by Kat Obie
Jenna was instantly comforted and started to watch the flow of the game. When Corey hopped over the boards, Jenna was happy that he was out so quickly but she noticed right away that he was slow.
“Hey Alice, is it me or does Corey seem off?”
“Umm.” Alice paused much longer than she liked. Jenna knew her friend was analyzing the play and being thoughtful. As soon as Corey missed the last shot on net, she said, “He’s probably got a concussion.”
“Fucking hell. Why is he being an idiot?”
“’Cause he’s competitive and probably doesn’t want to admit he has one.”
“Aren’t there fucking trainers that are meant to spot a concussion?”
“Probably catching it now, if he didn’t seem bad at first. He’s good at hiding.”
“No kidding,” Jenna said aloud. She couldn’t tell Alice about some of the secrets that Corey had shared with her. His fears about his reputation or getting addicted to drugs. That he hated how he cut his sister out of his life but how he had to protect his reputation at least until she wants to get herself clean.
It didn’t take long for the period to end. The commentators were all breaking the illegality of the second hit and how Corey was going to be out for the game.
“You okay?”
“Maybe. Injuries to our men suck balls.”
Alice started laughing. Alice was one of the few people who she could really commiserate with. But she was grateful Alice distracted her by saying, “So you’re okay with officially calling him your man?”
“What am I supposed to call him? My baby?” Jenna scoffed. The fear of being ten years older was still there but she was accepting it and could joke about it. The more she got to know Corey, the more she knew that he was indeed a man and not a baby who needed to sow some wild oats.
Alice continued to giggle. “No. Save baby for the bedroom or when you guys finally settle down and have one.”
Jenna’s jaw dropped and if Alice was in the room, she would have tossed a pillow her way. But alas, Alice was in Cleveland. “Hey. Look who’s talking. If anyone should be having a baby, it’s you guys.”
“Oh, hush. If you aren’t careful, Scotty will hear you and get ideas. We aren’t ready yet. Let’s wait until we’re at least engaged for that to happen. Fortunately, he wants to keep things in order.”
That got Jenna laughing. She didn’t realize her best friend was so family shy. Hell, they slipped into a happy couple with two dogs so quickly. It wouldn’t be long until they were having their own family. She wasn’t surprised that Scotty might be close by watching the game. Those two were peas in a pod when he was home. The downside was he traveled all the time even though he was hurt.
“Fine. I won’t say another word. At least not until I see you guys next.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Alright. If you guys hear from Corey before I do, can you let me know?”
“Good deal. Try not to worry.”
7
Corey
Corey hated being in the press box but he knew he should be watching the game and trying to contribute any way possible. His head was spinning and he could feel a headache really trying to set in, so just watching the game was a real chore. He was following as much as he could. He liked being part of the team, especially since Scotty was beside him, but it was tough.
It had been a week since he got the fucking concussion, but he couldn’t really find relief. There were only a few hours a day where he didn’t feel like his balance was off or his head wasn’t swimming. Also not helping his mood, he had been hoping that Jenna would come out for the Philadelphia game since it was both her teams playing but she canceled once she caught wind that he was hurt. She wanted him to heal quickly and said it didn’t make sense to screw up his recovery.
As the period was winding down, Scotty asked, “I’m heading down to see if I can get Lager to settle down. Wanna join?”
Corey didn’t say anything at first but unsteadily got onto his feet. He was just trying to stay focused so he could walk in a straight line and not feel as awful as he did. He liked the fact that Scotty invited him along. So he went down with Scotty knowing that they really needed to get Lager to settle. He was pretty sure he watched Lager try to whack a guy with his stick earlier but since Lager wasn’t ejected, he questioned if he just made it up.
Corey quickly stabilized himself and the two of them headed to the locker room. The timing was perfect where they could high-five the players as they entered the locker room. Corey was just trying to follow along and let Scotty take the lead. “What the hell is going on?”
“Just sick of the assholes,” said Lager.
Scotty looked at his friend and said, “Come on, man. Get your shit together. You’re the team leader right now.”
“That’s part of the issue. Everyone thinks I’m the fucking sub!”
That surprised Corey. Yes, when Scotty was out, everyone saw Lager as the leader on the ice and in the locker room. Lager was integral to the team in ways that couldn’t be defined. While Donnie was also an assistant captain, no one thought of him in the same light as they saw both Lager and Scotty. Hell, he made a conscious effort this year to befriend both of those guys since he valued their leadership so much. So Corey spoke up and said, “Dude. You aren’t a fucking sub. Scotty is the team captain but you are the team’s dad. It’s always been the two of you that we turn to for leadership.”
“Gee, thanks. That really makes me feel better. You all think I’m the old dude of the team.”
Corey spoke again, “No! Ask any of the guys who they can go to for help off the ice and they will say you. All the guys know that you’re the one who will open up your house and look after them. Do you know why Petey hasn’t even attempted to find a house even though he hasn’t been dropped down to the minors now in months and was given the green light to find a place over a month ago? It’s because he loves hanging out with you. You teach without teaching. Sure, on the ice we look toward Scotty since he has you beat in hockey IQ.” Corey was hoping that would calm down Lager. He’d never seen him like this.
