Page 37 of Keeping the Score

“My friends and I are wondering if you’d like to join us. We have a bottle of Casamigos Blanco and we really don’t want to drink it all ourselves.”

“Oooh, tequila,” Elodie says. “I love tequila.”

“Perfect. Let’s get your chairs moved over to our table.”

They’re ordering bottle service and all three are dressed in nice suits. This seems promising.

We make introductions. The guy who came over is Ryker, and his friends are Tyler and Kevin. They pour us shots of the sipping tequila, smooth with hints of vanilla and oak.

“So what do you guys do for a living?” I ask. “You’re still in suits, so I’m guessing…” I put a finger to my chin. “You had late business meetings.”

They all laugh. “Nope,” Tyler says.

“You don’t know who we are?” Ryker asks.

“Uh…” Elodie and I exchange glances. “Should we?”

Are they famous? Actors?

“We play hockey,” Tyler says. “For the Bears.”

My eyes pop open as round as hockey pucks. “No!”

They all smirk, thinking they’ve impressed me.

“My, uh, friend plays hockey, too!” I say. “For the Storm.”

“Uh oh.”

I grin. “Yeah. We’re drinking with the enemy.”

“Who’s your friend?” Ryker asks.

“Ford Archibald.”

Now they seem surprised. Did they think I was making that up?

“Hey,” Tyler says. “I’m a goalie, too.”

“Really?” I tilt my head. “Are you as, um, eccentric as other goalies?”

“Nah.”

“Yeah, you are,” Ryker says to him. “You told us once that being a professional hockey goalie was punishment for something you did in a past life.”

I roll my lips in on a laugh.

“Well, yeah.” Tyler nods. “Having frozen pucks coming at you a hundred miles an hour is like being stoned in today’s day and age.” His forehead creases. “I just don’t know exactly what I did to deserve being stoned.”

Okay, this guy is making Ford’s idiosyncrasies seem mild.

“Archie’s a good goalie,” Tyler says. “Really good.”

Warmth spreads in my chest, as if I’m somehow responsible for Ford being a good goaltender.

“He stopped me once on a breakaway and I still don’t know he did it,” Ryker says, shaking his head.

“That’s why they call him the Net Ninja,” Kevin says with a laugh.

---