Page 33 of Can't Kiss the Chef

We haven’t been able to use our locker room with all the construction going on. My hockey bag shakes the room when it hits the floor. I’m speechless.

The National Championship mural they painted on the back wall is incredible. It’s cool to think that this is going to be the first thing generations of future Retrievers will see when they enter the room.

“Hey, your sister is coming to the party tonight, right?” I ask Oliver as I dodge the water he is shaking off his hair after his shower.

“I spoke to her yesterday before she left, and she said your preseason party isn’t to be missed, so I’d assume that’s a yes.”

There’s a warm feeling that spreads up my neck. She wants to come. It’s not Indy pushing her to or feeling like she has to come to spend time with her brother. She wants to come.

“She told me you guys are getting manicures today.”

“Yes, it’s part of her dumb list. I thought she would want to relax a little after her big night out.”

A ping comes from the wooden bench, and the sound tunes out whatever Oliver says next. I heard him mumble something about his sister being high-maintenance.

“Hey, it’s my mom. She just got off a couple of night shifts, and I haven’t talked to her much this week.”

Oliver nods, not needing more of an explanation. Coming from a family of doctors he knows how crazy a career in the medical profession can be.

It’s nine in the morning on a Saturday, so if I don’t have a game or practice, I’m probably sleeping off a hangover. I know my mom will appreciate talking to me and not my voicemail.

“Hey, Mom!” The familiar sounds of the city I grew up in come in from the other side of the line.

“My sweet boy, how are you?” My mother sounds like she is the type to dote on her only son, but that woman takes shit from no one. We always joke that Mrs. Holloway is the good cop to Mom’s bad cop.

“Good. I just got done with a workout with the team’s freshman goalie.”

“Oh, isn’t that Lola’s brother?”

She also remembers everything. EVERYTHING.

“It is,” I tell her through gritted teeth. “He happened to show up when I was working on some things this morning.”

There’s no “That’s good, are you excited for the season?” or a “How are your classes so far?”

My Mom asks, rather bluntly, “Have you fixed things with Lola yet?”

“I’m working on it,” I inform her. “We have plans to hang out today. I told you about her list of what I have to do to earn her friendship back, right?”

“Yes, and you better do everything on that list, Byron.”

Saying Lola and my mom hit it off last summer when she came to the city is an understatement. It made it even more apparent to me that it was time to tell our friends about us. She said my mom understood her in a way that other parental figures in her life just didn’t. In a few hours it was like Lola became the daughter my mom never had. Then all it took was a few days for me to lose her. The sudden change in our relationship didn’t just hurt me, but Mom too.

“That’s the plan, Mom. Plus we have to work together all semester, and I have a feeling her walls are starting to come down a little bit, like I can see the tops of her hedges now.”

My mind slows down when I hear her deep belly laugh through the phone. “Where do you come up with this shit, By?”

“I’m the funniest person you know.” I state matter of factly and I know she is rolling her eyes.

“Well, I have to run into the grocery store, and then I’m going to go home and take a nap.”

“Okay, love you.”

“Love you too, Byron. Just remember that there was a reason Lola felt so comfortable with our family. Remind her that you are still the same man she cooked dinner with while you were home.”

I think at any age, there are times when your parents offer you advice, and you get annoyed because they don’t understand what you are going through. My father left often and came back occasionally, until he just didn’t. Mom never let our life stop just because he decided he didn’t want to be a part of it.

I think there is a difference between Lola and my dad, though. My dad left because he was a selfish prick who didn’t want to grow up. Having a kid at twenty-three was not how he envisioned his life. Lola was never given the love that she deserved, and when people show her how easy she is to love, she runs from it. I’m going to show her why she is worthy and it starts with crossing everything off her stupid list.

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