Page 41 of Hot Stuff
I wait where I am. No point heading to them. They just have to come here anyway.
“Hey, man,” Gannon says.
I hold up my fist for a bump as I say, “Hey.” Then I slip an arm around Shel and give her a squeeze. “Let’s go up. I’ve got something I need to tell you both.”
“Sounds serious,” Shelby says as I usher her into the foyer of Gannon’s building. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. All good.” And I mean it. It might be bad that my playing career is over but I’m good. Excited about the future. Which I probably shouldn’t be when I think about it. “Just some news that will hit the media in the next forty-eight hours I want you guys to hear from me first.”
Shel glances at Gannon and they share a look I can’t quite interpret but I’m sure it’s worry. We need to get upstairs so I can put their concerns aside.
We’re quiet on the elevator ride up and it’s not until we get inside Gannon’s place that anyone says a word. And they’re not the words I figured would be said because the first thing I see when I enter the apartment is Shelby’s suitcases in the living room.
“Is this your stuff?” I ask with a little confusion. She’s supposed to be in her apartment for a few more weeks.
“Yes! Isn’t it cool!” My sister’s voice is a little loud but I put it down to the excitement I can see in her eyes. “Gannon offered to rent me a spare room so I don’t have to worry about finding a place of my own and this way I get the best of both worlds—I get to live on my own but still have a roommate.”
Shel is grinning at me with such joy and with me moving out of New York I have to agree with her, this is the best outcome—aside from her moving into my place—I could hope for.
“Really? That’s great. You have no idea how worried I’ve been.”
I see them share another look but before I can explain, Shelby is talking.
“Why were you worried? You knew I’d be moving out of the shared apartment; we’ve talked about it a lot.”
Taking a step toward her I say, “Oh, no, not about you moving. About…” I glance at Gannon before turning back to Shel. “I’m. I. Shit.”
“What?” Shelby grabs both my hands. “What’s wrong? Tell me. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be all right.”
“So much is changing,” I manage through my constricting throat.
“That’s life, it’s always changing but what won’t change is our support of you. Wherever it is, we will both be beside you,” Gannon says as he moves closer.
And before I can think better of it, I blurt, “I’m retiring. And moving.”
“I. Sorry? What? Moving?” Shelby mumbles.
I laugh. “Out of that it’s the moving that got you?”
“Well, yeah, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Gannon moved here a couple of years ago,” Shel adds with a shrug.
“I’m retiring from playing,” I repeat to be sure she heard that part. “But I’m not retiring from professional hockey.”
“Are you joining the team’s couching staff?”
I’m not surprised Gannon voices the question. He understands the workings of a team and a few players move from playing to coaching or elsewhere in a hockey org.
“No.” Then I add something I’m sure he’ll pick up on. “Not for your team.”
Sure enough, his eyebrows rise, and he asks, “My team?”
“Yes, as of yesterday I’m no longer contracted to New York. And I can’t say for who or where my new job will be but it’s not here.”
“Oh, you’re leaving New York?” Shelby’s eyes fill with tears and her mouth scrunches in the way it usually does when she’s about to cry. “We won’t live near each other anymore?”
“No. So I’m really,reallyglad you’re sharing with Gannon. I won’t have to worry about you being on your own when I’m gone.”
“Even if she hadn’t moved in here, she wouldn’t be on her own,” Gannon says, his voice a little angry.
