Page 179 of Hockey Halloween
He couldn't help but smile at the screen. Every time she told him she missed him, he could feel something stirring in his chest. His ex-girlfriends never told them they missed him when he was on the road.
I haven't said anything. Yeah, we'll talk later. Miss you too
He also never told his ex-girlfriends he missed them either. There was just something about Jessica. Maybe she was different because she was a few years older than him and not younger and perhaps more immature than his other girlfriends. Maybe it was because she had her own ex-husband and learned what she really wanted — and didn't want — in a partner, which is why she chose him.
Maybe it was because she was a hockey mom.
Xander thought of his own mom who was probably sitting at home right now knitting and watchingThe Bacheloror something. She drove him to games and made a lot of sacrifices for him to be where he was now. That was true dedication and it taught both of them just how hard it would be when he was a professional player always on the road. It's why his mom would knit and watch trashy reality shows instead of bugging him, knowing he would call her or text her when he had the chance.
"Why are you smiling?" he heard a bitter voice say. "You texting with my mom or something?"
Xander took a deep breath and slowly slid his phone into his pocket, knowing exactly what he would see when he looked up. He wasn't wrong. Staring at him was a man in a green unitard with a ring of felt sunflower petals around his face.
"Chase."
"Xander," he replied sarcastically.
"How much have you had to drink?"
Chase gave him a chastising look. "Two. That's it. We have agame tomorrow, dipshit. Or did you forget because you were too busy trying to get it on with my mom?"
Xander was going to keep his cool. After all, Chase would never talk to him like this normally but he had every right to be mad at him right now. He had been hiding a big secret from someone he was supposed to be mentoring, someone he trusted when they were on the ice and off of it.
That's exactly why he was worried about how Chase would react when he found out about the relationship. But Xander at least had a plan on how to tell him in a way that was better than what actually happened.
"Listen, I know this is weird and it's not how I wanted you to find out."
"Find out what?" Tyler said from behind Chase.
Chase rolled his eyes. "Our captain is having sex with my mom."
Tyler laughed. "Nice. And my mom has been sleeping with Coach Conner!" he replied sarcastically.
Then he slapped Chase on the back and headed into the men's room.
"Did he think you were joking?" Xander asked incredulously.
"Well, it's pretty fucking ridiculous that you're sleeping with my mom, which is why he probably thought I was lying."
Chase put his hands on his green unitard hips. They both seemed to realize at the same time that this conversation was ridiculous. A sunflower having a heated conversation about a garden gnome's relationship with the sunflower's mom was a bit over the top. Xander knew it too.
"Listen, I'm going to go home tomyhouse, OK?" Xander said, making sure he emphasized that he had no intention of seeing Chase's mom tonight after this. "We have a game tomorrow and then maybe we can talk about this together?"
"My mom is leaving tomorrow." Xander winced and Chase immediately picked up on it. "Is my mom leaving Denver tomorrow?"
Xander couldn't say anything, which didn't seem to matterbecause Chase was smart enough to realize what Xander was trying to imply.
Jessica told Chase she was leaving his house tomorrow, but she didn't tell Chase about staying at Xander's place.
The look of disappointment on Chase's face made Xander feel like an asshole and rightfully so. This had become a complete mess.
"I'm going to go home to my house now and you can talk to your mom when you get home."
"Fine."
Xander reached out, putting his hand on Chase's shoulder who just shrugged it off. Again, it was fair and what Xander probably deserved.
He said his goodbyes to the players, thanked Alyssa again for coordinating the group costume, and headed out to go home. It wasn't until he got in his car and closed the door that he felt the stress roll off of him. He didn't realize how much he had been walking on pins and needles around Chase at the party.
