Just Another Season

by Longley, Avery J.

  Making a snort noise akin to the one Ryan had, it was Luke’s turn to shake his head a bit, eyeing his cousin and reminding him softly, “Vous l'êtes sur l'épaisseur. Donnez-lui un peu de temps pour guérir.”

  “Ferme ta gueule,” came the immediate response from Ryan before he blushed sheepishly, telling Emma softer, “No pressure though. It’s just nice to have female company that isn’t trying to hop his bones or threatening to kick our asses.”

  Eyebrows still cocked at the side conversation in French, Emma shrugged a bit, telling them, “We’ll see. Let’s get the weekend’s tryout session out of the way and all the paperwork that’ll bring me, and then go from there.”

  Emma was just a bit too tipped to notice the delighted look the cousins exchanged.

  Chapter 11 - Down Goes Perrault

  Early the next morning, Ryan found himself at the door of his teammate, not the least bit surprised to find Trent awake, nor that he’d been expecting the company Ryan’s visit. He at least waited until Ryan sat at his table before the quiet voice that didn’t at all fit the body asked, “How is she?”

  Eyeing him a long moment, Ryan nodded acknowledgment at the glass of milk slid in front of him, shrugging before finally answering, “Dunno. Don’t know her as well as I thought you did. Can tell you she welcomed the distraction of not working on your article, and that she let herself eat and drink with us.” Noticing Trent’s eyes narrow just a bit, Ryan rolled his eyes. “I walked her back to her apartment. My parents raised a gentleman.”

  Jutting his chin out a bit, even though he wouldn’t have been surprised to see Trent’s hand fly out to pop him, Trent only sighed and dropped his chin into his hands, mumbling at him, “Can’t blame a man for worrying when you two go about making bets about who’s gonna bed someone first, y’know?”

  And Ryan could only blink at that initially before the thought passed through his head that Luke must have run his mouth around the locker room before the article came out. So, he shook his head at Trent, murmuring, “That ain’t me. In fact, if I was so inclined, I’d try to move in where you obviously dropped the ball. But I’m more interested in why you did, since you’re clearly as upset about this all as she is.”

  Almost immediately Trent’s head started shaking, and Ryan wondered if he’d be told anything at all, but he was surprised when Trent said, “The problem is I do like her. A lot. More than I’ve ever liked anyone in my life. And I have no clue how to proceed there. She tried to kiss me last night and all I could do was freeze.”

  Head tilting to the side akin to an owl, Ryan questioned back slowly, “You like her, she tries to kiss you, and you freeze? What team are you playing for, Jarrett?”

  “I don’t know,” He answered softly, continuing, “I don’t know where I belong. I know hockey is in my future, not farming, but anything outside of that…” And he shrugged those large shoulders, leaving Ryan just gazing at him for several long moments.

  “Have you tried to tell her at any point how you feel, about your general confusion? Hell, did you even mention to her that you’re interested? Because the vibe I got from her is that she’s inclined to honor the non-frat clause in her contract now. Though I can tell you right now that pretty much everyone outside of Luke in that locker room will try and get her in bed, whether it’s for a night or many.”

  The loud banging of Trent’s fist slamming against the table startled Ryan and would have spilled his glass of milk had he not already emptied it. But still he backed up a bit, staring wide-eyed at his teammate. “I tried to talk. I tried to explain I needed time, but she feels too much time has passed and that I should know what my next steps are by now, and I just don’t.”

  Rubbing his hands against his temples, Ryan asked him, “You like her, you want to be with her, but you don’t know how to date her?” And on Trent’s slight little shrug, Ryan probed a bit more. “Have you ever been in a relationship with a girl, hell at all?”

  “I’m not gay, even though both of you now have accused me of it,” Trent retorted and Ryan bit back his internal disappointed sigh, “But no, I haven’t. Either…any…whatever. No one ever wanted me before her.”

  Unable to stop the words from flying out of his mouth, Ryan asked “Um, have you looked at yourself in a mirror? You’re a good-looking guy. People have wanted you, of that I have no doubt, but you may not have realized it. Hell, I remember how surprised you were that day Lukey called you Loverboy in front of her, and you promptly shut that down.”

  Conceding with a sigh even as he went to do his dishes, Trent shrugged a bit more. “I may not have been aware of interest. I just know my heart tells me I need to know someone inside and out, have a true friendship with them, before I can give out my love. And maybe that makes me strange or different or whatever, but that’s me.”

  Shaking his head a bit, Ryan climbed to his feet, reaching a hand up to rest it on Trent’s shoulder, telling him softly, “Ya know, you sure as shit seem like the definition of demi-sexual, Jarrett. And if that’s the case, you need to tell her so she understands. And if you don’t understand yourself…look it the fuck up.” And not letting the big man answer at all, Ryan walked to let himself out of the apartment, taking the less obvious route back to his own apartment, mind swimming with thoughts and questions.

