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Elio and Preston played on the same line, the two perfectly in synch out on the ice. Coach Fields had remarked more than once that it was like they shared a hive mind. Preston seemed to know where Elio was going to end up before Elio even started heading that direction.
“Tonight’s the night,” Tank said. “With the El Train back, we’re gonna ride Carolina hard and put ’em away wet.”
“Sort of like I did with your mom last night,” Blake joked.
Tank took the obligatory swing, and the two men were right back at it.
Elio shook his head. “Can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I missed you idiots.”
Coulton, the goalie, placed a hand to his heart. “Idiots? Jesus, man. Have you been away so long you’ve forgotten your pet name for us? What happened to fucking morons?”
Elio snorted. “I’m trying to clean up my language,” he lied.
“Yeah right,” Tank said, calling him out. “Five bucks says you’re dropping the F-bomb two minutes after the puck drops.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Blake said. “I’m betting he cuts loose with a string of motherfuckers within the first thirty seconds.”
“You guys aren’t giving our boy enough credit,” Preston said, slapping Elio on the back. “My money is on him losing his shit when he realizes Paula The Relentless managed to score herself a season ticket last week and her seat is right behind our bench…near a few of the other girlfriends and wives.”
Elio whipped around on Preston. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Blake and Tank both groaned, claiming Preston had played dirty. Regardless, they promised to pay up after the game.
His teammates had taken to calling her Paula The Relentless several months ago, when she managed to “run into him” for the sixth time.
One perk to breaking his collarbone was that it had disrupted his schedule enough that he hadn’t been hitting the usual stomping grounds. He hadn’t seen her in months, and he’d thought that separation would break the chain once and for all.
“Tell me you’re kidding about her and the fucking seat,” he said to Preston, who gave him an apologetic look.
“I wish I could. She sort of doubled-down after you went on the injured reserve list, showing up at our after-game celebrations at the pub, hanging out at Max’s around lunchtime, even going to some of the closer away games. It’s driving her nuts that she can’t predict where you might be. I told you when you made that girl your booty-call that she was in it for a ring and that nice fat checking account of yours. Girls like that don’t go down easy. They come back swinging.”
Preston had offered that warning, but Paula had always played it so cool. Cool enough that he let himself enjoy the sex without strings, the hookups without effort.
“She wears your jersey to every game,” Blake added, though he looked much less apologetic than Preston and a lot more amused.
Elio had participated—gently—in practices and attended club meals and meetings, but on the Baltimore team, it was considered bad luck for an injured player to sit on the bench or travel with the team. And if there was one thing a hockey player never did, it was fuck around when it came to luck.
“Shit,” Elio muttered. He was going to have to pull Paula aside at some point and tell her—again—that they were over. The fact that he’d had that conversation with her a half dozen times before didn’t give him much hope that he’d be successful this time.
“Game time in five, boys,” the assistant coach yelled.
Elio turned around to close his locker when his phone pinged. Typically, he turned it off before a game, but since returning from the Poconos, he couldn’t make himself silence it. Gianna’s face flashed in his mind. He’d been waiting for her call for three days, and the more time that passed, the more anxious he became, nervous about the results, and worried that perhaps she had fallen back on old habits. He could just imagine her scrubbing her apartment to within an inch of its life.
He reached for it, his chest tightening when he saw her name, and he clicked to open the text.
I’m not pregnant.
Just three words—but they took him down.
He sank to the bench, feeling like he’d just been checked into the boards.
Elio had expected to feel relief. After all, he and Gianna weren’t a couple. Despite the fact they’d been acquaintances for years, they’d only really become friends last week.
They didn’t know each other well enough to become parents together. And neither of them was in a place career-wise where a baby made sense. He was still on the fence about his future in Baltimore, and Gianna was on the verge of going for her dream job.
So, this was a good thing.
Or at least that was what he was trying to convince himself.
