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“Why do you think I went home right after dinner last night?”
Once the cake is cut, the servers begin setting out pieces on each table. Calista touches my leg but she looks at Wendy as she says, “I’m going to the ladies room. Want to come?”
“Sure,” Wendy agrees, and they both rise.
Murphy and I watch our girlfriends until they disappear.
“So far so good,” he murmurs.
“Yeah. It’s a battle to behave where she’s concerned,” I say, speaking softly.
“I bet. Wendy and I were in the opposite situation, pretending we were together. That was more fun.”
“No doubt. Once we don’t have to hide anything anymore, the four of us will have to go out,” I say.
“Yeah, before the season starts again. Do you ever wish we had a longer break between seasons?” he asks.
“That’s never been an issue before, but I’m realizing it’s going to be going forward. It makes sense when you think about it. If hockey is your passion and only concern, then you’d be looking forward to getting back in the thick of the season. But when you fall in love with someone, they become just as important, if not more important, than hockey.”
“That makes me feel better. I was worried I was losing my drive,” he says.
“I guess at some point that’s going to happen to all of us. I’d like to think I have a good amount of time left to play, but you never know until you’re in that moment.”
“You and I need to retire at the same time. I can’t imagine playing without you, dude,” he says.
I rise to my feet. “I gotta use the head.”
Murphy grins, standing. “Me too.”
We walk from the room together and he laughs. “Your need to piss doesn’t have anything to do with a certain teammate’s sister, does it?”
“I plead the fifth,” I say, smiling crookedly. We stroll down the hallway, stopping to take in the old photos and paintings hanging on the wall.
“Fancy meeting you two fellas here,” Wendy calls out, and Murphy’s head snaps in her direction so fast, I’m surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash.
Calista smiles at me as she approaches. She curls into my arm, placing her hand over my heart as she looks up at me. “You’re so handsome.”
Her upturned lips are too tempting to resist, so I lower down to capture them. Our tongues barely connect before I pull back, playing it safe.
“You son of a bitch.” I hear Darius’s voice and instantly know I’m the son of a bitch he’s talking about. I glance at Murphy and he immediately ushers Calista away from me. Wendy grabs her hand, leading her in the other direction.
I hold my arms out at each side. “I’m right here.”
“I told you to stay the fuck away from my sister, but you just couldn’t help yourself could you?”
“I didn’t want to stay away from her, Darius. Iwon’tstay away from her.” I’m purposely taunting him to get him to hit me first so I’ll have an excuse to punch his sanctimonious face. He can start this fight and I’ll finish it. My eyes flick down the hallway to check on Calista before returning to Darius just in time to catch the last blur of his punch before it hits me right above my eye. Even though I tried to tuck my chin, I’m still fucking rocked by it. I throw a couple of punches that end up being glancing blows as Darius shifts away from me. But the third punch seals the deal and has him covering his eye and groaning from the pain.
“Motherfucker,” he growls, gearing up to retaliate. Murphy steps in to try to calm him down, but when he places his hand on Darius’s shoulder, he catches an elbow to the eye socket.
“Goddammit,” Murphy shouts, bending over.
Darius realizes what he’s done. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know it was you.”
“You both need to calm the fuck down,” Murphy shouts. He points at Darius. “You need to listen to what he has to say. And you”—he points at me—“stop provoking him.”
“What could he possibly say that would make this better?” Darius asks Murphy.
“Why don’t you try asking me that?” I say. “If you didn’t have your mind already made up, you’d ask me about my feelings for your sister. And I’d tell you I’m not playing around with her. I’m crazy about her. I love her and I’m not going to hurt her.”