  ~*~

  About 10 minutes or so after Luke left for his trip to the rink, Ryan was finally heading towards his own vehicle with his over-sized bag hefted over his shoulders. As he walked, he heard footsteps near his, and glancing over, found Emma was walking to her car as well. “Heading to the rink?” He called out as she turned in his direction at his words.

  “Yep. I see you got roped into helping out, too?”

  “Yes ma’am. Looking forward to it, though it seems like too long since I’ve had a chance to toss the gear on.” Ryan paused for a moment as he looked Emma over, and while he rather liked what she was wearing, he knew he couldn’t let her go to the rink like that and keep a clear conscience. “Is that what you’re wearing to the rink?”

  Emma put her hands on her hips and glared in Ryan’s direction. “Yes. It is. Do you have a problem with it?”

  Immediately Ryan shook his head. “No. Problems? No. You look fantastic. But you’re gonna freeze your butt off if you go in there just wearing that. Here, hold on a sec.” Using the remote to pop the hatch of his crossover, Ryan threw his equipment in the vehicle and then ran back towards the apartment complex, hoping she’d still be there when he returned.

  It took him a few minutes, but when he did come back down, Ryan had with him a leather jacket that he knew to be very warm, with a set of gloves that he figured would be small enough to fit her hands tucked in the pockets. He offered her the jacket without any words and Emma eyeballed it and then him for a long moment before accepting it. “Thank you.” Biting on her lower lip, she asked him, “Do you think I’ll be able to find a jack to plug my laptop into?”

  “I seem to recall that there are some along one of the walls where the coaches will perhaps be scouting from – so you should be able sit near them and use your laptop.” Pausing, he added, “Laptop will maybe help keep you warm too.”

  Emma nodded and gave him what seemed almost to be a shy smile. “Thank you. I would have frozen. I appreciate you looking out for me like that.”

  Ryan winked at her and turned back towards his own vehicle. “My pleasure. Just remember when you’re writing, I’m the better-looking Perrault.”

  “Ass.” She retorted immediately, but he could hear the laughter in her voice as he climbed into his crossover.

  He grinned as he started the vehicle up and gave her a wave before heading the short distances off towards the rink. Today was going to be a good day – he could feel it.

  ~*~

  Emma was going to need to remember to give Ryan a very big thank you when they got back to the apartment complex later. She wasn’t dressed appropriately for the practice rink area – he had for sure saved her from freezing her ass o
ff. As it was, her footwear was entirely inappropriate for where she was – her feet may have looked good, but her toes were freezing!

  Both Perrault cousins sat near her in the practice rink area while the tryout players did all sorts of drills that Emma didn’t understand. Skating around the circles on the ice, doing something one of the coaches beside her had called suicides. She wasn’t sure what the purpose of it was, but Ryan told her he’d explain more later.

  While Luke had generally ignored her and spent most of his time talking to the coaching staff about the various try-out players, Ryan at least had periodically tried to offer her the correct terminology for things the coaches didn’t specifically name. And she’d noted with some degree of chagrin that both boys bristled when Trent had wandered over to talk to the coaching staff – completely ignoring her in the process – like a pair of guard dogs determined to keep her safe from harm.

  There was a lull on the ice at the moment – one of those ice resurfacing machines was out there. And if she’d overheard the coach beside her correctly, when the players came back out on the ice, the ‘on the team’ players such as Luke and Ryan would be out there as well. That would explain where they had run off to!

  While all the note cards and quiz sessions with the Malones had helped some, it was still entirely different to see the sport in person. Emma was spending almost as much time listening to the coaches’ talk as she was paying attention to the action on the ice. Whenever they didn’t look too busy, she’d asked some questions, and she had several pages worth of notes in Word. She should have enough material to write something on this session, so she could continue to ignore the giant Jarrett elephant in the room.

  Still, she wanted to see what the cousins Perrault were all about. She understood enough that they must be ‘better’ than the players she’d been watching if they were already signed, already guaranteed contracts.

  Soon enough, the ice resurfacing machine was off the ice and this time it was the ‘real’ players leading the pack out onto the ice. Picking out Ryan was easy – Emma knew just enough to know what goalie equipment looked like – but picking out Luke was more of a challenge until she finally caught his name along the back of his jersey. He looked bigger than she expected, fiercer. Like he wouldn’t take any shit from anyone. And then there was Trent – a mass of flesh that looked so intimidating she could see the entire lot of players were giving him plenty of space.

  After the players had been skating around the ice for several minutes, the coach beside her said, “Okay, let’s get them going in one-on-one drills.” Another coach signaled something in the air, and the coach on the ice blew his whistle, gathering the team around him. In the next few moments, the players began to spread out, and Emma noted that Ryan had been assigned the goal closer to her.

  This was different then some of the other shooting drills they’d done, she could see that immediately. Where before they had started behind the net and had someone else pass to the player who was to shoot on the net, now they had the players split into two groups at center ice – the current players guys shooting against the other goalies hoping to make the team, and Ryan defending against the tryouts.

