Page 75 of Hot Shot
“Be right there,” I answer, although he’s already disappeared. I head in the direction he went, my throat suddenly feeling dry. Taking a deep breath, I knock on Coach’s door, pushing it open when he tells me to enter.
“You wanted to see me, sir.” I stand in front of his desk, not sure whether to sit or stand.
He’s not going to tell me he’s benching me, is he? Or tell me they’re sending me down to the Mustangs?
“Have a seat.” He gestures to the empty chairs. “It’s nothing bad, Rhodes.”
Once I’m seated he folds his hands on the desk and leans forward. “You’re doing great, Hunter.” His expression softens. “I’m proud of how far you’ve come so far this season.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
“Everything going okay? Seems you’re fitting in well with the team. But what about outside of hockey? How are things going?”
“Things are good.” I lean back in the chair, relaxing.
“Good, good. Front office likes it that you’ve kept your name out of the gossip columns. Some of the rookies”—he wrinkles his nose—“come in and they’re great players, but they go a little crazy their first season. I usually have to yell at them to rein it in, threaten to bench them. Glad you’re not one of them.”
“No, sir. That’s not my style. I’m here to play hockey.” I run a hand through my hair.
“That’s what I like to hear. Keep your focus on the game. You’ll have plenty of time for fun once you’ve established yourself on the team.”
I raise my eyebrows at him when he pauses to take a breath.Where is he going with this?
“Okay, well, that’s all. Keep doing what you’re doing,” Coach says, and I realize I’m being dismissed.
I get up from the chair with a quick goodbye and leave his office before he can say anything else. I can’t decide if that was an odd conversation or if I’m imagining things.
A few hours later, I’m sitting on my couch trying to decide what to watch when my phone rings. “Hey, Uncle Mark. How are things?”
“Hey, son. Good. Cold. How are things with you? Ready for tonight’s game?” he asks.
My uncle always makes an effort to call me before every game to check in and see how I am. I’m grateful to him and my aunt for all they’ve done for me and continue to do for me even being fifteen hundred miles away.
“Yeah. Well, ready as I’ll ever be. You never know how the other team is going to play, though.”
“The last time you guys played them, it was so close. I know you’ll get them this time, your team’s been playing way better lately. They haven’t been doing so hot.”
I appreciate his vote of confidence and hope he’s right. “What’s up?” I sink back into the couch.
“Wanted to see if you were planning to come home for Christmas.”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. It’ll be a short visit. I’m only off the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth.”
“We’ll take any time we can get with you. You heard from your mom?”
“I got a postcard from her last week,” I say flippantly. She can’t even bother to call or text me anymore, she sends postcards. “She’s in Milan with her new husband, Georgio.”
“I’m sorry, son.” Mark’s voice softens. I know he feels bad bringing up such a sore subject.
“How’s Maggie?” Maggie is my younger cousin, well, second cousin since Mark is technically my cousin. I only call him and Amanda my aunt and uncle because they’re close to my mother’s age.
“Good. Good. The baby should be here any day now, so you’ll get to meet your new cousin over Christmas.”
I grin. Maggie and I grew up together since she’s only a year younger than I am. She and her husband, Oliver, live in Minneapolis. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Greg will be here for Christmas too. He’s bringing his girlfriend. He was asking about you the other day. Whether you were bringing someone with you. We were all wondering.”
I huff out a laugh. I was waiting for that question to come up.
