Page 7 of Slap Shot Surprise
“What?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Why?”
“Apparently it’s a thing. You deny yourselves for months leading up to your wedding to ‘up the ante’ and make yourself want it more.”
I snorted. “That’s fucking stupid. Why would you have to make yourself want it more?”
“I have no idea. But Lisa claims it’s going to make their wedding night sex better.”
“It’s going to make it faster, that’s for sure.” We laughed, and I felt the stress of the long trip here dissolve. It was good to be with my brother again. Growing up, we’d spent every day beating the shit out of each other—Gianni too—because we were all so competitive, but we were tight.
“So you didn’t bring Courtney with you, huh?” he asked.
“Nope.” At the mention of my ex, I took a long pull on my beer.
“I take it that means you’re off again?”
“Permanently.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“I’m serious. I haven’t even spoken to her in months.”
“What happened?”
I shrugged. “The relationship was just too much work,and I need to focus on hockey. She’d say she understood, and then five minutes later, she’d complain I wasn’t giving her enough attention. She was moody as hell.”
“All women are moody.” He stopped with his beer halfway to his mouth. “But don’t tell my wife I said that.”
“It wasn’tjustthe moods,” I told him. “She was constantly jealous and accusing me of cheating on her when I traveled, even though I never did. I got tired of it.”
“Come on. Not once?” My brother looked at me sideways. “All those puck bunnies hanging around and you never got tempted?”
“I didn’t say I never got tempted—I said I nevercheated, and that’s the truth. I’m loyal. And I was sick of trying to prove it to her.” I rolled my neck, which was stiff from travel. Definitely not from age.
“That’s fair.”
“She also wanted to move in, and that was ahard nofor me. I need my own space.” I smiled as my sister-in-law walked up behind my brother. “Hey, Al.”
“Joey!” She threw her arms around me and gave me a squeeze. “Good to see you.”
“You too.” I loved Alison—she’d been around almost as long as Footsie, and she’d spent years saying no to my brother before finally agreeing to go out with him. Later on, she admitted she’d liked him the whole time, but she wanted to be the last person he dated, not the first. You had to admire the long-game strategy there. “Thanks for sending the videos of Hudson. I can’t believe he’s walking already.”
Alison smiled. “I know, me neither.”
“Time to get him on skates.”
She laughed. “Paul said the same thing. Let’s maybegive the kid a chance to get used to shoes first. There’s more to life than hockey.”
My brother and I exchanged a confused look, like we didn’t understand that concept.
“So I hear you’re sticking around a few days after the wedding,” Alison went on.
I nodded. “I don’t have to be back in Chicago until Wednesday. My mom said everybody is coming to dinner at their house Sunday night?”
“Yes.” Alison smiled. “You’ll get to see all your nieces and nephews.”
“Can’t wait.” Being an uncle was the best—you could just hang out with kids for a little while, let them climb all over you, take them for ice cream, and then give them back at the end of the day, sticky and tired, but someone else’s problem. Gianni and his wife Ellie had three kids, Paul and Alison had one, and my little sister and her husband had a newborn daughter I hadn’t even seen yet. Which reminded me, I should pick up a little gift for her. “Hey, what time do we have to be at the venue tomorrow?”
“Ceremony is at four,” Paul said, “but we’re meeting for photos at two thirty. You’re staying at The Pier Inn, right?”
