Page 44 of The Trade Deadline
“My family lives there.” He said it almost apologetically, like it was inconvenient to have family or to try to get tickets for them.
“How big is your family that you need more?” For Lars, even at its biggest, his family would’ve included his brother, his parents, and his grandparents. Their father’s parents had died before Lars was born, and both his parents were only children, leaving them with only distant second cousins Lars had only ever met a handful of times. Of course with Amanda and the kids, they’d gained a few, but nowhere near enough to need more than fourteen tickets.
“Well, I have five sisters, and three of them are married with kids. I’ve got my mom and dad, my grandma and grandpa, plus my grams and pap, and if I can wrangle some for my cousins?—”
“Okay.” Lars puts up his hands. “You can have mine.”
The beatific smile that lit up his face made Lars’s heart do an uncomfortable somersault. “Thanks!” Ryan pulled out his phone. “What’s your Venmo?”
“I said you could have them.”
“Yeah, thanks, but Ialwaysbuy them. I’ll buy them off you, no worries.”
Lars was painfully aware that he made significantly more than Ryan. And yes, the tickets were prorated— and the Mustangs were in a five year slump, so the tickets probably weren’t very expensive—but the sheer number Ryan was going for couldn’t be cheap.
But he also knew he’d want to pay if their positions were reversed. “Lnilsson14,” he said instead of protesting.
Ryan’s face made an aborted shift, like he was going to roll his eyes or grimace when he heard the “fourteen” but he stopped himself. “Got it. Send them when you can. We’ll also go out to drink after the game as a thank you. An old buddy owns a place near the arena.”
“Will your family be there?” The prospect of seeing Ryan’s family at the game piqued his interest; meeting them in person made him weirdly nervous for reasons he chose to ignore. “At the bar?”
Ryan shrugged with one shoulder. “Some of my sisters and brothers-in-law might. Thursday night makes it kinda inconvenient, so I know my parents and all them won’t be able to make it out. Long drive back to the ranch.”
Lars, who had already more than doubled what he knew about Ryan’s family, was startled that there was still more coming. “Ranch?”
Ryan gave him an unreadable look before answering, “I grew up on a horse ranch. It’s over an hour outside Billings.”
“Oh.” Lars had no idea what to do with this information except to commit it to memory for later examination. “Cool.”
After an awkward few seconds where Ryan seemed to be waiting expectantly, he patted Lars’s shoulder and moved on down the line to ask Jake about tickets. Lars sat there, both pleased to have helped and disappointed he’d forgotten to ask about going out tonight.
Chapter15
Lars
They won in Calgary,a good effort from the team that earned Vorny his first shutout of the season. After the game, Coach Thompkins pulled Lars aside.
“You’ve been doing well. I didn’t want you to think that I’m keeping you on the second because I'm not happy with your play.”
Lars was skating well and getting goals. He knew he had an ego about his play (and a well earned one, in his opinion), but he didn’t give a fuck about labels. First line, second line, third, fourth…as long as his minutes weren’t affected, they could make up a fifth line for all he cared. But he also appreciated his effort being acknowledged, so he nodded.
“Thanks. And I don’t mind, really. Starting to get chemistry going with Tomas and Laure.” A pause, then he couldn’t help adding, “Besides, RJ is handling the first line. Wouldn’t want to fix something that’s not broken.”
Thompkins had a great poker face but Lars saw something cross his eyes. “RJ’s been doing great,” he said begrudgingly, as though he couldn’t believe his experiment had worked (or more likely, that his attempt to punish Lars had backfired). “Obviously I’ll keep him on the first line in Montana for his family.”
“And because he’s earned it.” Lars’s smile probably had a dangerous glint to it, because Thompkins immediately conceded.
“Of course. But once we’re back in Baltimore, we’ll?—”
“It must be nice to have a team with basically two top lines,” Lars said, pushing his luck. “Especially when one centers the PK and the other the Power Play. Always a top line ready to follow a special teams situation.”
Thompkins narrowed his eyes. “You looking to coach this team?”
“No, sir. But I’ve been in the playoffs every year I’ve been in this league, and I’d like to keep that streak going, so I do plan to speak up when I see opportunities for us to improve our odds.”
“You do realize this looks like a demotion for you, right? That doesn’t bother you?”
Lars snorted. “My resume is built on medals, trophies, and Cups. I’m on pace for fifty goals this season on a team that hasn’t even gotten above a Wild Card spot since mybrotherwas drafted. I’ll be fine.”
