Page 8 of Offensive Edge
“Deal,” Rowan said, hitting End Call. Felix was right. He needed a nap.
OCTOBER 29, 2014
Transcript of a post-game interview with Rowan Foley from theDallas Tribune.
Dallas Tribune: Rowan, congratulations on your first NHL goal tonight. And a pretty one at that. It took you a few games, but no one doubted you could do it.
Rowan Foley: Thanks, yeah, it’s pretty exciting. Glad to check that box off so I can focus on moving forward.
DT: I’m sure you saw that the Jaguars made Theo Lane captain this year. I know you were friends when you played together. Have you talked to him?
RF: Theo is my best friend. I talk to him every day. I can’t imagine a better captain, and I’m sure he’ll do a better job than I did.
DT: Well, hopefully you’ll be playing against each other soon when he makes it up to Carolina.
RF: Yeah, it’ll happen fast. Theo is a special player.
DT: Thanks for your time, Rowan.
CHAPTER5
THEO
Theo had beena Serpent for two seasons by the time Rowan showed up. Theo’s path to NHL success had been a long one, going from the team that drafted him and never cared about him at all (Carolina), to a team that gave him a mostly fair chance (Ottawa), then finally to a team that appreciated him and helped him develop his game. He loved wearing his forest-green Serpents jersey. He loved being on the ice with his boys. He especially loved winning.
This season, having Rowan on his wing was a mind fuck. He had all of the anger and annoyance and pathetic rage that came along with any Rowan Foley thought that came into his head, but when they were on the ice together, Theo barely even had to think.
They were on Vegas’ ice, in an arena full of screaming Spades fans cheering against them as Theo’s passes kept finding Rowan’s tape, perfect and crisp like they were running drills in practice. The Spades weren’t a bad team this year, but the Serpents were good, feeling themselves off of a preseason sweep, still high from acquiring Rowan Foley, Generational Talent™.
As annoyed as Theo was about Rowan being in his state and worse, in his house, he couldn’t be mad about Rowan being on his team. No matter how Theo felt about him, Rowan was, unfortunately, just as good as everyone said he was. And Theo wanted to win.
Their power play was going to be top of the league as soon as there were enough games to start building meaningful stats, Theo could tell. The Spades had high-sticked Vic, who was manning the blue line with a bit of blood drying under his nose. He had kept all of his teeth, which was what really mattered.
Despite the blood, they had only been awarded a single minor instead of a double, and Theo had already decided to punish the Spades for it. Rowan fought for the puck in the corner, and Theo got net-front, patiently waiting for Rowan to dig the puck free and send it his way. The moment it landed on his stick, he flicked the puck up and over the Vegas goalie’s metallic gold leg pads and the net rippled out from where it caught the puck, buried deep behind the goal line.
The goal light flashed behind the net, and Rowan came crashing into his arms, his smile making him look seventeen years old again. Then Vic was there, and Drew and Link piled on, and Theo could pretend that whatever moment they had briefly shared when the celly had been just the two of them hadn’t happened.
Theo felt invincible on the ice, and by the time the final buzzer rang, they’d put up five goals to the Spades’ one, their victory decisive and fun. Theo knew they couldn’t win every game, but he wouldn’t be mad if the rest of the season felt this good.
Even if that meant Rowan was lurking in the corner of every thought.
CHAPTER6
ROWAN
The primary thingthat Felix loved making fun of Rowan for was the fact that while he was excellent at hockey, he was bad at everything else. If he was parallel parking, he’d have Felix critiquing his technique. If he was playing basketball with the boys, they picked him last. If he hung out with Felix on off days, he would get shoved out of the kitchen so, as Felix said, “we don’t have to call the fire department.”
He was not surprised to learn he was still terrible at blackjack. He could hear Felix in the back of his head. “You have to know how to count above ten to play blackjack, babe.”
A measure of comfort on a hockey team was how easily your teammates would chirp you, and no one at the table full of Serpents had said a negative word as he lost hand after hand.
“Is there a plan for the night after this?” Rowan asked. On a regular roadie with the Victory, he would already be in bed by now. He refrained from looking at his watch. They had a day off and a late start the next day, since everyone expected the boys to enjoy their time in Vegas. He knew Vic was trying to endear their teammates to him, though, so he had decided to commit. As long as it didn’t involve sitting at a blackjack table all night.
“We’re getting drinks,” Vic said. At the table next to them, Rowan could see Theo’s profile as he played his hand and Sammy made him laugh. Theo had a killer smile, and because Rowan had always been hockey-boy trash, he was viscerally attracted to the hole in Theo’s mouth, just one tooth missing to the left of his top two front teeth. Rowan had been at the Jags game when his tooth had been knocked out by the butt end of a stick in a scuffle. He had been the one to kiss it better. When they were young, Theo only put his falsie in when he was around his mom. Rowan was glad to see he still left it out.
“Did you hear me?” Vic asked. “The boys want to walk the Strip. Fiko wants one of those super tall slushies or he will, and I quote, ‘absolutely die.’”
“I heard,” Rowan lied. He tapped his cards for another hit, not even paying attention to what he had in his hand, and bust. “That’s my last round. My dignity is hanging by a thread.”
