Page 107 of Love Lessons
“Management is going to officially kick things off in a few minutes. I’m told you’re leaving for training camp in twenty-three hours. Tomorrow I’ll be eating pancakes in my jammies while you’re running ten miles on the beach in Southampton.”
A chuckle rolls through the room.
“So get some sleep tonight, fellas. But before I turn you over to the rigors of the season, I gotta announce your new captain. It’s been my absolute pleasure to support this team for my entire career. And now I get to pass the torch to someone who has had the same good fortune. Please give a round of applause for your new man: Ian Crikey.”
Applause swells as he pulls the jersey out of the bag again and holds it up high. And there’s my name for the whole damn world to see. He tosses it to me, and I catch it, red-faced and smiling.
“Crikey! Crikey!” chant a couple of my friends.
Then O’Doul pulls out two jerseys with an A for alternate captain on them and tosses them to Trevi and Castro. There’s more good-natured hooting and heckling.
But when all three of us have pulled our new jerseys down over our T-shirts, the room quiets down again. We all turn to O’Doul to hear his very last words of wisdom.
“Boys, this is the beginning of a new era in Brooklyn. Your team has everything it needs to succeed this year. You’ve got experience with the franchise. You’ve got great stats and a great lineup. You’ve got a strong will, and an even stronger work ethic. Be well, men. Make us all proud. I know you can do it. And I’ll be in row C, watching with a big fat box of popcorn. And a beer.”
That’s it. That’s the whole speech. We all stand up and cheer, clapping as O’Doul makes his way slowly to the doorway. He turns around once, giving us an overhead wave, and a wide smile.
Then he’s gone.
I’m a little sad, but in a good way. And my next thought is—I can’t wait to tell all this to Vera.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Two Months Later
VERA
October
“Baby, it’s time to go!”Ian calls from my living room.
“I know! I’m coming.” I put one last pin into my updo and check my look in the mirror. I’m wearing a merino dress in Bruisers purple with a low-slung black belt and ankle boots. My jewelry is silver, including oversized hoops in my ears.
Tonight is going to be big. But I’m ready.
The bedroom door opens, and I hear a whistle behind me.
When I spin around, I spot Ian in the doorway looking hot in another suit I’ve chosen for him. This one is charcoal, and he wears it with a deep-blue shirt. “What do you think?” I ask him.
“You’re just as hot in that dress as you were at our photo shoot last week, contessa. Now move your very stylish ass out of the apartment, because we’re going to be late.”
“You’re nervous,” I say, grabbing my bag and following him into the living room.
“A little.”
The admission surprises me. “He wouldn’t ask to meet you, if he wasn’t going to be nice.”
“I don’t need him to be nice,” Ian says, holding my door open for me. After I pass him to reach the hallway, he locks up with his own key.
Exchanging all kinds of keys is a recent thing. “You’re having a whirlwind romance,” Charli said a few days ago when I was issued a digital swipe card that allows me access to certain secure areas of the stadium where the Bruisers play their games. “That security pass means this is serious.”
And she’s not wrong. Every night that Ian is not on the road is a night we’ve spent together. Sometimes that means a date at a fancy restaurant. But, just as often, it means curling up together to watch a movie. Sometimes I wake up in the wee hours to find that Ian has slid into bed with me after a late flight back from a game.
Maybe I should feel shocked at the speed with which we’re moving. But I’m surprisingly calm and centered about the whole thing. Being with Ian just feels right to me. I don’t need to measure it or define it.
One big change, though, has been my interest in hockey. The preseason began barely a week ago, and tonight I’m going to my third game.
But first we’re on our way to meet Davis Deutsch, the young man who was injured in the fight against Ian last year.
