Page 118 of Off-Ice Misconduct
“I have a someone,” I assure him. “Mom would have fucking loved him.” Once she got over the fact that he’s fifteen years older than I am. That’s probably not easy for any parent to swallow. “Is, um, is Shep your someone?” I say quietly enough that hopefully Shep’s nosy ass can’t hear. I know he’s eavesdropping.
Bender’s eyes flicker to the seat in front of us. He nods, so Shep can’t hear an answer, and places a finger over his lips to signal it’s a secret. Of course. And Bend’s not gonna let him in on that anytime soon, which is smart until he knows Shep’s for real. I should have trusted Bender to make the decisions he could handle. He’s always come to me before when he couldn’t, I’m sure he will with this, too.
We burst into laughter. I swear to fuck a reality TV show should be made about us called “Idiots in Love”. It’d be a number one drama.
“What are you two laughing about back there?” Shep demands.
“Nothin’,” I say, which only sets off more laughter.
“That’s it,” he says, getting out of his seat, standing over me. “Move, McKinnon.”
He’s not taking no for an answer this time, so I let him have the seat. “Make him cry, and I’ll beat your ass, Shep.”
“I make him cry, and I’ll let you,” he promises, lacing his hand with Bender’s.
It’s a real nineties sitcom moment. All the conclusionary vibes, until a growly “Mother fucking fucker” booms through the air. The whole bus peers their eyes in Coach’s direction.
“What are you looking at?” he snaps.
We go back to our own business, leaving him to his business. I’m beside Justin again, so I pop my earbuds in and pull out my phone to text Luke, updating him on the latest drama. I don’t know when I began telling him everything about my life, but here we are.
Wolf Daddy
Don’t you have a North Point game upcoming?
Me
And you think that could have something to do with his outburst?
Wolf Daddy
Tate’s not prone to losing his temper like that. It’s got to be something big.
Me
Could have been a donor pulling out.
That’s big.
Wolf Daddy
That’s possible, too.
But I can tell Luke doesn’t think that’s the reason, and we don’t get one, but we do kick ass in Tacoma.
26
Luke
Ace spent Thanksgiving with his frat, their annual “Fratsgiving”. It’s a busy day of volunteering. It begins at a local elementary school in the morning, a mini carnival funded by the fraternity. Picture Shep in a turkey suit handing out lollipops, and Ace doing glitter tattoos on tiny would-be hockey players. Then they don hairnets and serve a Thanksgiving lunch at a local community shelter in Seattle. That’s followed by their own turkey dinner at the house. I got to benefit from that. Ace showed up with leftovers, a glitter tattoo of a wolf on his cheek, and a look that said he didn’t just come to feed me.
Now, it’s the last weekend in November, thank fuck. December means a bit of a break from Hockey. There are only three games scheduled, all of them home games. November was mostly away, and I didn’t like it. Not at all. This weekend, it’s a fundraiser and a home game against North Point, so I’m forced to release him for a little while, but the rest of the time, he’s mine.
Ace is cozied up from the cold November weather in something called an Oodie that Tate bought me. I’ve never used it; Ace stole it immediately.
“I thought I told you to go to bed.” He’s reading the book I assigned for class, or trying to, I should say, but his eyes are droopy.
“Yeah, but there’s no way you meant it. We haven’t had our hello fuck yet.”
