Page 77 of Holding Penalty

“Wow, all that stuff,” now Adriano joins in. “I’m sure if your wife were here right now, she’d swoon at your silver tongue.”

“Come on, Nash,” Noah piles on, “give us the details. Is life after marriage all that different?”

How the hell did I become the rookies’ big brother all of a sudden? Of all the people out there to ask deep questions about the meaning of life, I’m probably the last one.

Well, maybe last behind Vaughn.

And last behind Cooper, too, at least on the subject of love and relationships, about which he’s an incurable cynic.

Shit. Among the six of us who’ve grown close, maybe I am the best one to ask about that stuff.

Now that’s concerning.

I take a deep breath, trying to come up with the kind of answer I would give if this marriage were real.

“Yeah, it’s different. Coming home feels … better. It’s hard to explain. It’s like … it’s like you’ve never actually come home before, compared to what it’s like when the person you’ve married is waiting for you. And even when you travel, like we are now, it’s like you’re connected by some invisible thread, that vibrates with the strength of your bond, and you always feel it.”

A funny feeling glazes around my heart. I’m trying to pull the wool over my teammates’ eyes by coming up with the kind of answer a married man should give … but what I just said didn’t feel like a lie.

What I just described sort of is what I’ve been feeling these last several weeks, even if only slightly. Which should concern me.

Because time’s been moving awfully fast since Piper moved into my house. I don’t know why that is, but I do know it means that this phony marriage is going to be over in what’ll feel like the blink of an eye. And if I start to develop an attachment, it won’t be good.

“Damn, bro,” Hayden says, nodding his head like he’s really taking in my words and thinking them over. “When you try, you actually do make this marriage shit sound pretty appealing.”

Noah lets out a dreamy sigh. “I can’t wait to be married.”

“One day, for sure,” Hayden nods to himself. “What about you, Adriano? Looking forward to putting your man-whore ways behind you sometime in the future?”

Adriano blows out a sharp breath of air, and it carries a bitter sound. “My parents have a ranked list of women they want me to marry, all based on how the marriage will affect the family business.” A jaded look passes over his face. “Maybe I’ll give in one of these days, when I can’t play hockey anymore.”

“For real?” Cooper asks. “Your parents are that old-school?”

“They act like I’m literally killing them by being over here playing hockey instead of learning how to take over the business. Every time I visit, they throw a party and make sure I’m joined at the hip with a woman who’s related to the owners of a company my dad’s eyeing buying up or merging with.”

It’s well known that Adriano’s the heir to a major Greek shipping company. He caught a love of hockey when he was a kid, when his dad took him to America on a business trip and they ended up sitting front row at an NHL game.

His parents built him a custom hockey rink and hired top-notch trainers for him to hone his skills in a country where the game barely exists. But from what he says, they ended up regretting it when it turned out hockey was a love instead of a phase, and he chose to pursue that instead of the family business. He went to college in the US, played for their hockey team, and ended up making it into the pros.

Hayden makes a thoughtful clicking sound with his tongue. “Must suck to get divorced, though.”

“Dude!” Noah exclaims. “Don’t talk about the D-word in front of a newly married man. That’s, like, gotta be bad luck.”

Little do they know, Piper and I will be signing divorce papers in just a couple of months. A bad feeling weighs down my stomach.

“Just saying,” Hayden continues to muse. “Break-ups are bad enough, but a divorce? Sheesh. That’s gotta be rough.”

I fight back the frown tugging at the ends of my mouth.

“You’re still saying it,” Noah cringes. Every hockey player is at least a little superstitious, but Noah is more than most.

“Two years ago, Cole Fisher was in the running for MVP,” Vaughn says, joining the conversation in a rare display of sociability. “Then he got a divorce over the off-season. Played like shit all last year. Hope he’s got his head back on straight this season, but the first couple games haven’t looked so good.”

Hayden bounces his eyebrows. “That’s true.”

The battle against the frown gets a little tougher.

“I remember how shitty I played in sophomore year of college when I broke up with my first long-term girlfriend,” Adriano says. “Made me swear off real relationships for good, at least until I hang up my skates.”