Page 74 of Secret Puck
A knock at the door is followed by Maverick’s voice. “Yo, Payne, let’s go.”
Heath brings his mouth to mine and kisses me softly.
“I think I’ll wait for you guys to leave,” I whisper.
“How are you going to get to the dorm?”
“I’ll walk.”
“No.”
“No?”
He finds his keys on top of his desk and tosses them to me and then kisses me one last time before he heads out.
26
Heath
We’re sittingaround the apartment before we head to the arena for tonight’s game. Rauthruss is FaceTiming Carrie, and it doesn’t annoy me quite as much as usual. Mav’s sharing his pre-game peanut butter sandwich with Charli, and Adam’s staring at the TV with a look of hard concentration.
I know he wears the weight of the world on his shoulders before games, worrying about how we’ll play. He takes a lot of that pressure on himself, most I think isn’t really necessary, but I guess that’s why he’s the captain.
“Scott, what are you going to do after graduation?” I ask him, surprised I don’t know.
Mav’s already signed with the Cats and Rauthruss’s family runs a hockey camp that he plans to take over.
“I’m premed, man. Going to medical school.”
“Really?”
The other guys look to me with equally surprised faces.
“I didn’t know.” Or maybe I did and forgot it already. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking past next week. Even my own future feels weird. Pro hockey is like this thing I’ve agreed to but doesn’t really feel like it’s going to happen. Two and a half years feels so far away.
“We’re gonna be busting people up and he’s going to be putting them back together,” Mav says, mouth full of peanut butter.
“I can see you being a team doctor or something; that’d be cool.”
He laughs and says sarcastically, “Thanks. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I’m sorry. You probably mentioned it before, and I let it go in one ear and out the other. Making plans isn’t really my thing.”
“Speaking of plans, is it okay if I crash here tonight?” Maverick asks. “I’m meeting up with that girl Holly later and I don’t want her to know where I live.”
“Dude, gross, stop hooking up on our couch. You have your own apartment for that.” Adam’s laughing as he says it though, the mood light before we have to get serious and ready for the game.
He looks to me. “What about you? I haven’t seen any girls running out in the mornings.”
“You’re never here,” Rauthruss points out, somehow managing to follow two conversations—his with Carrie and ours.
“Okay, well, fine, but I don’t see them zipping through to your room at night before I leave to go to Taryn’s either.”
Mav’s smile is big and mocking. “Yeah, Heath, what’s up with that?”
Well, now I know why I don’t try to make small talk with Adam.
I stand and start toward my room. “Just focused on hockey.” I come back with my bag. It’s a little early, but I need out of this conversation. “You guys ready to head over?”
