Page 23 of Puck the Halls
“Are you really, as a nun, as a servant of God, telling me that I should belesshappy?” Crew asks.
I know him well enough by now that, even with my eyes shut, I can hear that he’s more amused by this than offended.
“Certainly not,” she says. “I just find it interesting. And I love that your family has made you happy and content. Though it wouldn’t hurt you to get a little faster when you’re out there. Alexsei is still skating fast and he’s happy and settled as well.”
I almost chuckle out loud because I have had the same conversation with people. Crew was definitely slower than he used to be and is absolutely slower than Alexsei, who has managed to keep all of his stats up, despite the fact that he also is in a committed polycule.
However, Crew is still one of the fastest guys in the league and Alexsei isn’t a competitor, he’s a teammate. So it’s all good.
“You have to come to a game,” Crew says. “Seriously Agatha, I need you at a game where you can give me a pep talk before and then tell me how wonderful I am after.”
We already offered the owner’s box to the ladies in exchange for the ride when they turned down every offer of money and made us stop thanking them. They have been to games before, but swear they don’t need all the grandiosity of sitting in the owner’s box.
“If I do, I’ll want to be right by the glass near the player’s bench where I can tell you what you’re doing wrong,” she tells him.
That can be arranged.
“I’ll make it happen,” Crew tells her. “Want to come to practice?”
She laughs. “You don’t want that.”
“As long as you don’t meet with Nathan about me,” Crew says.
“Whether you’re living with him or not, Nathan is going to have to start looking at some of these new draft options if you keep slowing down. I can’t believe he passed up Atlas Martin. The guy is phenomenal.”
“He doesn’t need a new Center,” Crew says quickly. “He has the best one in the league.”
As much as I love when Crew gets taken down a peg or two, and as much as I want to pretend I’m still asleep back here so everyone will leave me alone, now I have to jump in.
I don’t, however, open my eyes.
“Agatha, you know as well as I do that the last thing the Racketeers need is a hot headed, nineteen-year-old coming in and thinking he knows better than everyone.”
“You could shape him up,” Agatha says of Atlas, the phenom out of Canada.
“Come on. I thought we were friends,” I say. “Don’t wish Atlas Martin on me.”
Of course we had looked at Atlas. Every team in the league looked at Atlas. He’s an amazing player. But he has absolutely no control over his emotions.
“The boy will grow up. Being with a group of men like the Racketeers would be great for him. I’ll admit he has a temper problem.”
“And an ego problem,” I say. “And as Crew said, we already have an incredible Center. He still has years ahead of him. Where would I put Atlas anyway?”
“Thanks, Boss,” Crew says.
I’m definitely gonna hear about this later. But I mean it. I wouldn’t trade Crew even if I wasn’t sleeping with his wife.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” Agatha says.
I crack an eye now and look at her. She’s turned slightly in her seat watching me.
“That was a roundabout way of finding out if Crew is talking about retirement?” I ask.
“Of course. He has a beautiful wife, a couple of kids, he’s slowing down…”
“Okay, Agatha, we’ve got it already,” Crew says.
“People have been talking,” she says with a shrug. “He has numerous endorsements and you know that anyone with a microphone would be happy to put him behind it. He could be doing a lot of things other than playing.”
