Page 42 of Dreams
“Hi, Grant,” she said indulgently. “You remember Jason?” She gestured to the table where the three remaining people were now standing.
“Yeah.” Mack sighed. “I do.”
Josh chuckled and made his way over to greet Jason as well as their friends Maggie and Elijah. New York sometimes felt like more of a home than Columbus because of those four people.
He introduced Mack to Maggie and Elijah as he sat next to Michaela. “Where’s your brother?” he asked.
“Chris had to go to Connecticut this week for some meetings,” she answered, putting an arm around his shoulders. They’d all been at the game, and that’s the direction the conversation took.
“You’re too selfish, dude,” Jason was saying to Mack. “You need to pass more rather than always trying to take it in yourself.”
“Ok,” Mack started, “let’s leave the hockey advice to the guys who actually play it.”
Josh laughed because what Jason was saying was something the coaches had been trying to drill into Mack’s head since he came into the league. As they argued, Michaela leaned in to talk to Josh.
“How have you been?” she asked.
“You know, okay.”
“Josh Walker, why do I sense a lie?”
“Alright, fine,” he said, tensing to tell Michaela something he hadn’t talked to anyone about, but she wasn’t just anyone and he couldn’t get the feeling out of his mind. “Do you remember how the past two summers I’ve had some issues with dizziness?” She nodded, and he continued in a low voice. “It’s been happening in games.”
“Is that why you played like shit?” She wasn’t one to soften her words.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“You need to tell your coach.”
“I can’t.” He glanced at Mack quickly to make sure he wasn’t listening. “There’s a guy on our AHL team who’s pushing for a spot, and I’m scared if he gets called up he’ll play himself into a permanent spot. I don’t want to be expendable to this team.”
“Josh,” she said seriously. “What if something’s wrong?”
“It’s probably nothing,” he said. “My health screening in training camp was fine. I’ve been training hard, so that might be it. I probably just need to scale back my workouts.”
She looked at him skeptically before taking his hand in hers and putting a light pressure on it. “You’ll tell me if it gets worse? And you’ll promise to get it checked out as soon as you can?”
“I will,” he promised, placating her for the moment.
Talk turned to Michaela and Jason’s upcoming wedding, and then Maggie and Elijah’s adopted daughter Kimberly. Coach Scott’s kid, Evie, was the only one who rivaled Kimberly’s cuteness in Josh’s mind, but he wasn't going to say that. As they chatted and ate, Josh was reminded of why he loved those people so much. The Blue Jackets were his team, and he wanted to stay with them, but if he ever had to be traded, the Rangers or Islanders would put him close to his family.
“Josher here has himself a girlfriend,” Mack said suddenly, an impish grin stretching his lips.
“Really?” Michaela asked hopefully.
“No,” Josh cut in before Mack could respond. “Not really.”
“Well, let’s see,” Mack said. “For one, he has no interest in getting laid.”
“By the kind of girls you meet,” Josh groaned.
“He spends all his free time with the same chick. He has absolutely no fun anymore.”
“Your kind of fun,” Josh cut in.
Mack was unfazed. “That all screams ‘girlfriend’ to me.”
“Wait a second,” Elijah piped up. “To me that just screams Josh.”
