Page 80 of Goalie Interference
“I think he is traumatized,” I say, then cut a small piece off my chicken parm and eat it.
Danton shudders. “Love is love and all, but come on, man. Did you have to fall for our biggest competition?”
I swallow and my heart sinks with it. “We are not in love.”
“Bullshit.” Danton laughs.
“We are not. How can we be? It was only few days.”
“It may have only been a few days spent getting each other off, but I know all about your little meet-ups and phone calls. Let’s not forget we’re talking about the man who was waiting for you in front of our hotel in Vancouver. That man has it bad for you. And judging by how much you have been sulking since you got home from Wisconsin, I think it’s safe to say you feel the same.”
He’s right, but I shrug anyway. “Even if what you are saying is true, we cannot act on it. It is best to forget.”
“Would you say the same thing to Ryan and Brandon?”
“Of course not.” I scoff. “But they are different. They play for the same team.”
“And what if one of them, God forbid”—he pauses and does the sign of the cross over his chest—“got traded tomorrow? Would you just expect them to split up because suddenly they no longer played on the same team?”
“No,” I say, feeling small.
“Then why would you assume it’s not the same for you?” He pats me on the shoulder. “You’re allowed to go after everything you want, Ivanov. Even if what you want is that goofy-grinned asshole who stole the cup from us last year.”
I put my fork down and bring my hands to my face, sighing as I rub my cheeks. “But how would that even work? We would never see each other, and would be forced to play against each other.”
“One, by my count, you’ve seen each other quite a lot throughout the season so far. And you have an entire offseason to spend together. By the time those three months are over, you’ll probably be begging for some time apart.”
“I doubt that,” I say. “I am miserable now and we only spent three days together.”
“Fair point,” Danton concedes as he wipes his mouth with his napkin, then refills his plate with more food. “But absence does make the heart grow fonder. Just ask Vicky.”
“That is because she wants help with all your kids.”
“This is also true.” He chuckles as he brings another forkful to his mouth. “And as for your last point, how about you let the rest of the team worry about that? It’s not as if you and Ander ever go toe to toe against each other. You tend your net and he tends his. It’s the rest of us who have to beat him, not you.”
My head tips towards my shoulder. He has a point there. It’s not like I need to worry about letting in a shot by him. How I play and how he plays really doesn’t have much to do with each other. So we could, in theory, carry on without much consequence.
“While I want to trust this,” I say, “how do we know the rest of team will feel same?”
He pauses his eating and looks at me like I’m an idiot for the second time. “I know we all agreed to never talk about it for incriminating reasons and all, but do you not remember when our entire team caused an immense amount of property damage to Ryan’s childhood home?”
A grin lifts my cheeks. “We called it team bonding.”
“We did,” he confirms. His grin is equally as devilish as it was that morning. “And the main takeaway from that is that the Mules are a family. We would do anything for each other.”
“Including felonies,” I say, nodding my head. It’s true. And I know without a doubt that we would do the same again today if we needed to.
“Yes,” Danton says. He pats me on the shoulder once more. “Which is why I’m telling you not to worry about your teammates. They’ll be fine.” He takes another bite and chews. “As long as we’re winning, of course.”
“Of course.” I laugh, then dig in to finish my dinner.
We eat in silence with the end of the Blizzards game playing on the TV. They pulled it off. Connor scored twice more, then Tavish hit the game winner in overtime.
I breathe out a sigh of relief, feeling better than I have in weeks.
TWENTY-FOUR
Ander
