Page 13 of Lucky Sucker

“Are you guys always like this?” Alex asked. He stood above the grouping, dressed in a Hawaiian yellow and blue shirt.

“Like what?”

“Like best friends,” he said.

“We’re a team, of course we’re all friends, maybe not best friends, but we know what each other are like, and we develop plays over dynamics. Like, Ethan and Jack, they’re absolutely workhouses, grinding as an offensive team, they’re like shepherds herding players into making them foul, and it’s a little dirty, but when we need it, they know the play.”

They looked amongst each other, and I knew some of them would develop similar bonds to the bonds I had with the team I’d been playing with for years now. This was the start of their entire journey, and one of them could end up captain.

Before they could field me with more questions, I caught the uncomfortable appearance of Wren in his jacket and jeans with the bulge under one arm where I assumed he was keeping the team mascot teddy.

“You all get stuck in, I’m gonna make sure we’ve got enough meat,” I said. “There’s tofu as well on different grills, don’t worry, I got the vegan memo.” I hadn’t, some of the players were veggie and Julia had mentioned tofu being a great alternative, even fit for vegans. I headed up the path to the back of the house where Wren’s straight face and big eyes glared at me.

“I thought you wanted to do the interview,” his first words were.

“Hey,” Marcus appeared behind Wren, planting both of his big hands on his shoulders. “He said you invited him. I tried finding you inside, but you’re obviously out here.” Marcus Chen was one of the team’s defenses, six-one with the chest width of two men if they were combined, but the tiniest waist I’ve seen on a man. He lived in the weight room.

Wren seemed to shrink under Marcus’s hands. “Yeah, I thought you wanted me to come over for the interview stuff.”

“No, no, I specifically said, we’re having a Labor Day thing, you should come over, it’s gonna be the entire team, and you get to see us all off the ice,” I said. “But obviously, if you want to ask me your questions, I’m ready. Always ready.”

Marcus cooed. “Damn. Does Liam have steak on the grill?” He smacked his lips. “I’m about to go devour that right off the metal. I better not be well done either.”

“I believe you will as well,” I said, giving him a fist bump as he walked off and even attempting to give one to Wren, but he just looked at his hand in mid-air.

He shuffled around on the spot, readjusting the position of the teddy against his chest. “You’re probably right about the message, but I don’t mind leaving and then coming back another time.”

“Are you kidding? I invited you over.” I gestured, arm out to present the yard of players to him, all engaged in their own conversations and activities. “I can grab you a drink. All non-alcoholic, obviously. Or I can show you around the house where we live and you can see what it’s all like here, you know, since you’re writing about us, you should see the place.”

“Ok, I’ll have a drink. Maybe a water, or a fruit juice. I’m not picky.”

“Of course,” I said. “We’ve got organic apple juice boxes.”

His face lit up. “Yes, please.”

I didn’t want to be so in everyone’s face by showing Wren to them, but it might not have been that useful because he wasn’t even wearing his rainbow pin. The guilt of using him this way was still eating me up.

After showing him around the house, not all twenty of the bedrooms, but the ones that weren’t being used were studies and weight rooms. He got a full tour and clocked in over a thousand steps, that was for certain.

We sat outside on loungers as we were presented with hot dogs and condiments.

“I’m not hungry,” he said, but his hand went to his stomach.

“Eat something,” I said. “You don’t like mustard? Ketchup? Want it plain? Or don’t like the hot dogs?” There was a visceral want to help him, and I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the feeling came from.

He let out a giggle and pushed at the teddy hiding against his chest. “Ok. But only ketchup, please.”

“You got it, and I really think we need to get some of those in the merch store,” I said, trying not to draw too much attention to the teddy.

“Thanks, I made it myself.”

“You did?” And there he was, slowly opening some more. I didn’t want to keep prodding with questions because he could’ve just as easily snapped shut around my fingers, right before I reached in for the pearl. “How?”

“It’s crochet,” he said. “It’s using yarn and a hook, and you basically just make a lot of knots in it, but the real magic is that they’re not real knots because if you cut at one of these,” he pulled it out fully and I could see just how much detail went into it. “You can pull the yarn, and it will just unravel until it’s back into a roll again.”

I reached out and rubbed the back of a knuckle against the bumps. “That might be the most wholesome thing I’ve heard.”

“I taught myself,” he added.

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