  Again, the coach near her signaled in the air and a whistle blew, and Emma watched as players started to skate in to take their shots on goal. It was easier to watch Ryan and his pack of tryouts since they were closer, but Emma also found herself studying her neighbor and how he behaved in the net. She noted he skated back and forth a lot, hit his stick against the ice, the net, and otherwise seemed to be talking to himself between shots – and yet not a single shot she’d seen had gone past him.

  Standing to try and get a better view of the ‘on the team’ guys go against the tryout goalies, Emma waited until she finally picked Luke out of the group, curious to see how he would fare. She could overhear the coaches beside her talking about one of the Perraults – perhaps Luke from the way they were talking – and they all seemed positive he was going to score, and easily at that. Finally, it was his turn and Emma was surprised by how quick he seemed to glide across the ice – he looked like he’d been shot out of a cannon. He moved towards the left side of the ice, and the goalie followed him that way, then all a sudden moved to the right and flipped the puck into what was essentially a wide-open net. “Damn,” she murmured under her breath, shaking her head a bit as he glided effortlessly back to center ice.

  Turning her attention back towards the other group, she saw one of the tryout players – one who seemed rather unsure of his abilities - going in hard towards Ryan. Ryan was moving side to side, and the tryout player looked like he was trying to make the same move that Luke had – but ended up falling onto the ice, flying into Ryan and sending them both crashing down, Ryan’s body seeming to contort at strange angles before he ended up in the back of the net.

  Almost immediately she could hear a bellowed “Crisse de Tabarnak!” from where Ryan still lay in the net and the coaches beside her stood and exchanged glances. In almost slow motion, Emma watched as Ryan started flinging pieces of his equipment – first his gloves and stick and then his helmet – away from his net, and then tried to pull himself to his feet, using the goal to steady himself. Luke came skating in from the other group and she could see the cousins having a rather animated discussion before Luke threw his stick aside and wrapped his arm around his cousin’s back, hooking Ryan’s arm over his shoulder. But truly surprising to Emma was Trent skating over as well, so that between he and Luke, they were essentially carrying Ryan off the ice.

  “That’s not good. He’s barely putting any weight on that leg. Get the trainer to meet them in the locker room.” Emma glanced over at the coaches at the words – she could see that they all shared the same concerned look upon their faces.

  “What just happened out there?” Emma finally asked the one beside her, the one she knew to be the head coach.

  He sighed and wiped his hand down his face before answering. “If that was half as bad as it looks, we may have damn well just lost our best goalie before the season even starts.”

  Blinking, Emma sat back down and started typing rapidly on her laptop – much to her chagrin, she had a story to report out of this session, and it wasn’t one that she was pleased to be writing, at all. This wasn’t fun and games any longer.

  Chapter 12 - Basket Carries and Bean Bags

  Several hours had passed since the end of the open-tryout session and Emma had gone home, with neither hide nor hair of her upstairs neighbors. Though no one was willing to give Emma specifics either on or off the record, she’d heard an ambulance had transported Ryan to the hospital near their apartment complex. She’d also seen a somber looking Luke walking out of the locker room area with both his and Ryan’s bags over his shoulders, but even with all that weight, he’d been moving too quick for her to catch him and find out what was going on.

  Could she send an article off to her editor lacking in crucial details? She knew that while the goalies were rarely the stars of the team, they often were the backbone. If Ryan was hurt as badly as he seemed to be, this was likely going to be a big blow to the team. As it was, the young man who’d collided with him had left the ice shortly thereafter and never returned.

  As Emma stared at her laptop deep in thought, she swore she could hear talking in the background, and shaking herself out of her stupor, realized that someone was leaving a message on her answering machine, or trying to at least.

  “Emma? Are you there? Please, please be there. Emma, please pick up the phone. It’s Gabi.”

  Snagging the phone quick and turning it on, Emma immediately asked, “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay.” Gabi tried to tell her, but the emotions in her voice made it clear she was anything but. “They’re going to be releasing him soon. Can I ask a big favor of you?”

  “Is he going to be okay?” Emma asked before the question proposed registered. “Favor? What kind of favor?”

  Gabi sighed, and didn’t reply for alm
ost a minute, leaving Emma to make sure they hadn’t lost the connection. Finally, she answered in a soft voice. “I know how you feel about people being in your place. But could we borrow your guest room for Ryan tonight?”

  Blinking, Emma, glanced around her sparsely furnished apartment. She’d still not gotten around to trying to find a cheap mattress to throw in that second bedroom – it was pretty much empty at this point. In fact, the only thing suitable for sleeping beyond her own bed was her Grandpa’s chair. Biting on her lower lip, Emma murmured, “I don’t have anywhere for him to sleep. Unless he’d be okay in the chair?”

  “Actually, the chair would be ideal. That way his leg will be propped up.”

  Walking out into her living room, Emma gazed around the room with a growing sense of embarrassment. While Gabi and Devin had obviously seen her meager belongings, she’d thus far managed to keep the cousins Perrault out. If she agreed to help now, that was obviously going to change, and she so wasn’t looking forward to being judged because of what she lacked.