Page 20 of Penalty Box
“Okay, Romeo,” he said, slapping my leg to get my attention. “What’s with the face?”
“I’ve had her number for almost a day, and I haven’t texted her. I don’t know what to say. It’s so easy when she’s right in front of me, but now… I don’t know. I don’t want to say something stupid and make her regret that she ever met me.” It came out of me all in one go, making my chest feel a hundred times lighter. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been walking around with that weight since last night.
“You’re overthinking it,” he said, easy as a breeze. As though he were some kind of relationship guru, even though none of his girlfriends ever lasted longer than a weekend.
He slid to the edge of my bed, one leg dangling over the side, and leaned forward. It was clear by his body language that he was about to impart some valuable ancient wisdom that I wouldn’t want to miss.
“You start off bold,” he said, deadly serious. “First text:Hey.”
He let it hang there, reading my face for I don’t know what. Was I supposed to fall at his feet and praise his genius?
“What else?” I pressed, knowing there had to be more.
“After the period? Nothing.” And he looked so pleased with himself too. “Hey, then period. Then you wait for her to reply.”
“But… there’s nothing to reply to?” My hopes were quickly sinking, and I was beginning to regret that I’d mentioned anything to him.
He winked at me, and sauntered back to his side of the dorm. “Trust me, she’ll reply. That’s when you hit her with the next one.”
“I’m not sure I’ve hit her with anything just yet,” I muttered.
Hunter clapped his hands together a few times. “Pay attention, Calder. I’m giving you gold here.”
Just the look on his face was enough to get me laughing. He was caught halfway between love guru and class clown. It wasn’t long before he was laughing too, still trying to give me advice through it.
“Tell her— tell her…” He took a breath to stop laughing long enough to finish his thought. “Tell her, you’ll bring the country if she brings the rock ‘n roll.”
“I understand now why you’re single,” I said, pushing off the bed and grabbing my gym bag. “Come on. Time to hang up your Cupid’s bow and put some skates on instead.”
He was still trying to convince me as we left the dorm, ready to meet the others at the team bus.
“It’s poetic,” Hunter said. The laughter was done now, and he was back to being solemn. “Lass, sass, crevasse… all evocative words you can use to rhyme with her name. They love when guys use rhyming words.”
I groaned and sank lower in my seat, just as we rolled into the lot at the Los Angeles Kings arena, which was bigger than ourarena back home. A whole lot fancier, too, since they shared the space with the Lakers.
“How about we quit the advice column and get our heads in the game?”
Now that we were actually here, it was easier to get him to drop it. He slapped me on the back and said, “Any time, bro. I’ve got your back.”
Hunter jogged ahead to catch up with Grayson and the others, and I lagged near the middle of our team as we marched into enemy territory. Everything felt sharper, like the season finally had teeth now.
The walk to the locker room was a mix of music, protein shakes, and pre-game rituals. I passed three guys doing a weird dance in the hallway and another who had earbuds in, mumbling zen affirmations like he was about to fight the Dalai Lama.
As soon as I stepped inside, Hunter’s voice rose above everything. Always the hype man.
Except this wasn’t what I thought it was.
“Listen up!” Heads turned to give him their full attention as he jumped onto the bench in front of his locker. “I’m proud to announce that Zamboni Girl finally has a name. It’s Cass, and our boy, Calder’s got it baaaaaad.”
I wanted to disappear inside my locker. There was a round of whoops and whistles, and someone cracked a towel on my thigh.
“Keep it down, would you? Coach is on his way.” I fielded a dirty pair of socks to the face, and two or three more cheers.
“Y’all are relentless,” I told Hunter once he came back down to solid ground again.
“We’re supportive,” he said, grinning wide. “This is a brotherhood.”
That’s when Grayson appeared, and pulled me aside. He never said much, so I knew I was in for it when that happened.