“Dude, I couldn’t be captain without you. You aren’t a sub. You are the only A that I think can carry the team and who I rely on. You know the best ways to silence the assholes?”
“Score on them.”
“Exactly. Grind them down with hits. But you have to stay out of the fucking box and start drawing the penalties. Not taking them. Did you forget who you’re playing?”
“Your girl’s other team,” said Lager with a deadpan voice. Corey wanted to laugh since he was right. Although, did Lager realize it was both of their girls’ team?
“Yeah. They have a bunch of chirpers who are looking for a way to get under the skin. You know this. Don’t take their bait.”
Berman yelled at the three of them to get into the locker room. So they went in and listened to Berman go over what they already knew needed to be done. They needed to stop the dumb penalties, get some offense going and to keep the pressure off of Crestie as much as possible.
Corey knew the longer he was standing and the longer Berman yelled, the worse he felt. After about seven minutes, he was getting queasy and knew that he needed to get his symptoms under control again. So he headed for the quiet room. He didn’t even wait to tell a trainer or anyone. He just sat down and swore. A lot. He hated having a fucking concussion. All he wanted was to feel normal and go back to playing. At least being in the dark room helped. Doc did eventually check in on him.
By the end of the period, he was feeling better so he made his way back up to the press box to watch the game. Scotty immediately came up to him and said, “Doing okay?”
“Yeah. Everything is under control again.”
“Good. While I know you shouldn’t be drinking until everything clears up, you are more than welcome to come out with us tonight. I ended up telling the guys that I would take them out drinking if they pull out the win tonight.”
“Really
not making things easy for Alice, are you?”
Scotty just laughed. They both knew that their girlfriends were torn on who to root for, only Alice was in the spotlight as no one knew about Jenna. “It could be worse, eh? It might be better to stay clear for a little bit if the Flyers lose. Let her calm down a little.” Then he reached into his suit pants pocket and fished out the ring box. “Besides, how angry can she be when I got her this?”
Corey couldn’t believe that one, Scotty was showing him an engagement ring, and two, wedding rings were also tucked in the box. It seemed like something he would have done with Lager. Sure they got closer this year, but Lags was Scotty’s best friend on the team. Either Scotty was really excited about the rings, or they were closer than he thought they were.
“You’re giving that to her tonight?” asked Corey cautiously.
“No way. Not tonight. She would say no if I asked her tonight, thinking that we were going too fast or it was insane. She always says I'm insane when she’s not ready for the next level. But we are ready. Just got to make sure she realizes that first. So we have to wait, but I’m hoping she’ll be ready by the end of the season. But I’m ready to blow her mind.”
Corey had to admire Scotty’s pragmatism. He knew he needed to be more like Scotty when it came to Jenna by letting her come at her own pace, but it was difficult. He wanted to go hard like he did in hockey but that would make Jenna pull away. He needed to be patient. So, as disappointed as he was that Jenna didn’t come out to that game, he knew she was doing the best thing for him and he loved that.
8
Corey
Corey was home resting. He was still keeping his activities pretty limited despite feeling better for the most part. He was trying not to bug Jenna too much at work. She’d been his rock through the whole thing and he was glad to have someone to turn to. In the past, he would have turned to LeAnn, his sister, with his fears and complaints, but since cutting her out of his life, it was tough. It was nice to have Jenna for support instead.
His phone rang and he was surprised to see Alice was calling him. “Hey, Al. What’s up?”
“Hey, Cor. Scott said I should call you.”
Corey knew this side of Alice a little too well. Her voice was hollow and lacked the joy that she normally had which usually meant she was upset and she wanted to use his ice. Besides, Scotty warned him that she had a court date coming up and she might need someone to support her while he and the Sound were in California.
“I take it you want to come over and use the rink?”
“Can I?”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll be home all day. Come over anytime.”
“Okay, see you in like ten minutes.”
Corey got up and got dressed in some comfy workout stuff and just tidied up some around his place. While his place wasn’t a wreck, he wanted to make sure he put away the guitar that he was playing earlier. True to her word, Alice arrived about ten minutes later.
It never stopped being weird when it was just him and Alice. Sure, he waited with her at the airport whenever Jenna came to town, but even then, over half the time, Scotty was there with them. At least there was one good thing about Alice coming over: he could get some more intel on his girlfriend.
Alice looked visibly upset but was trying to hold herself together. Corey had never been good with upset girls, although he probably should have been since LeAnn was always such a drama queen. He had to respect that Alice was trying and wasn’t one for tears.
He led the way downstairs to the rink. The rink was smaller than he would have liked but it was big enough to practice some and burn off excess energy. “Don’t worry about pads unless you plan on falling.”
Alice didn’t say anything and worked on lacing up her skates that she pulled from the side of her bag. He grabbed a pair of skates that he picked off the wall. Then she opened up her bag. He was surprised to see a pair of figure skates lying on top of her pads as she dug around for the black and white hockey gloves.
