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Me: I doubt my mom would pay you for that, so I’m probably good.
Clara: !! What is that supposed to mean?
I squeezed my eyes shut, at war with myself, and finally typed out.
Me: Thanks for offering, but I’m fine. See you later.
The three dots danced on my screen for a minute, and I found myself almost desperate to receive her next words. But they didn’t come.
And after five full minutes, the dots were gone and I shoved my phone back into my pocket, only to jump as it rang.
Assuming it would be her, I answered. “Hey.”
“Hey Slick.” Shit. Not Clara. Rock Stevens. He always seemed to catch me at my low points, which was why I considered him to be our second string team psych.
“What’s good, Rock?”
“Life, man. Gotta love summertime.” Rock sounded like he was living the dream. He was probably calling me from a lounger in his backyard pool, holding a beer in his other hand while Drea floated nearby in a bikini.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Why do you sound like you’ve been crying in your chili?”
I cleared my throat and then cursed myself for practically confirming his suspicion. “I’m not.”
“Uh huh. Okay.”
“What’s going on, Rock? I need to get going in a second here.”
“As your captain, I’m just checking in. Officially making sure you’ll be ready for the exhibition game next month and in top form.”
“Got back on the ice today.” Not that one skate with a five-year old and a kiss on center ice would quite count as being in top form.
“Good. That’s good.” He was quiet a moment. “You need to talk about something, man?”
“We are talking, asshole.”
“Fine, be like that.”
“You sound like you’re five now.”
“Five times better looking than you are? Five times faster? Five times smarter than you?”
That one hurt. “I gotta go.”
“Hey, first—Mizzoni’s having another barbecue next weekend if you’re up for it.”
“He’s gonna let us back after Deck and Cade got crumbs all over his new couch?”
“He moved the PlayStation outside to the covered patio. He said we’re not allowed in the house.”
I burst out laughing, and it felt good to be distracted for a moment from my funk. “Of course he did.”
“Saturday night, okay?”
“Yeah. Rock?” I hesitated, but it was worth a shot. “Cool if I bring someone?”
“Not if it’s one of your usual someones. No one wants that drama. You’re the reason we had to make a rule.”
