Page 121 of The Recovery Coach
“Great advice.Thanks,” Hazy replied, smacking him upside the head.
Lover punched him in the arm.“Anytime, bro.”
Beanie said, “I’ve been injured a few times.You’ll be okay.Once you get past the first hit, everything will fall into place.”
“Hey!”Lover said.“You being geriatric is finally paying off for us!”
That earned him another smack upside the head, this time from Beanie.
They joked, but Beanie and Lover’s support did help him.
“You know,” Beanie said.“We aren’t supposed to, but after a long stint on IR, I sometimes skate alone the first time.Before my first practice.It helps get my legs back under me without twenty sets of eyes watching my every step.”
Hazy had no intention of following Beanie’s advice when he first heard it, but on his way out of the rink his phone buzzed.
Dylan
Can you drive Cassie and me to her game tonight?Mom and her dad have work and everyone else has a game.
I’m supposed to go to the game too.
What happens if you don’t?
The little shit had a good point, and an idea popped into Hazy’s head.
Fine.I’ll take you.
He fired off another text to Livy.
Does attending a children’s hockey game count as a date?
Livy
Whoa, Mr.Romance over here.
???
I’ll allow it.Sounds fun.
He pumped a fist and opened his car door.His night just got a lot more fun.
Dylan loaded Cassie’s giant bag of goalie gear into the back of Hazy’s G-Wagon and slammed the rear door.Cassie already sat in the backseat, a true princess.
She scrolled through Dylan’s phone because her dad, Connor (yes, another Connor, half the damn city was named Connor), wouldn’t let her have a smartphone.Cassie’s phone allowed her to call and text pre-approved numbers, but she got into enough trouble with those functions considering half the Seattle Freeze had cracked the list.She’d been introduced to the team during Hazy and Lover’s second year in the NHL when her uncle Tanner joined the broadcast group as a social media manager.Dylan happened to be at the rink the same day, and the two became instant friends.Five years later they remained inseparable, and both of them had an army of hockey players at their beck and call.
She wasn’t allowed to be on socials, but Dylan was, and when Hazy was in charge there were no rules.He had to do everything he could to maintain his position as her favorite hockey player.Cassie always claimed Lover was her favorite, but she only said that to annoy him.Plus, Dylan’s social media algorithm mostly boasted superheroes and video games.
“Hey Cherry Bomb, what’s going on?”Hazy asked in a dopey voice.
He caught her eye in the rearview mirror.Livy gave him a surprised smile and twisted in her seat to look at Cassie.
“Ew, why’d you say it like that?”Cassie asked.
Hazy continued the ridiculous accent.“Because you looovvee it.”
Dylan climbed into the backseat and buckled in.Cassie handed him his phone.
“You keep thinking that, Unc.”
