Page 5 of Replay (Toronto Blaze #3)

So, What’s my Play?

Josh

“Hey, Mom.” My mother and I talked a few times a week, and for this phone call I had something to ask.

“Josh, how are you? How is training camp going? Did management make the final cuts?”

I sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “I’m doing okay. We’re playing preseason games, and the last cuts are coming. I’m glad that’s not up to me. But the team looks good. We should go all the way this year.”

“I’m sure you will, hun. We’re all rooting for you. I wish you could have been home for longer this summer. I miss you.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. Yeah, Mom always wanted me at home, but it wasn’t the same now.

A lot of people had moved away, the ones I knew, and the rest were interested in Ducky, the hockey player, not Josh, the person I was when I wasn’t playing hockey.

They wanted to talk about hockey all the frickin’ time and expected me to pay for everything.

I didn’t mind, but it would be nice if maybe someone just had me over for beer and talking about Star Wars or something like that.

This summer, we all, the whole team, had promised to work hard and be in great shape so that this season we could go all the way.

Losing in overtime at home in the finals had been super shitty.

I knew Mitchy, our backup goalie, thought it was his fault for letting in that goal.

He was in net because of an accident with Petey, our starter, and JJ blamed himself for running Petey down.

Petey thought he’d have stopped the shot if he’d been playing, and Cooper and Crash missed a pass that led to the goal—hell, if I’d scored when we’d been down in Minnesota’s end, we wouldn’t have needed Mitchy to stop anything. Lots of blame to go around.

“Josh?”

“Uh, sorry, Mom. Got distracted there.”

“I asked how things were going with your new roommate.” Her tone was disapproving.

She didn’t think I needed a roommate; I was an adult and it was my condo.

But I liked having people around so I didn’t feel all alone.

Plus, with someone in my spare bedroom, I put Mom up in a hotel when she visited a few times a season.

She’d been a single mom, and I appreciated how hard she’d worked to raise me. I just needed some space.

“Fitch is great so far. He’s kinda quiet, but he’s nice. He’s going through a divorce so sometimes he gets a little down, but I help cheer him up.”

I didn’t like people being sad. I was a goof, but if it helped someone feel better, that was all good, right?

“Does he bring home women?”

My face heated up. I hooked up more than Fitchy, at least so far, but I did not want to talk about that with my mother. She had to know I wasn’t sweet and innocent. I was twenty-four, and I’d been playing in the NHL for years now. Distraction was in order. “So, guess who I ran into?”

She sighed. I wasn’t subtle. “How would I know who you ran into?”

“Well, you know her. Katie.”

She didn’t say anything.

“You know, Katie. Katie Baker. My old tutor?” And my old girlfriend, but something told me not to mention that to Mom.

“How did she manage to track you down?”

I stared at the fridge in front of me. Why would she think Katie found me?

Katie did not like me, not now. She had to know I played in Toronto, but I hadn’t heard anything from her after she moved here.

She could have found someone to tell her how to get a hold of me if she’d wanted.

Most everyone knew where the teams hung out.

“She didn’t ‘track me down.’ She wasn’t even happy to see me. It was an accidental thing.”

“I doubt that.”

I was never going to tell my mom that I went home with a woman I picked up in a bar and found Katie that way. It would prove Katie hadn’t planned it, but I didn’t need another lecture from my mother on using protection and being careful.

Mom had never spoken like this before about Katie. Like Katie was out for what she could get. Maybe Katie was right, that Mom didn’t like her. “Why would you even think she’d want to see me after the way I broke up with her?”

Could rolling eyes make a sound? “Joshua, don’t be na?ve. You’re successful and wealthy. The Bakers would love to get their hands on you.”

What the fuck?

“I don’t think so. She was super pis— I mean, she was not happy to see me.”

Mom sniffed. “Well, I hope you don’t run into her again.”

No need to tell her I was planning how to do just that. “Did you know she was in Toronto?”

“Why are you asking me?”

I shrugged, but she couldn’t see that. “Just, someone from back home, you know. Figured people would talk, mention that she was here.”

“I don’t listen to gossip, Joshua.”

That was a flat-out lie. Usually half of our phone call was her telling me about people she knew and what was going on with these strangers. “Why don’t you like Katie?” Cause yeah, she didn’t. Katie was right.

“I don’t think she was good for you. She took advantage of you, when she was tutoring you in high school. You needed to keep your focus on hockey back then, to make sure you made it.”

Was that what she really thought had happened? “I wouldn’t have made it through math without her.” Katie was a math genius.

“She was an adequate tutor, but it should have stopped there.”

I was the one who’d pushed for us to be more than tutor and dumb jock, but I didn’t say that. If I didn’t get Katie to agree to see me, Mom would be happier if I just let it go.

“Have you been dating?”

I bit my lip. Not going to mention Katie’s roommate, the hot redhead. Mar…Mag… Madeline . Mom would want to know every little detail about any woman I mentioned. Me not knowing her last name would shock her and start that speech I just wasn’t interested in. “No one special.”

“That’s good. You have lots of time. You’ll know when you meet the right girl. When that happens, she’ll be the one you want me to meet.”

I bit my lip harder. “Sure, Mom. Well, I need to get to practice. Just wanted to check in.”

“You’re so sweet, Josh. Take care. I’ll have to check your schedule, see when I can come for a visit.”

“Can’t wait.” Did I sound sincere enough? I must have, because she said goodbye and let me go.

