Page 105 of My Brother's Enemy
Eric: I get that you got shit going on, but honestly, for the love of my manhole, call me.
Eric: Not for the love of my manhole. That was a weird autocorrect. I meant for the love of all that’s holy, and my phone is also gay apparently. CALL ME
Eric: Skylar said that according to your man, you are not responding to anyone. I’m here. We’re here. We care. Where are you, honey?
Eric: Waiting you out, but until then -- WE HAVE SIGNS! (for the hockey game tonight) We’re going. Will you be there? Please show up and bam, you’ll suddenly be on the jumbotron and everyone is going to go nuts. I know I will. The article about you and your brothers and all of the history with Skylar and her brother, it’s making a wave among the die hard fanatics.
Eric: I SEE YOU! YOU’RE HERE! YOU’RE HERE! LOOK AT ME. CAN YOU SEE ME WAVING?!
Eric: HIIIIIIIIIII, BITCH! (smiley face emoji with tears)
Eric: We’re behind the opponent’s goalie. I maybe should’ve told you. Hehe
I looked up at the sudden roar from the crowd and holy shit, Eric had called it. We were on the Jumbotron, me and Mal.
My mouth fell open, and that sent another roar through the crowd. A chant started, “Griffin’s…” I couldn’t make out the second word.
Mal leaned over and said, “They’re saying Griffin’s woman.”
I was officially dumbfounded.
This was just a temporary thing. A fad. That was it. The hockey blogs loved Tyler already, and they loved to hate my brothers, and mix in good old-fashioned scandal, and this story was a hot ticket. The hockey news must’ve been slow this week. By the next game, all of this would be forgotten. Except then I remembered that the next game was against Montreal.
Daniel’s team.
I blinked back tears, but the game started again, and the jumbotron moved on. Thankfully. It came back one more timebefore the end of the game. This time, I got myself under control enough to give a small wave and smile to the camera, trying not to come off as an ungrateful asshole. I just couldn’t fathom the attention.
Tyler glanced up a few times, but with his helmet on and the game in progress, there wasn’t a chance to really make eye contact.
“He’s playing better,” Mal noted. “They all are.”
I agreed. I’d missed the entire second period, but caught the first one. “Thatwasbecause of me?”
Mal shrugged. “A lot happened this week for them. Someone they’d begun to rely on disappeared. But it’s not all about you. They’ve been worried about Tyler, and I think some of them are already thinking about playing your brother in two days. The rivalry between your brothers and Tyler took some of our players by surprise. Plus, it’s the holiday. Some of them are missing their families. All of that’s combined together, I’m sure.”
Guilt washed through me. “I messed up.”
“None of that.” Mal reached over to squeeze my arm. “Right now, you’re not working. You’re off the clock. You’re here as part of the Grays family. Got it? Let us rally around you.”
I nodded, but my stomach remained unsettled. I was embarrassed to have caused all of this.
“Can I tell Tyler about Miriam?” I asked. “To help him understand?”
Mal’s face softened. “I already did. That’s how I got him to trust that I’d bring you back. He knows about Miriam.”
Tears sprang to my eyes again, but no, no, no. I would not let the Jumbotron catch me sobbing. I wiped them away and was grateful when they showed an image of Wolfie, the Grays’ wolf mascot, dancing with a drum in one of the fan sections.
During one of the breaks in the game, I pulled my phone out again and debated clicking on Tyler’s name. My finger trembled.I was scared to see what he’d sent me, but there was no avoiding it.
Tyler: You need to come back, baby.
Tyler: I have things to say, and I can’t say them unless you’re here. I need to say them to you, not to this phone so you need to come back.
Tyler: Come back to me.
Short, but to the point. Powerful.
There were so many other texts and calls and voice messages, and I’d get to them. I would. But I wanted Tyler’s to be the last one I read for now. Tucking my phone away, I sat back and watched him until the last buzzer sounded. As soon as the game ended, with New York winning five to one, Tyler skated to the middle of the rink and took his helmet off. He stared straight up at me. Standing, suddenly so nervous, I stepped to the edge of the suite. He raised his chin when he saw me.
