Page 70 of Game Misconduct

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Later that afternoon, Tanner opened the door to the cute little two-story house in Belmont, Massachusetts, where his family lived, and bellowed, “Mommmmmmm! I’m home!”

“Hi, baby,” Stephanie Forester said happily as she came around the corner. She was dressed in a pretty floral top with jeans and a long sweater over top. Her eyes crinkled as she beamed at him.

Tanner wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Hi! I missed youuu.”

She rocked him back and forth for a moment. “I missed you too, baby.”

He pulled back, but only far enough to kiss her cheeks. His mom had turned fifty earlier this year, but she didn’t look it. Her wavy hair was as brown as his—maybe she dyed it, he wasn’t sure—and she still had gorgeous skin. It was soft under his lips, and she smelled like she always did, sort of sweet and flowery.

He sighed, glad to be home. Literally, life could not get better for him right now.

“I watched every game in the tournament. You did so good!” his mom said when he finally pulled back.

“Aww thanks!” He kicked off his winter boots and hung up his coat. “It was fun.”

“How was practice this morning?” she asked, turning to go into the kitchen.

He trailed behind her, taking a seat at the kitchen island. “Good. It’s nice to be back.”

He shared a couple of stories from this morning—scoring on Jesse and making him swear, Luke accidentally checking one of the call-ups into the boards hard enough he had to get looked over by the trainers, Coach Hoyt threatening to send Tanner back down to Concord over his scuffle with Luke—while she passed over a glass of ice and a can of Coke, then leaned against the counter with her coffee.

“I’m so glad they drafted you,” she said, smiling widely. “You seem so happy to be playing in Boston.”

“It’s the best,” Tanner said with a little wiggle as he cracked open the can and poured the fizzing liquid into the glass. Perfect. Nothing beat a nice crispy Coke. And his mom even had the good ice. “So, how are you doing? How’s work?”

“Not bad.” She told him about her job where she worked as a receptionist for an eye doctor.

“How’s Jeff?” Tanner asked when she was done.

Her smile widened. “Great. He’s sorry he’ll miss you tonight.”

“Travel game?” Tanner asked because his stepdad still coached a Junior hockey team.

“Travel game.”

“I’ll text him,” Tanner said, then winced. “Uhh, I’ll try to remember, anyway.”

“I hear you,” she said with a sigh. “These days it’s like I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached.”

“Yeah, I always feel like that,” he said with a laugh.

“I swear it’s just getting worse the older I get.” She shook her head.

“The guys at the tourney were giving me shit about having ADHD.” He took a sip of Coke.

She chuckled too. “I’ll be honest, I wasverysurprised when the experts said you didn’t have it. I wondered if they’d gotten something wrong but you seemed so much happier once you were in hockey. So much more settled. We thought you were just a rambunctious kid who needed more physical outlets.”

“Yeah, it helps,” Tanner agreed.

“You had fun playing at the tourney?”

“Hell yeah.” He beamed. “It wasawesome, honestly.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, I know we lost and all that but, like, I feel like I playedreallywell.”