Page 9 of Puck Drop
“The fuck does that even mean?” the first one chuckles. “We don’t have anything in our contracts for that.”
“True, but I think they do,” someone else chimes in. “She could lose her job if you went after her.”
“Bullshit,” the first person huffs. “That never gets enforced. No one cares about shit like that.”
I roll my eyes at that and decide to insert myself into the conversation.
“I can assure you that it does get enforced, and I am proof that it can happen.”
The words bring everyone’s attention to me, and I almost regret saying anything. This is not how I wanted to strike up a conversation.
“That’s just stupid,” one of them comments, while all the others agree.
They continue asking me questions about it until we get to our cars. I throw my large bag with all the gear inside the trunk before turning to walk with them toward the pub.
“I’m still going to request to meet with the new nutritionist,” someone mumbles quietly, and I bust out laughing.
While a strange way to break the ice with them, it does help. There is easy banter between us as we make our way toward the front door to the building.
“Place is packed,” I call out to Sebastian when I notice him waiting for us.
His eyes widen in excitement. “Literally everyone is here,” he tells me. “And I think some other people were invited, too.”
“You mean people not associated with the Aces?” I clarify.
“Yup,” he confirms. “I really hope to meet someone here before my Aunt Kathy comes to Austin to visit me.”
My eyebrows go up at hearing that. “What does your aunt have anything to do with you dating?”
“Dude,” he shakes his head at me. “She’s been trying to set me up for a couple of years now.”
“I take it that her attempts have been unsuccessful,” I chuckle.
Sebastian opens the door to the pub, holding it open for a few of us to walk in before following as well. He is back by my side in no time, and he starts looking around for a table with available seats.
“She tried to hook me up with this chick,” he continues our previous conversation like we’d only had it on pause for a bit. “She was Aunt Kathy’s boss,” he explains. “Hot but crazy.”
“Who?” I ask. “The chick or your aunt working for her?”
He eyes me with disbelief. “The chick. She was hot but on the crazy side. And her boyfriend was in the way quite a bit.”
“She had a boyfriend and still went out with you?”
“Eh,” Sebastian shrugs. “She was trying to pretend like they were not together, but I got the message loud and clear when he found us together once and kissed the hell out of her.”
I take a moment to look over the crowd as I process what Sebastian just told me.
“That’s a lot you unloaded on me,” I finally say. “It’s always best when you meet someone organically. I can only imagine that it’s uncomfortable when your aunt is trying to force you to hang out with some chick.”
“Eh,” he shrugs again. “Aunt Kathy’s always felt responsible for me. My mom was her sister. She died when I was really young. My dad was having a hard time balancing a shitload of hours at the office while also taking care of me, so Aunt Kathy stepped in. That’s how I know she means well when she tries to set me up.”
I nod in understanding at everything he’s telling me. Our life stories are fairly similar. I, too, lost a parent when I was really young. My father died in a freak accident at work. My mother never fully recovered from the shock. Her way of coping was to buy me all the expensive things to assuage the guilt she felt every time she’d bring a new man home. She triedsohard to find with someone else what she had with my father. But she didn’t seem to grasp the fact that people were different, and she was different with them than she’d been with my father.
Either way, her guilt helped to pay for the endless hours of hockey, the equipment and camps. I was passionate about the sport, and I hoped to become a professional player. That’s why it was such a huge deal when the Sliders picked me, and an even bigger thing when they decided to drop me.
“Women,” I shake my head at no one in particular, feeling like the only reason I am now in Austin is because of all my troubles involving the opposite sex.
Sebastian pats me hard on the back. “You’ll find someone, dude. The chicks in Texas are a lot more obsessed with hockey than they were in New York,” he informs me. “There are puck bunnies all over the damn place, and a lot of them travel, too, when we have away games.”
