I pick my shoulders back up and plaster on the best smile I can muster up, once again linking my arm with his. “Come on, old man. Before your blood sugar gets low.”
He scoffs but lets me drag him out of his office and toward the dimly lit parking lot. Thankfully for the rest of the night, he doesn’t ask about Lucas or Amiyah or school. Or even about me.
It’s a good thing too because I don’t think I have it in me to have yet another conversation about my life without finally admitting that I no longer know what I’m doing.
I’ve just been letting the waves of life toss me back and forth, not bothering to fight against the current. There’d be no point. There’s nothing for me on the shore anyway.
Three
Lucas
“Yo, Nole!” I call out into the showers, my voice echoing off the tile walls and surprisingly loud enough to hear over the running water.
“He’s in the locker room!” Banks, one of our goalies, responds somewhere in the room but I don’t care enough to look around.
I skate with these guys, sure, but I don’t feel the need to catch a glimpse of whatever they’re packing under their uniforms. I walk back out of the shower room, a little further down the hallway and into our team’s main locker room.
The scent of musk and sweat slaps me in the face the moment I step into the locker room but luckily for me, I’m just as used to the stench as I am to the bright overhead lights.
My eyes wander around the room, in search of the blond asshole who I’ve come to call my best friend.
Being one of the tallest guys on the team, he’s usually hard to miss.
That and his voice tends to not blend in so well with locker room chatter when he’s telling people off for standing too close.
When I don’t find him here, I decide that I’m going to slip out of my uniform before I continue my search.
“Moose,” I call out to the brunette who’s sitting in front of his cubby, nothing left of his uniform besides his pants that hang loosely on his bulky frame.
Thank god for small favors.
He’s been known to walk around the locker rooms in his birthday suit, as if his body is a gift from god that we should all appreciate.
As I get closer, I hear part of his conversation about one of his hookup excursions. He doesn’t even bother to look at me. I fist bump another teammate, Stone, as I sit myself down in front of my cubby that’s right next to Stone’s and Moose’s.
“Hey, Callahan.” Stone nods, going back to meticulously putting his things back into his gym bag.
We give each other quick praises for our plays during the game as I untie my skates. I end up throwing one of my socks toward Moose, who still is too busy talking with a few of the other guys.
When the sock hits his leg, he flinches and whips his head in my direction.
Moose finally turns to me, eyes wide, hair sticking out in different directions, obviously on a high from winning. I’m already imagining the shit he’s about to try to drag me into just with the excuse of tonight being our last game of the season.
Usually, I’d be down for whatever but there’s always something bittersweet about our last game. Doesn’t matter if we win or not. It simply just adds to my countdown of college almost being over and my career as an official member of the New Jersey Snakes starting.
I was drafted in my first year of college. Then I was told I wouldn’t be signed until I graduated. It was a win-win for me. I had the knowledge an NHL team wanted me while also being able to experience college, and even though it’s exciting to finallylive out my dream, I know a big part of me is going to miss Kingswell.
After tonight, I’ll just do what I always do. Find something to distract myself from waiting for the next season. Otherwise I might just go stir-crazy.
“What the hell was that for?” Moose complains.
I shrug my shoulders and start to discard the rest of my uniform because I have a feeling I won’t be able to head to the showers quite yet.
“Ignoring me.”
He rolls his eyes but turns to face both me and Stone. “Callahan, tell Stone that Allie Holmes did in fact kiss me. Fucker thinks I’m lying.”
I laugh. “Dude, it was more like you kissed her and she let you for all of three seconds before pulling away.”