"He'll make a fine hockey player some day."
"Maybe," Sam said quietly. "He's started to play now, but I don't know how far I want him to take it. Not really sure I want him to live this life."
"It's not a bad life," Ryan said.
Sam gave him a tight smile. "It's not a great one either."
He pushed himself off the bed and headed into the bathroom. Ryan could hear him brushing his teeth as he tried to focus on the book again.
He couldn't blame Sam for feeling that way about the sport or feeling bitter about the hand hockey had dealt him. Sure, Sam loved hockey. Everyone on the team did. But not everyone had a wife who walked out on them because of it.
Ryan couldn't totally blame her either. During the season, there were quite a few nights when they were away from home. Lots of days that were taken up by practices and team meetings. But there are certain things you just have to accept when you're married to a professional hockey player, and there were plenty of wives and girlfriends who managed. Sam's wife wasn't one of them. He came home from a road trip one day and she said she was leaving. Her bags were already packed.
Ryan wasn't sure where she was now, and he wasn't about to ask Sam. Maybe that would be for a road trip in March or something. All he knew was that his new roommate was doing what Ryan thought was a pretty good job juggling being a single dad with being a professional hockey player.
Sam came out of the bathroom and dropped himself onto the bed, grabbing his phone from the nightstand to check on whatever he usually checked on. It was quiet and Ryan was settling in again, trying to figure out how the pieces in this mystery would start fitting together.
"So what's with the books anyway?"
Ryan turned to see Sam lying on his bed, still staring at his phone, but also trying to seem interested in a nonchalant way. It was kind of a manly hockey player way of asking if something is wrong without making it out to be some gossipy drama thing.
Ryan turned back to his e-reader and sighed. He wasn't going to get back into this book anytime soon, was he? And he wouldn't be able to get out of this line of questioning either.
"I was dating a girl, and she said she didn't want to see me anymore because I wasn't mature," he explained. "So I'm reading books to not think about her."
"Wait, you were actually dating a girl? Was it the one at your party that you kept looking at?"
This time, Ryan couldn't help but turn to his roommate, who was now actually looking at him.
"I didn't keep looking at her."
Sam smirked. "Yes, you did."
Ryan rolled his eyes to hide the fact that he knew very well that he had kept looking at Lucy sitting on the couch looking gorgeous. He wasn't at all as discreet as he thought he had been.
"It was the woman I kept looking at," he confessed. "Doesn't matter though because she decided we shouldn't see each other anymore. Apparently, I'm immature."
Sam laughed and Ryan couldn't help but scowl at the response. "She definitely has you pegged," he said. "Although the books thing is throwing that off."
"She gave me some books while I was trying to get over the loss this summer, and…" He paused, then shrugged his shoulders. "I realized I liked reading."
"She's had quite the effect on you," Sam said.
"I guess," Ryan muttered.
Sam gave him a small smile. "If you find something good, you should figure out how to hold on to it. Good things aren't always easy to come by."
"Says the man who just got divorced."
"Says me," he replied quietly.
Ryan turned and took a deep breath. "Sorry, that was kind of a cheap shot, wasn't it?"
"It was, but it's nice of you to notice that. Most guys don't." Sam looked back to his phone and started scrolling through something. "Besides, I still have a good thing going."
"Your wife came back?"
Sam turned and looked shocked. "Oh, hell no!" He laughed a little and looked past Ryan out the hotel window. "No, I have Griffin. Best thing around."
"He is pretty cool."
"He really is." He settled back down on his bed on the other side of the room. "Now get back to reading, rookie."
Ryan smiled and turned back to his book. He missed Lucy, sure, but she was right. There were things he needed to work on. His book for one. His game, especially his shot-blocking. Himself. Getting over Lucy wasn't really on his to-do list just yet.
But maybe things would be looking up for him soon. Maybe it was time to turn a corner and try something new. Stand up and be a leader on the team. Make a dent in his list of books on GoodReads. Maybe this would be his best season yet.
"Oh, and rookie? Don't think I forgot that I need to come up with a new nickname for you."
Maybe not.
