Page 5 of Slapshot
“Checking up on daddy’s investment probably.” Patrick holds up a skate.
“Did you hear anything, Vonne?” Paxton asks.
“What?” I glance up and then process their conversation. “Nah.”
“Him?” Patrick points the skate in his hand toward me now. “He doesn’t see chicks, only hockey.”
Tate folds his arms over his chest. “Yeah, but she’s hockey royalty, so I think it’s a gray area.”
“Verdict?” Paxton prompts and the three of them look to me expectantly.
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” My mind is still spinning with disappointment from being demoted.
Patrick groans. “Rook, you’re killing me.”
“Kaitlyn Dalager was talking with Coach Garfunkle at the end of practice.”
“Okay. So?”
“Kaitlyn Dalager,” Patrick says slowly, like it should mean something.
“Am I supposed to know who that is?” An image of the pretty girl I saw a few minutes ago flashes in my head. I’m positive I’ve never seen her before. She’s the kind of girl you remember.
“Declan Dalager. He played for the Bruins, owns Dalager Sports.”
There’s a groan that I’m pretty sure comes from Patrick.
“He’s alum of the university. His senior year Moo U won the Frozen Four and then the next year, his rookie season with the Bruins he won the Stanley Cup,” Paxton adds. “His daughter Kaitlyn transferred here this year as a junior.”
“Right, yeah, his name is everywhere.” And it really is. Trophies and jerseys, plaques. That’s the kind of legacy I want to leave behind.
“I heard she got kicked out of her last college,” Tate says, voice lowered.
Patrick snorts. “I heard she was sleeping with a married professor and the wife found out.”
“I wonder what her dad thought of that,” Paxton says with a contemplative stare.
All their chattering is hurting my already pounding head. Who the hell cares?
I picked up hockey later than most of these guys. I was playing football with absolutely no desire to touch any other sport when my parents split, and my mom moved to Minnesota. My brother and I decided to stay in Arizona for the school year, which meant summers we had to spend a month away from our friends sitting in her apartment with no friends and nothing to do.
What started as something to keep us occupied, camps and then pickup games with guys we met, turned into an obsession for me. I quit football altogether my senior year to focus solely on hockey.
The twins are dressed and ready to go first. My limbs are heavy and I’m sluggish. I’m not really in the mood to drink and kick back. I don’t have time for a pity party. I need to figure out how to fix this and do it. Fast.
“Meet you guys at the Biscuit?” Paxton asks me and Tate.
“Yeah.” I nod my agreement. “Tate, can I get a ride?”
Tate runs a hand through his wet hair. “Sure thing.”
“Oh,you’reactually coming, Adler?” Patrick mocks with a smirk. “No romantic dates planned with Maggie tonight?”
Tate’s mouth pulls into a smug smile. “She’s meeting us there.”
We’re all still trying to get used to Tate having a girlfriend. Maggie is cool though.
When they’re gone, Tate sits to wait for me. “What’d Coach say?”
