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“Okay, I’m putting this in hockey terms so you can understand,” Casey started. “The way you and Claire communicate, think of it as passing the puck. If you keep your stick stiff, the pass is just gonna bounce off. If you cushion it a little, compromise a little, then you’ll actually catch the pass. You need to give her somegive, dude. Stop talking in absolutes with her and start finding solutions.”
Duke nodded. “Okay, yeah.”
“So, the pizza fiasco– that was you having stiff hands. I’d start making an effort to take her out. Find places that offer a healthy medium for the two of you. Let’s face it, you’d be happy eating shitty concession stand food for the rest of your life, and she’s obviously not feeling that. But you’re expecting her to break routines that she’s had her whole life practically overnight, and that’s not gonna happen. Be cautious, be gentle, and be non-judgmental. Give her some cushion.”
“Cushion. Right.” Duke nodded.
Casey tugged on his hat brim, thinking. “And as for the coaching thing, you’re going to tell her gently that she’d make a great coach, but you were coming to her as someone who has had some rough coaching experiences, so you had concerns, but you’d like to be helpful. Good?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Can you repeat that so I can write it down?” Duke asked, pulling out his phone.
“No,” Casey practically barked, then he slid his blue eyes to mine. “Your turn little brother. You make a move with Red Scarf Girl yet?”
How the fuck did he already know I was gonna talk about her?
Before I could answer, he blew his whistle twice and the guys started gliding back toward the boards to grab some water. His twins were wrestling with each other in a heap on the ice by the far blue line.
“Fine. I like her. A lot. But she doesn’t date hockey players. I’m in the friend zone,” I told him.
Casey’s face broke and he actually laughed. “How the fuck did that happen to you again?”
“Huh?” Duke hopped down from the boards and retrieved a puck to stickhandle with while listening in on our conversation.
“Fiona Haley. From high school. Ring a bell?” Casey asked Duke.
“Ohhh,” Duke laughed. “Yeah, you were whipped, bud. Forgot about her.”
“Shut it. Not as whipped as you were back in the day,” I countered, stealing the puck from him.
“So what is Red Scarf Girl like?” my brother cut in.
“Josie?” I sighed. “She’s super independent. Very bossy. She has this teacher voice trick that she uses.” I laughed just thinking about it. “She tries to boss everyone around… even Coach.”
Casey whipped around to meet my gaze. “Wait, what? Coach?”
“Yeah…”Damn.I forgot he didn’t know about that yet.“She’s Coach Petersen’s daughter,” I admitted.
Casey paused for a second, then let out a loud bark of laughter. Duke practically doubled over.
“What’s the big deal?” I shoved my brother, feeling super defensive now. “Stop.”
In point two seconds, Casey had me in a headlock.How the hell could he always do that so quickly?
“That is probably the one girl on this planet I’d advise you to stay away from, little brother,” Casey said, laughing in my ear.
I tried to break free of the headlock, but he wasn’t budging. After wrestling for a minute or two, I finally had to tap out.
Casey shoved me away from him and shook off his hockey glove to wipe at his eye– yeah, he was literally laughing so hard he was fucking crying. “Damn. That’s funny.” He turned his attention to his players, who were looking between all of us confused as hell.
“Suicides,” Casey announced to the group, pointing his stick to the far end of the ice.
His team groaned.
“Let’s get moving, c’mon!”
His players begrudgingly skated to the end of the ice, and Casey blew his whistle to start them.
“You sure you’re equipped to date Coach’s daughter? That could come with a lot of repercussions. I’d hate to see you end up banished and playing in, like, Russia. And really… If any of these guys wanted to date my future daughter?” He snorted. “Hell fuckin’ no. Not with the way I hear them talk in the locker room.”
