Page 117 of The Last Guy On Earth
“Are you mad at us?” he asks in a squeaky voice. “You haven’t called Grandpop at all. I know it’s weird we didn’t tell you before we left Colorado.”
I hold back a sigh. “Buddy, I’m not mad at you. I’m a little irritated at your grandpop. But it’s not the kind of thing I can’t get over.”For you, is the unspoken end of that sentence. Toby deserves a family who isn’t constantly at war, like mine had been. He deserves a happy childhood, with day camp and friends and regular visits with his mom.
“Okay, because I think he’s really proud of you, too. You should have seen him yelling at the TV screen.” Toby laughs.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. The thing that Toby doesn’t understand is that it’s easy to be proud of someone when they’re winning. It’s how you treat them when they’re losing that matters. “Let’s hope game three is just as successful.”
“You got this!” he says.
“And tell your mom I said hi, and that I will put three hours’ worth of calls in her account.”
“Cool!”
I sign off with Toby. And now I’m lying on the bed, too tired to finish getting ready for bed. Until there’s a knock on my door.
That’s motivating, so I pick up my weary body and open the door for Clay.
He slips inside, still wearing his suit and rumpled shirt, a troubled look on his face. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.”
He crosses his arms and leans back against my door, looking uncomfortable. He’s not even staring at my mostly naked body, which isn’t like him.
“Do I have to do everything around here?” I gripe. Then I cross to where he’s still hovering, and I kiss him.
His hands fly to my shoulders, and he kisses me back. Thoroughly. But he still looks troubled when I release him.
“Clay,” I say with a sigh. “Come on.” I loosen his necktie. “Take off this getup. Check out my shower. Relax. You earned it.”
“Did I?”
“Yes, fool.” I thread the tie out of his collar and aim it at a chair. Then I slip his jacket off his shoulders. “At ease, captain. You’re off the clock.”
He sighs and starts in on his shirt buttons. “We’ve got one guy out with the kind of back injury that can fuck you up forever. And one guy who thought it was worth risking hisheart functionto take some uppers.”
“Yeah, that sucks. But they’ll both be okay eventually. You gettin’ all bent over it won’t actually help. You do know that, right?”
He leans his forehead against my shoulder with a thunk. “I guess.”
“Aw, baby. No.” I run my hands through his hair. “You’re just tired.”
“Am I? What are we doing, Jetty?”
“We’re doing our best.”
“Hockey’s all I have, and I’m fucking it up.”
I laugh. “Says the winning coach who just beat Carolina in their own barn.”
“How come you’re so wise tonight? In the dressing room, you knew just what to say.”
“Eh. Because I’ve had to develop endless patience with people who make bad decisions.”
“I love you,” he says quietly.
My heart swells. “I know. Now take a shower because it always calms you down.”
He walks wordlessly into my bathroom, and I’m calling it a win.
