Page 40 of Over the Line

No shit. Couple of years ago, Morris and a linesman collided. Broke Morris’s jaw and knocked the linesman out cold.

…that sounds made up.

Hand to God. Look it up. It’s pretty gnarly, fair warning.

He went quiet, so I suspected he was looking up the video in question.

As he did, I once again tried to get comfortable. I also felt weird about texting back and forth with a teammate’s dad, which I’d been doing almost constantly since Thanksgiving a week ago. I felt even weirder about how much I wanted to flirt with that teammate’s dad, and maybe suggest we do more than text or flirt.

I closed my eyes and exhaled. I was stupid. And… maybe a bit lonely, not to mention stir crazy. Some of the guys had gone out for dinner tonight, and they’d invited me along. Now I was wondering if I should’ve accepted.

Except… no. It wasn’t even because the thought of getting up off this couch made me want to die. As much as I loved hanging out with my teammates, dinner usually included spouses and partners. As it should, of course. The problem? I’d be one of the only single guys there, if not the only one. Even the guys who barely needed to shave usually had girlfriends.

Me? I was the thirty-seven-year-old bachelor.

And no matter how much people liked to speculate that I was happily living my slutty best life… I wasn’t.

At one time, sure. Twenty-something Liam St. Clair had reveled in everything that came with being the openly gay face of a franchise. I had more money and sex than I’d ever dreamed of.

Now I still had the money. The sex was out there if I wanted it, and once in a while, I did.

But I envied my partnered teammates. I didn’t want someone else in my bed—I wanted someone else here. In this huge, empty house. With me. Someone to bring along to outings. Someone I could come home to after a road trip and say, “you won’t believe the prank one of the guys played.” Someone to tell me about their day that had nothing to do with hockey.

What did it mean when I was turning down dinners with friends because I was too lonely to be around people?

Probably something pathetic that I should run by a therapist.

Right then, my phone pinged again.

Garrett

Wow. Glad that ref was okay!

Ref? What ref?

Oh. Right. The video.

Yeah, it was pretty bad. He was back like a week later though.

That’s good. Do you think he ever called Morris for some bullshit penalties as revenge?

Maybe, but you’d never notice because he’s always calling everyone for the softest bullshit penalties.

Oooh he’s one of those?

Ugh. He’s one of the worst. Like I seriously felt bad for him when he got hurt, but he’s still a bag of dicks.

LOL I get that. I had a boss once who got in a bad car wreck, and I felt bad and hoped he got better. Didn’t change the fact that he was an asshole.

Yes, exactly. I assume he’s not your current boss?

no, he got canned for banging HIS boss’s wife.

Oh shit. Kind of a career-limiting move there, isn’t it?

Just a bit. Wasn’t there a player who got involved with a ref’s wife?

haha yeah, that was in the minors. He got released from his contract over it. Signed in Russia now, I think.