Chapter 18
Starting the season on the road was always rough. Players would much rather be in front of their home crowd when they take their first steps on the ice. But that isn't always how things work out.
Ryan was starting his third season with the team tomorrow night and he had never started one at home. Three years as a professional hockey player at the highest level and never once knew what it was like to step on home ice on opening night. Tomorrow night, the Pirates were starting the season in Los Angeles. The night after that was a game in San Francisco. They didn't even get a lucky break by having their major west coast trip in the middle of January when they could get out of the wintry cold of Detroit.
Not that any of it really mattered to Ryan anyway. It had been three weeks since Lucy broke up with him. Although maybe that wasn't the right term, which Lucy reminded him several times that night. They weren't really a couple, she wasn't really his girlfriend, so did they even really break up at all? And if it was all just a casual relationship like Lucy made it out to be, why did it hurt so bad to watch her walk away?
A few of the guys had decided to go out tonight after dinner and have some drinks before the season started, but Ryan didn't feel up to it. Instead, he went back to the hotel room after dinner and changed out of his suit into some track pants and a t-shirt. This season, his roommate on the road was Sam Martin, a hockey veteran who had a little boy at home. Team captain Jordan King had matched Ryan up with a veteran player every year he had been there. Ryan understood the decision. After all, Jordan did it for quite a few of the guys. It was a way to balance out some craziness from the young players with the maturity from the older ones.
Normally, Ryan appreciated the plan but still did his own thing. Sometimes that meant a bar the night before a game or being at the top of the list of team pranksters on the road. He and a few other guys once moved Matt Jackson's bed out into the hallway complete with little mints on the pillows. It was just one of those fun things to do when they got stir crazy on the road.
But tonight was not one of those nights. Maybe it was some nervous jitters about the start of the season. Maybe it was spending the first night on the road with a different teammate this season. Maybe it was the image of Lucy's dark hair and silky body haunting him. Whatever it was, he wasn't interested in staying out. He just wanted his comfortable bed with his track pants and his e-reader.
That was another thing that had changed this season. Normally, he would wind down by surfing Reddit on his phone or playing some video game on the latest handheld system the team was into. But last week, he went on a bit of a book buying binge. Perhaps it was some sort of shopping therapy to try and boost his spirits after what went down with Lucy.
All he knew was that he spent three hours on his computer buying a new e-reader and a bunch of books to load it up for the season. He also created an account on GoodReads, which he had heard about after he sent a tweet asking fans for book recommendations. His to-be-read list already had almost 100 books because of their suggestions. He even bought some "cozy murder mysteries" that featured graphic covers with cats or teapots or something. He didn't even feel any embarrassment when he clicked the "Buy" button for those. Sure, they sounded like some rerun episode ofMurder, She Wrotethat his grandmother used to watch, but that wasn't a bad thing.
Whether it was a thriller or a cozy mystery or even a Sherlock Holmes book — he had one of those too — the reason for reading was still the same as it was when he picked it up at the cabin back in the summer. He needed something to distract him. This past summer, it was to distract him from hockey. Now, it had to distract him from Lucy.
"Hey, do you mind if I call home real quick?" Sam asked him.
"Nope, go ahead," Ryan said. "I'm just reading."
Sam gave him a skeptical look from his spot on his bed. "Reading what?"
"The Da Vinci Codeby Dan Brown. A few fans suggested it when I asked for recommendations last week."
Sam's skeptic look was getting stronger. "You're reading a book? Like a book book?"
"I thought I would try something different on road trips this year," he said quietly.
"So you're trying books?"
"Yeah."
"Instead of going out to have drinks with the guys?"
"Yeah." Ryan shrugged. "But it totally won't bother me that you're talking on the phone if that's what you're worried about."
Sam gave him a small smile. "I'm not worried about that. I'm worried that you're some sort of alien who has taken over Ryan McCloud's fleshy body for your own."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not fleshy, I'm muscular. And it's just a book."
"OK, rookie," Sam said as he turned to his phone screen.
"This is my third year with the team."
Sam gave him a small laugh. "Then we'll have to come up with a new nickname that will annoy you just as much."
Ryan groaned slightly and then turned to his book as Sam dialed home. He was only through the first few chapters after a nap on the plane ride out cut into his reading time, but he was getting sucked into it. He had never thought he would ever consider himself a world traveler or something like that, but Paris was sounding more and more interesting as he read. Maybe he would go to the Louvre himself next summer during the break. Maybe he would go with some of his teammates. Maybe he could take Lucy.
Nope, he needed to push that thought out of his head. Lucy told him that they would still be friends, and they would have to find a way to do that considering their relationships with Andy and Sydney. But that didn't mean he could take Lucy to Paris with him as friends. It would be weird.
He was just finishing up a chapter when he heard a small voice yelling at him from across the room.
"Mr. Ryan!"
He pretended like he was shocked by the sound, grabbing his chest for some extra emphasis. "Whoa! You scared me there, little G."