I set the phone down and dropped my head in my hands. Katie was right. Mom didn’t like her. Which meant that Mom’s test for the right girl was all wrong. I knew the right girl, and Mom definitely didn’t want to meet her.

Now I just had to figure out how to get my girl to let me see her again.

* * *

Coach had listed the surviving roster at the practice arena. Only a couple of the guys who’d gone out with me last night were still around. Practice was more focused, since there were fewer of us on the ice, and the coaches worked us a little harder.

Training camp was always tough, but this year we’d all come back in good shape and ready for the season. Our year, this year. Fitch was fitting in well, and everyone seemed ready to give it their all.

After practice most of the team hung around for the free food—nutritionally balanced and full of good shit for us.

Some of the married guys left to spend time with their families which was unfortunate for me.

They might be the best ones to answer my questions.

But I would make do with the guys who’d stayed and had partners or girlfriends.

Normally I hung out with the single guys who were my age, but I needed wisdom here and that meant someone who was older and had found their woman. Found and kept her.

Cooper raised an eyebrow as I sat at the table with him and Mitch and Barnes. “Sure this is where you want to sit, Ducky?”

I nodded, picking up the bottle of ketchup. The pasta smelled great, and some ketchup would help the plain chicken breast go down.

Cooper shuddered. “You’re a heathen.”

I grinned at Cooper. “Yeah, I like ketchup.”

Mitch frowned. “Ketchup is full of sugar.”

“Exactly!”

“Is that why you honored us with your presence today? To give us all nightmares about your eating habits?”

I shook my head, my mouth full of pasta. I held up a finger and swallowed. “No, I need some advice.”

“What kind of advice?” Barnes asked.

“Romantic advice.” I shoved some more pasta in my mouth while they exchanged looks.

“You met someone?” Mitch asked.

I shrugged and moved my head sort of up and down and sideways. “It’s someone I knew back in high school, but I just found out she’s in Toronto now.”

“Did you call her?”

“I don’t have her number, but I know where she lives.” I was still blocked, according to my searching last night.

“Stalking her?”

I felt heat moving up my neck into my cheeks. “I ran into her.”

“At a bar?”

“Not exactly.”

Then Fitch slid into a chair beside me. “Oh, let me tell.”

I sighed and took a bite of chicken. Might as well let him.

“He hooked up with a redhead, went home with her, and found out his ex is the hookup’s roommate.”

Everyone stopped to look at me. “So, threesome?” Barnes asked.

Fitch shook his head. “No. Apparently there’s a roommate code when it comes to exes. Instead of a threesome, the two of them ganged up on Ducky.”

Yeah, it didn’t sound good, and I was going to get chirped so bad. But if they could help me with Katie, I’d take it.

“Wait.” Cooper held up a hand. “This is the ex you’re interested in? Because that makes a big difference.”

Good to know. “Why?”

“Because she already knows you. And for some reason, it didn’t work. Not sure if you can change things. Why did you break up?”

Fitch answered for me. “The key isn’t why, but how. He ended a two-year relationship by text.”

The whole table groaned. Yeah, I got it. I wouldn’t do it again, assuming I could get Katie back. If I got back with Katie, I wasn’t going to let her get away.

“Why did you break up with her?”

I waved at Fitch to continue, since he was enjoying it so much. Might as well finish my meal.

“It was the end of high school and he was heading to the draft. She was getting scholarship offers for universities.”

“You wanted to sample all the puck bunnies.”

“No!” I blurted out. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“It’s kind of obvious.”

“Well, it wasn’t to me. My mom and her parents thought she’d give up on school to follow me. I didn’t know how long I would play or if I’d make it, so that would have been a bad thing to do. She’s really smart. She should go to the best school for her.”

“Her parents didn’t like you, huh?” Cooper smirked.

“Wait, why wouldn’t they?”

Barnes pointed a finger at me. “I don’t know, but they wanted you to break up.”

“Your mom too, eh?” Mitch added.

I shrugged. Mom had made it clear this morning that she really didn’t like Katie. I guess her parents didn’t like me either. There was a lot I’d missed back then.

The parents not being on board made this more difficult. But I wasn’t giving up. I was here with the Blaze, and I was succeeding. I’d worked hard to make it in hockey, and I’d work hard to get Katie back too.

“So, what’s my play?” These guys had their women. Time for them to share the advice.

Barnes frowned. “This isn’t going to be easy. Not like you can send her flowers, ask her out for dinner.”

Not when I didn’t have her number.

Cooper narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. “What does she do?”

Had she said anything last night? “I don’t know. She was going to major in math when she went to university, and I heard she was going to school here. So something like that?”

“Then you’re not going to run into her through work.”

“No way.”

Cooper nodded slowly. “I think, first, you’re going to have to get her to be your friend.”

“My friend?”

“You did more than just fuck around back then, right?”

“She was my tutor, but we had a lot of fun together.” I held up my hand. “Not just like that. She’s cool. I liked being with her.”

“Then that’s your play. Get her to agree to be your friend. No way will she go out with you after a text breakup. Get to be friends. And if you’re lucky, maybe then you can try for more.”

I considered that. Hanging out with Katie, even as friends and nothing more, would still be great. But if she started dating someone, that would be hard.

Wait, was she dating someone? How could I be friends with her if she was with someone else?

I couldn’t ask my mom, or her parents, so I’d have to be her friend, find out what was going on, and prove to her that I was the right guy for her. The only guy, for the rest of our lives.

Yeah, that was going to take some work.