He answers my question with a question. “Why are you on the fence about training camp?”
“I haven’t been offered yet. The only thing you love more than hockey is my sister.” I pause. “Ah, that’s it, isn’t it? You’re worried about being away from her.”
He pulls something out of his pocket and flips it between his fingers. “I just got her back. I don’t want to risk losing her.”
“You won’t lose her. You might have a hard time with the distance, but you’ll manage.”
“Yeah. I know. But Philly’s looking a hell of a lot more alluring than Vancouver.”
“You gotta do what’s going to make you happy.”
“It’s about more than my career now.” He settles his forearms on his knees. “Talk to me about why you’re on the fence? What’s going on?”
“I don’t think I want it, not the way I should. And taking a spot from someone who’s driven to play just because I think it’s what I’msupposedto do doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“What’s really going on, Mav? I know I’ve been wrapped up in my own stuff, but this is about more than just hockey.” I catch a glimpse of the tiny purple fabric heart between his fingers and know it has to be something Lavender gave him—a talisman of sorts, I’m sure. Something to calm him while he’s away from her.
“You remember when I told you I hooked up with someone before the end of summer? I was late for skate practice and Coach made everyone do suicides?”
His brow furrows. “Oh yeah, that was brutal. Half the guys vomited.”
“I felt bad about that.” I was one of the people who vomited. Lack of sleep, food, and too much exertion is not a winning combination. “My hookup ended up being one of my professors in the fall semester.”
He fumbles the heart but manages to recover it before it hits the ground. “Wait, what? You slept with your professor?”
“Yeah, and to make a long story short, now, uh, we’re kind of dating.”
He purses his lips. “Is that the woman who was at the game a while back? Close to the end of the season? You two kept looking at each other.”
“For someone who’s usually oblivious to that kind of shit, you sure picked up on that fast.”
“Well, shit. That explains a lot.” He keeps flipping the heart between his fingers. “I knew something was going on. I hadn’t seen you with anyone in months. And even when your truck was in the driveway, you were hardly ever home. I guess now I know where you were always disappearing to. I can’t believe you kept that under wraps all this time.”
“I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position before the school year was over, and I couldn’t put Clover’s career in jeopardy. And then you and Lav moved to New York.”
“I get it. We were students; she was a professor. The fewer people who knew the better.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
He clinks his bottle against mine. “You don’t have to explain. Or feel bad, Mav. You always put everyone else before yourself.” His smile is a little sad. “I’m sorry you couldn’t talk to me about it.”
“It was the circumstances, and it wasn’t your fault. Hopefully you’ll get to meet her before you head to training camp.”
“That’d be good. I’d like that.” He leans back on his hands, looking at the sky. “How old is she, anyway?”
“Thirty.”
“Wow. That’s settling-down age.”
“Says the guy who’s been waiting to settle down with my sister since you could say her name.”
“Touché,” he says dryly. “You really do live up to your name.”
“How do you mean?”
“You’ve never been one to conform. You make your own rules. And you never take the path of least resistance.”
“Nothing good ever comes easy.”
