Page 4 of Rebel Secrets
“Where’s he from?”
“Detroit originally.His parents moved a lot, so he played for a mess of leagues before he got drafted into the OHL for Erie.Good forward, got some real skill with the stick, but he’s an ankle burner.Coach’s been working with him, and he’s made a lot of progress in a short period of time.He’s hard on himself.Kinda reminds me of someone I know.”
I gave Brian the finger but kept my attention on the situation on the other side of the room.I don’t know if my sister recognized what was happening with Dante, but I certainly did.He wasn’t angry.He’d just gotten himself into a situation he didn’t know how to get out of.A situation he probably thought he’d created and didn’t know how to fix.
Brian was right.That kid had a lot of me in him.
“Be back in a few,” I said to Brian, then headed across the floor.
By the time I got there, Rain looked relieved, Erin’s sunny smile was back, and she was talking a mile a minute, and the kid looked miserable.Which Erin, unsurprisingly, completely ignored.
I stopped between Rain and the new kid, who looked up at me like I was his savior.I stuck out my hand, which he took with a hard grip.
“Hey.I’m Rebel.”
“I know.Good to meet you, sir.”
Ouch.I wasn’t that damn old.But I wasn’t going to embarrass the kid more than he already seemed to be.
“Rain, Dante and I are gonna get something to drink.”
I had ignored Erin until now.I didn’t want Rain to complain later that I was mean to her friend.I wasn’t being mean.I just didn’t like her, so I kept my distance.
“Sure.”Rain nodded, smiled, looking just slightly relieved.“Come on, Erin.”Rain slipped her arm through her friend’s, “let’s get some of that yummy cake you made before the guys devour it all.”
For a split second, my gaze caught Erin’s again and, for another split second, I could appreciate the beauty of her green eyes and rounded curves of her face.And then she opened her mouth as if to speak, and I knew we needed to get out of there before she said anything and disturbed the calm I was trying to hold onto.
But Rain was already walking away, pulling Erin with her, and I heard the kid release a huge sigh as soon as they were out of hearing.
“Come on, let’s get,” I caught myself before I said beer, because he wasn’t old enough to have one, “something to drink and find a quiet place for a few.”
Again, I saw relief in his quiet exhale and the way his eyes closed for a second.
“Thanks.I… don’t… um, crowds of people I don’t know… Uh, yeah.”
I smiled.“Yeah, me, too.Let’s disappear.”
“Five teams in three years.Damn, that’s tough.A lot of guys would’ve quit.”
Dante’s left shoulder rose and fell, his gaze on the ground as we sat in the relative dark of a private sitting room in my parents’ home.It’d been built as an inn in the 1800s, so this room was connected to a guest room no one was using right now.We could barely hear the party on the other side of the house.
“Didn’t know any better.My dad sold medical equipment, but the company he worked for sent him all over the place.He traveled a lot, and he could work anywhere.He wasn’t tied to an office anywhere particular.My mom liked to move.A lot.My sister and I… Well, we didn’t get a vote so… Yeah, five teams in three years.”
“How old were you?”
The kid and I had been talking for the past ten minutes or so.More like, we’d been exchanging facts in between long stretches of silence.
“Six, but my mom had me on skates before then.She signed me up for lessons.Wanted me to be a figure skater.But the hockey team had practice before the figure skaters, and I wanted to be one of them.I had a lot of, um, energy as a kid.Took my dad a little time to talk my mom into letting me play.He wanted me to play soccer.”Another shrug.“I liked hockey.”
I knew what he meant and what he wasn’t saying.The skill.The speed.The physicality.Especially the physicality.
“Me, too.”
Another silence.
“You like playing for the AHL?”he finally asked.“Is it…I mean, is it a lot different?”
I took a second to answer.I really had to think about it in a way that made sense.And was still honest.
