Page 32 of No Pucks Given
Great. I was talking to myself as I pointed out where the coaches’ offices were and whatnot. Oh well, not everyone was super chatty, and even really good players could be shy. It was probably that. Too bad his pre-practice antics didn’t help loosen his lips.
As we got to the locker room, the two Spencers and Scuba were there getting changed into practice gear. Coop sat down at his stall, which was next to mine. He barely acknowledged anyone and instead focused on his equipment. Probably making sure he had everything, and it was his normal stuff.
Scuba tossed a dirty sock our way, which smelled horrific, as he said, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Coop. The guy with the god awful foot odor is Scuba. Then you got my best friend, Spencer Suzuki. He’ll defend all our asses on and off the ice. But don’t mess with his girlfriend.”
Scuba coughed out. “Who’s also Cartsy’s sister.”
I shot Scuba the'shut the fuck up'look. I didn’t love the fact that my best friend was dating Natalie, but what could I do? Those two loved each other, and I had no say in the matter. I just wished that Scuba didn’t try to bring attention to the fact. It was getting old, and if Scuba didn’t shut the fuck up about that,then we would be getting chirped on the ice, and Suzuki would be baited into a fight.
Refusing to be baited by Scuba, I continued with the introductions. “Then we have Spencer Levine. Yes, we have two Spencers, but you can call this one Deuce or Spencer 2.0."
Coop only nodded but didn’t say anything.
Levine waved as he said, “Get ready to skate. Coach announced a bag skate for today.”
Coop momentarily froze at that news, probably realizing his earlier actions were going to be severely problematic. But Coop was a big boy and would have to pay for his choices on his own.
Chapter 30
Siobhan
Stephanie had been gone for a couple of weeks now, and I’d barely heard from her. For her sake, I hoped she was having the time of her life, but she’d been a little quiet on her phone calls. After not hearing from her for a couple of days, I’d had enough waiting for her to call.
As I settled onto the loveseat in my trailer, I opened up FaceTime and dialed Stephanie. She picked up almost right away. Her grin was so wide. “Mommy!”
It was so easy to return the smile since I loved my little girl who shared my spirit, even if she shared most of her facial features with her dad.
Stephanie looked a little unkempt. It was as if she hadn’t had a proper bath in a couple of days and hadn’t used a hairbrush topull her hair into a ponytail. On top of that, it was a very loose ponytail. It seemed unlike her since she always had perfect hair. Something she learned from her sports.
“Hey, baby. How are you doing?”
“I hate it here. Dad never has time for me. I miss you, Carter, and cheer practice. I can’t do any stunts.”
I pulled a face. I hated hearing that she was feeling neglected, but it was something I half expected. Her missing cheer and the fact that she could only focus on her stretching and solo work weren’t too surprising. She loved being a flyer and being tossed into the air.
What I didn’t expect, but it seriously warmed my heart, was that she missed Carter as well. Which was good since I was seriously falling for him. Until now, I wasn’t sure if she even liked him.
I didn’t want to tell her that I couldn’t just fly her back on a whim. But things had been so much better since we hired Lou. Maybe Russell would want to discuss when she should fly back.
“I miss you, too. You’ll be home soon enough.”
“Good.” There was some commotion going on in Stephanie’s background, but it sounded muffled.
She grimaced. “I have to go to dinner. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
I hated how quickly she had to go. But it was good to talk to her for a little bit.
As I was trying to figure out how to ask Russell about sending Stephanie back to me, I got a message from him. A pit formed in my stomach. I hated talking to her father so much. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be one of his hateful messages telling me how much I sucked and how horrible I was. But it was a little early for that since his most hateful was after he had a drink or two.
After taking a deep breath, I was surprised when firm, callous hands rubbed my back. I looked over my shoulder. Carter had snuck in. He immediately kissed my ear. “Hey, babe.”
He was in his game-day suit.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
