"You'll be fine. Their D is slow on the right side. Use it."
"I know their D is slow on the right side."
"I know you know. I'm saying it anyway."
The light changes. I pull through the intersection.
"How's your week?" I ask.
"Good. The win the other night was good. Off yesterday. Skated this morning."
"And now that I'm gone you decide to find the tape?"
He laughs. Short, easy. "Been saving it. Waiting for you to leave so I could finally play."
"That checks out. I was clearly the problem."
"Obviously."
The joke lands the way I built it to land. Light. Two guys who can do this in their sleep. His points-per-game since October is a number I have looked at on my phone more than once, and the number is higher than last season and the season before that, and the small quiet part of my brain has already analyzed it and it says he is playing the best hockey of his career in the first season I am not beside him. I don't know what to do with that. So I make it a joke and the joke covers it and the covering is the whole point.
"How'd you feel on the ice?" I ask.
"Fine. Good." The careful word. The word he uses when the answer is longer than he is willing to give. “Luca, I'm sorry about the other night. The texts. I was being weird."
"You weren't being weird."
"I was. I saw the photo and I got in my head about it. That's not your problem."
"It's not a problem."
"Okay." His voice settles. "Okay. Good."
The facility parking lot appears off the highway. I signal, turn, pull in and park.
“You know the arena cat I was telling you about? He had kittens. Well, I guess it’s actually a she.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, they are cute. Small.” I think about the ratings I have started for the litter.
“What’s going to happen to them?”
“There are some guys on the team who want to adopt them. I started a point system for who gets first choice of adoption with rules and regulations I put together. I have a detailed spreadsheet for it.”
“Of course you do,” he laughs. “Are you going to adopt one?”
“I don’t know. It’s a couple months until they are ready to be adopted, so I have time.”
“I think you should.”
"Maybe,” I say. “I should go. Pre-game."
"Yeah. Good luck tonight."
"Thanks."
"Call me after?"
