Page 54

CHAPTER 54

Charlie

Sis

Alex wants to know if he needs to wear a sports coat.

Sis

I told him yes, but apparently he needs your confirmation as well

Me

Yes, a sports coat.

Alex

Thanks, man

Sis

This is ridiculous.

We walk into the fancy hotel building in the city and I marvel at the way they’ve decorated the entire place. It’s late April, still pretty chilly in New York, but the weather is nice today. It’s in the sixties and sunny, and Cami chose a gorgeous pink dress to wear so I’m a happy guy.

We made it through to the second round of playoffs before our season came to an end, and I have to say I’m happy with it. Of course, we would have loved to go on and win the Stanley Cup, but I knew our team wasn’t quite there yet this year. I have high hopes for next year, though. We’ve all been working better together lately, and while it was too late to have it together for this season, I think we have a jump on the next.

The end of the season party is tonight, and I have more people than I’ve ever had attending with me. Alana usually comes to these things, but I haven’t ever invited Cami. I didn’t ever want her to feel obligated to attend, and she never asked to, until now. She didn’t have to ask, she knew she was coming.

Alex and Alana are already sitting at our table when we walk in, and they stand to greet us.

“Hey, man, nice sports coat,” I say to Alex, just to piss my sister off. She gives me a death glare and he and I both laugh.

“It was not a good idea to allow you two to become friends,” she says, shaking her head in disappointment.

“You know you love it, sunshine,” Alex says before pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replies.

We take our seats, letting the girls sit next to each other and Alex and I on either side of them. A little while later, Soren and Mia show up and sit down with us at the table. Over the last few months, the six of us have become more acquainted with each other and it’s turned into a fun group that we let Theo in on as well, even though he doesn’t have a girlfriend.

“They really went all out with these decorations,” Soren says from across the table.

“I was thinking the same thing,” I reply.

The tables all have bunches of red and white flowers on them, arrangements that I know cost an arm and a leg, not to mention the other decorations around the room. There are countless red, white, and blue balloons, more flowers on the stage, and the catering is as fancy as it can be.

We usually have these end of the season parties, and they are usually a big deal, but it surprises me every time. I’m not really sure why; I know they can afford it, but it’s nice. I don’t know if every team has parties like this each season, or if it’s just an us thing, but I look forward to them every year. Even when I wasn’t super close with my teammates, it felt like an opportunity to close the door on one chapter and open up the next one.

As we eat our dinner, we laugh and talk about memories from the past season. Our friends listen in and Cami smiles affectionately at me as we talk. I know she’s thinking about the fact that I wouldn’t normally engage like this with my teammates or have anything to contribute to the conversation, and I think we’re both grateful that I do this year.

A while later, Coach Smith makes his way onto the stage at the front of the room and taps the mic, getting everyone’s attention. He stands tall and proud as he thanks us for another great season and shares that he’s excited for the next one. He then moves into awards, which they do every year. They typically do awards like best improved, rockstar rookie, showmanship, things like that. I’m pretty sure it was something our PR person, Olivia, came up with a few years ago. She wanted to be able to post more about the end of season party on social media and gave Coach the idea.

“And lastly, we have one more award. This award is one that the guys voted on this year, and I am happy to present it.”

We always vote on the award for Most Valuable Player, and that didn’t change this year. What did change was I was able to actually submit a vote that made sense because I knew my players much better this year than in the past. In the past, I used to just vote for whoever had good stats, but the other guys always took it deeper and voted for someone who they felt deserved it for more than just their time on the ice. I voted for Soren this year, for obvious reasons.

“This award is going to a man who has shown himself to be a true team player this season. He’s stepped out of his comfort zone and has brought an energy we all needed on the team,” Coach pauses and grabs the wooden award on his left. “Charlie Cade, why don’t you come up here, son?”

I freeze, unable to move from my seat. I certainly wasn’t expecting him to call my name, so my reaction time is quite delayed.

“That’s you, superstar,” Cami whispers from my side, tears in her eyes.

“What?” I ask, still bewildered.

“You got the award, go up there,” Soren says.

I stand, reluctantly, and slowly make my way up as people all around me clap and cheer. Being the center of attention is so far out of my comfort zone, so it feels like an out of body experience as I make my way to the stage. One second, I’m sitting in my chair and the next I’m standing next to Coach. He gives me a firm pat on the back and hands the award to me. Someone snaps a picture and I hear Cami cheering the loudest in the back of the room.

“Charlie, we are so proud of you and the team wants you to know that. They want you to know that they see you as a brother, and that you belong here. There is a place for you on this team and with these guys, and they made that clear to me not only through their votes but also by the number of them that stopped by to tell me how much you deserved this award this year.”

I look out into the crowd at the many faces of the men I’ve grown close to over the last few months. Not only Soren and Theo but a number of others all across the team. Those friendships just started to fall into place once I began to feel more comfortable, and they all smile back at me in encouragement.

I take it all in—the guys looking back at me, Coach standing next to me, Alana crying quietly in her seat, and Cami next to her beaming up at me with the proudest look on her face. I take in the way I feel right now. Solid, sure, confident, any word besides scared or worried. These guys did that for me. Sure, I stepped out and made an effort, but they met me where I was and brought me into the fold and I couldn’t be more grateful.

“You want to say a few words?” Coach asks.

“Um, sure.” He steps back and I move over to the podium, clearing my throat. “First, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for voting for me, I totally wasn’t expecting that. Thank you for being a safe space for me to come to and be myself. I, um, I don’t share this much and I won’t get into the details, but I had a really bad experience on a team in high school that caused me to close off and not engage with others much. I isolated myself, and I thought that was good enough for me.”

Cami smiles at me from the table and Sophie, who arrived during dinner, nods her head in encouragement.

“Until my agent Sophie told me I needed to get my act together.” Everyone laughs at that. “And my girlfriend Cami showed me what it was like to be known and to be loved. I had been known in the past, but I hadn’t been loved. I hadn’t been cherished or cared for or seen as an equal, until her.”

I second guess the words as I say them, because my sister sits next to her and she has always shown me love and care, but my eyes shift to her and I see an understanding there. She knows what I mean.

“I am so thankful for you, Cami, and all that you’ve shown me these past five months. I couldn’t do this without you,” I say and she mouths I love you back at me. “And to all of you, my teammates, thank you again. Thanks for voting for me, for standing up for me, and for making this team a place where I feel comfortable.”

Everyone applauds as I make my way back to my seat. I pull Alana into a hug first.

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispers in my ear.

I move then to Sophie and shake her hand, which she pulls forward and envelops me in a hug as well. I thank her for all of her help not only this year, but every other one too. Then I move to my girl.

I pull her in and kiss her deeply, not caring when the whoops from the guys around me come.

“Thank you,” I tell her.

“I could have said all of that about you too.”

“Well, then it seems like we make the perfect pair.”

“We definitely do.”