Page 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“YOU WANNA GO somewhere?”

Louie opens the NHL app and pulls up the standings. The Cardinals are one perfect game away from sliding back into a wild card spot. Not that it should matter to Louie. He’ll be gone, back in Springfield, by the time the playoffs start. Petrov is days away from coming back. Skated with them today. No contact, but still. He was there, reminding Louie that his days with the Cardinals are numbered.

“Maybe to the mall? I want a new suit. I guess I won’t buy that at the mall, though,” Ryan says as he pulls out of the rink parking lot. “Liam gave me his tailor’s number. His suit game is off the charts.”

Louie checks on the Bears. They’re not doing well. Bastien scored another goal last night, but he’s not even close to catching up with the league leaders. He’s still leading all rookies in points and goals, though. If he doesn’t win the Calder, the world will end for Martie Hathaway.

“I haven’t bought shoes in a while. I think I need new shoes.”

Now is probably a good time to start thinking about ways to get out of flying to Vegas for the NHL awards. Louie could fake an illness at the last minute. Obviously, his dad will tell him to come anyway. A little touch of the flu has never hurt anyone, he’ll say. Louie once missed two games because he was puking his guts out and his dad texted him that he’ll never make it to the NHL if he doesn’t learn to play through it.

He always played through whatever life threw at him. He made it to the Cup finals with a fucked-to-hell shoulder. He didn’t go home to be with Mom when Dominic was born because he had a playoff game to play.

Dominic was badly timed, Dad always says. Louie was born in the summer, but still too early for Dad’s liking. Just after the playoffs. Bastien’s birthday is in early August. Perfect.

“Earth to Louie?”

“Huh?”

“Do you wanna come to the mall or nah?” Ryan asks. “I can drop you off at home.”

Does he want to go shoe shopping with Ryan? Absolutely not. Does he want to sit around at home and think about packing his stuff and going back to Springfield? Sounds even worse. “Yeah, shoes, okay.”

The thing that Louie expects the least is that he’ll be the one to buy shoes. They’re red Converse, Cardinals colors, that he eyes while Ryan tries on his third pair of Nikes.

“I just didn’t love any of them, you know?” Ryan says when they head out of the store.

Louie does not know. He doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about shoes. Sometimes he doesn’t hate shoes and he tries them on and he buys them. End of story. He had no idea that they’d come here looking for Ryan’s soulmate. Solemate, even.

“But you found something, that’s great,” Ryan goes on. “You wanna get Froyo? Ice cream? I want ice cream.”

“You can get ice cream,” Louie says, a little distracted by Diane’s Chocolate Manufactory. Diane has a make your own chocolate bar offer and it sounds… fun.

“You wanna get chocolate?” Ryan asks.

“No,” Louie says, still looking at the window display. “But I want to look. ”

“That’s no fun, but okay.”

Ryan pulls his phone out of his pocket while Louie considers the salted caramel pralines and the rose chocolates and the tricolor box with tea-infused ganache, whatever that means. This is the kind of chocolate you get your girlfriend for Valentine’s Day or your mom for her birthday. For some people it might be a treat yourself kind of chocolate. But it’s not something you buy for yourself to eat on the couch for no reason.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ryan says.

Louie tears his eyes off the chocolate that’s decorated like little penguins, which is probably for kids. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Ryan glares at his phone. Taps it once—probably an emoji response because that’s his go-to. Then he locks it. “Just… it’s really stupid and you don’t want to hear about it.”

“Let’s get that ice cream,” Louie says.

He’s very practical about food. Healthy and nutritionist-approved is good enough for him. Ryan gives maybe half of a shit about what their team nutritionist says. He likes a little treat. He likes grilled cheese. With a lot of butter. And it’s delicious and Louie enjoyed it when Ryan made one for him, but for Louie that’s a cheat meal. For Ryan it’s just a meal.

When Ryan asks him if he wants ice cream as well, Louie is about to say no but ends up getting dark chocolate with white chocolate curls and raspberries on top. Ryan’s is pink and has M tilts his head. Then he grins. “Aw.”

Louie looks over his shoulder but doesn’t find anything Ryan could be awwing about. “What?”

“Chocolate,” Ryan says, and touches the corner of his mouth.

Quickly, Louie grabs his napkin and wipes his mouth. “Is it gone?”

Ryan laughs, then taps the side of his chin. “It’s down here now.”

Louie folds the napkin and tries again. “Now?”

“I’d do it for you, but I think the homoeroticism of it all would kill us both,” Ryan says off-handedly. “Try further down.”

Louie, slightly exasperated, wipes his cheek and his chin. “ Now ?”

“Here,” Ryan says and points at his jaw.

Louie wipes again. “Please tell me it’s gone.”

“Actually, you have a little more…”

“No way.”

Ryan points at his forehead. “Up here.”

“I do not, you absolute walnut,” Louie says and chucks his dirty napkin at him, Ryan still laughing at him when they get up to throw their empty cups away.