are always tickets for the players.The ones we don’t use are released for sale to the public on game day.

Wednesday after our morning skate, I go see Dad in his office.I don’t do this very often, but I haven’t seen him since that day Mom told us about the diagnosis.I need to go home for my nap, but I have time to check in on him.

I find Dad in his office with Théo, talking about meeting up with Vancouver in the first round and our potential travel schedule.

“Hey, come on in,” Théo says, waving a hand.“You here to see Grandpa?”

“Yeah.”I feel shitty keeping stuff from Théo.Of all the family members, he needs to know what’s going on.He needs to make sure Dad’s not making bad decisions or doing anything to embarrass the team, like forgetting the name of the commissioner of the league or publicly calling him an asshole.I need to talk to the rest of the family about this, especially Mom, I guess.“How’s it going?”

“Good.”Dad smiles at me.“How was your morning skate?”

“Fine.We’re feeling good about the game tonight.”

“I hope so.They killed us in Calgary.What the hell happened?”

I grimace.“No excuses.”

“You didn’t seem all in,” Dad says, frowning.“Is everything okay?”

I stare at him.No, everything isnotokay.Jesus Christ.My heart drops to my feet.I try not to look at Théo.

“Rumor has it there’s a new woman in his life,” Théo says.

“Ha!”Dad crows.“I knew it!Who is she?”

Now I slide my gaze over to Théo and lift my eyebrows.

He grins.“Tell us, man.”

“It’s just...we’ve only gone out a couple of times,” I mumble.

“I heard it’s serious.”

I narrow my eyes at him.He’s yanking my chain.And fuck the guys who are gossiping about me to my nephew.Ah.I know who it is.Bellsy.He lives in the same building as Théo, and Everly and Lacey are friends.I’m gonna punish him.Maybe the old cutting-the-skate-laces trick

“Have I met her?”Dad asks.

That stops me short.I close my eyes.He doesn’t know.I clear my throat.“No, Dad, not yet.She’s coming to the game tomorrow night, but you won’t see her then.”

“My birthday’s coming up,” Dad says.“Your mom is planning a party.”

“She is?”I don’t know if this is a good idea.“I’ll talk to her about it.”

“She’s here,” Dad says.“She’s with Kate.”

“Oh.”I remember Mom’s been coming to the office with him so she can drive.Has she taken away his car keys?Ugh.That could be another disaster, if he was driving and got in an accident...or, God forbid, killed someone.Wedoneed another family meeting to deal with some of these issues.And when are they going to talk to Mark and Matthew, so we can tell everyone else?Especially Théo.“Maybe I’ll see her before I go.”I force a smile.“Need my nap.”

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