Corey knew that Scotty would tease Alice a lot when she was in moods like this so he thought it would be okay if he did so as well. “Don’t tell me you’re an ice princess,” he said as he finished lacing up his skates.
“What if I am?” asked Alice in a quiet voice.
“You have more guts than I give you credit for. I don’t have to tell you that the ice is hard when you land wrong. I like my pads, thank you very much.” That got a small, tight smile out of Alice. There weren’t many people who did both sports. He wasn’t going to belittle her for it. But that didn’t stop him from saying, “But keep that damn toe pick away from my ice.”
Alice shook her head. She was probably expecting that last line. “I wasn’t planning on using them. I don’t know why I even grabbed them.”
“Probably ’cause you like that type of skating as much as hockey,” he said. “So you want to talk about it?” He led her to the ice, and he stacked some pucks up on the side of the railing so they would be easy to grab.
“Not really. Court sucks,” Alice said, pushing off and starting to do a few warm-up laps. She was taking faster strides than he expected for a warm-up but it didn’t take more than a few strokes to surpass her.
“That does seem to be a repetitive theme with you,” Corey said as he started to skate backward the moment he passed her. He knew that Alice was significantly slower than he was.
They did a few laps together that way. It was weird skating in so much silence. Sure, it helped with his head, but it was weird. He broke the silence again and asked, “Do you want music on?”
“Sure.”
Corey pulled off and turned on the stereo system. He looked over toward Alice, trying to assess what music he should play. For the team it was easy. He would just play whatever made him happy and it was always a mix of different types of music. He knew that Jenna liked Weezer, Dropkick Murphys, Green Day and some of those bands. He figured that the playlist he had for Jenna was probably the best option. Soon the music of guitars and drums started to fill the basement.
That felt better. He knocked off the pucks and passed one to Alice. It seemed like it was going to bounce off her stick but somehow she caught it at the very last minute. But almost immediately, she passed the puck back to him. He shook his head; he should have expected that. Scotty was always trying to get her to keep the puck more. So he passed it over to her again. Before she tried to do it again, he pointed toward the net and said, “Shoot it.”
There was a weak pass on net but at least she tried to take a shot. “Harder. Don’t overthink it.” He then took the puck in front of him and shot it hard on the net. It easily went into the upper right-hand corner. He then passed a puck over to Al again. Fortunately, she did what he asked. She took a harder shot this time. “Better. So, question, I want to get Jenna onto some skates so that she can come down here the next time she’s in town. Do you know if she would rather have hockey or figure skates?”
Alice took another weak shot on net as she thought about it. After the puck was off her stick, she said, “Hockey. I’ve never seen her on figure skates.”
“But you guys have skated before,” he asked, seeking reassurance.
“Yeah. We’ve gone a few times in the winter. Just make sure that you add in drinks afterward.”
“I know. Any other things I should know?”
“Keep the beard. Visit her over the summer a lot. Take her somewhere exotic where she could scuba dive.” Alice took a pause almost as if she was thinking of what else to suggest. She took another attempt on the net. “Play the guitar for her.”
That had Corey laughing. Those were tips that he didn’t quite expect. He was surprised when Alice mentioned playing for her. He always kept the guitars hidden away whenever people were over and had only played for Jenna. He knew he didn’t want to talk about the music since that risked her asking him to play it for her too. There were few things that made him shy, and his music was one of them. So he instead redirected the conversation. “So sh
e likes the beard.”
“You have no idea how much of a turn-on that is for her. Besides, she’s worried you’re too young for her and people will talk. The beard makes you look older.”
That’s when Corey lost control of the puck and shot it way wide. The puck hit the boards hard but it started to rim around toward Alice’s spot on the ice so it looked less out of control. He knew there was always something that would hold Jenna back but he had no idea it could be that.
“Are you kidding me?” Alice just stared at him. He should have known she was being serious at least when she was in one of her moods. So he said, “Okay. I guess you aren’t kidding me. Is it a big deal? It’s not like I can change my age.”
Corey fed her another puck, and Alice caught it as she said, “Definitely was a bigger deal before. You are winning her over. But she’s worried about the age gap and how you might find a puck bunny that you will dump her for.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard. I love her. She’s my little sex kitten,” Corey said with confidence. But he was caught by surprise when Alice sent a puck right toward his head. He had to quickly duck out of the way. If he didn’t know better, she aimed the puck right at him. “What the fuck, Alice?”
“I don’t need to know that you call my best friend your little sex kitten.”
That got Corey laughing big-time. If Alice knew about the fact he had played the guitar for Jenna, the two friends talked about a lot of things, but apparently the bedroom nicknames weren’t fully on the table. It amused him to find out what was and wasn’t on the table for their girl talks. “Sensitive much? What’s the big deal?”
Alice just shook her head and said, “Wouldn’t it be weird if you knew what I called Scotty when we’re having sex?”
With the straightest face, he said, “Nope. You guys may be the most romantic couple on the team right now but you are also pretty boring.” Alice gave him a look that could kill.
