Page 14 of Moms of Mayhem
You sure? I can be headed that way in 10.
Beckett
I got it. Take him to school?
Ty
Yeah.
And thanks
Grabbing the black sweats from the top of my suitcase, I awkwardly got myself dressed, then reached for my crutches and headed downstairs. Luckily, I’d remembered to set up the coffee pot last night, so I filled a stainless Denver Yeti tumbler with coffee.
I could still see Jace working his way around the ice through the window over the kitchen sink, endless energy driving his moves. Once upon a time I’d been that way too—unable to stop—but watching him made me realize howoldI was.
Sure, aside from my hip injury, I was in peak condition, but I was still in my mid-thirties. Still a veteran player. Still a constant topic of discussion on Hockey Tonight about if I can even come back from an injury like this “at my age”.
The black coffee was as bitter as my thoughts, burning its way down my throat like the dawning realization that the kid out there was the future, and I was the past.
With a sigh, I grabbed a crutch and limped my way out onto the back porch, watching my footsteps to make sure I didn’t eat shit and set myself back several months. The music was loud, scaring off any stray predators nearby, but also keeping this kid’s head down. I stood there for several more minutes, watching him skate, before I swiped across my phone to the sound system’s app, and killed the power.
The silence was deafening after the volume he’d had it at, and the kid’s body jerked upright as if electrocuted. He glanced around the driveway, then to the storage shed where the sound system was housed, before I put two fingers to my lips and whistled. It echoed through the mountains, the sound as piercing as a gunshot, and Jace’s head snapped my direction.
“Trespassing is illegal, you know,” I called out.
“So is breaking and entering,” Jace answered, pointing at the house behind me. “Pretty sure that’s way more jail time, pal.”
A low chuckle rumbled through my chest. I shouldn’t have been surprised Jace was just as quick-witted as his mom, but damn, I hadn’t expected that. “Hard to get me on breaking and entering when my name is on the deed.”
Jace jerked upright, the butt of his stick slapping againstthe underside of his hat. “Holy fucking shit, you’re Beckett Conway.”
“Manners, son. Watch your mouth.”
Any of the awe that was there a second ago disappeared, his gaze hard once more. “I’m 15, not 8. You can’t tell me what to do, and I’m not your son.”
“Really?” I raised my brows, pointing at his setup out here. “Should I check with the Sheriff about that? I’m pretty sure he’d agree with me, considering you’re on my property illegally, pal.”
“Ty said I could use it whenever I wanted,” Jace shot back. “And I’m also not your pal.”
“Damn, what a shame.” I mock-frowned, holding a hand to my chest. “And here I thought you might want to be friends with an Art Ross Trophy winner.”
“Manners, pops,” Jace shot back. “Watch your mouth.”
A laugh burst out of me, and I shook my head. “Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”
“I don’t know.” He shuffled back and forth on his skates, gloved hand resting on the top of his stick. “Aren’t you supposed to make it past the first round of the playoffs?”
Hot damn, this kid had fire. Without thinking, I shot back, “Says the kid who was ejected out of the first game of the season, and let his team lose 0-6.”
That must have been a step too far. Jace looked down at his skates, his jaw ticking.
“Let me take you to school. They’ll make you miss practice if you’re caught truant, right? Is that still the Mayhem’s rule?”
“Can’t practice for a week, and I’m sitting out the game on Friday, anyway.” Jace turned his back to me, skating around the ice again, obviously done with this conversation.
The snow on the deck had been cleared along with the driveway, but it was still covered in a thin sheet of ice. I grabbed the railing and slowly inched my way to the stairs, headed toward the garage. “Missing school will just add days to that sentence, won’t it?”
Jace shrugged. “If Coach even shows up, maybe. He doesn’t care about us.”
