Page 54 of Slew Foot (Scoring Chances #3)

Rafe felt like he was going to lose his mind while they waited for the test results. Tanner didn’t seem much better, and Rafe could only imagine how Mickey was feeling.

He could see the tightness around his eyes though and knew he needed to do something for Mickey to cheer him up. He thought about all of the things Mickey liked before suddenly remembering what he’d said about his grandma’s plum cake.

But how to find it? Rafe might remember Mickey talking about it but not well enough to be sure he didn’t mangle the name. He couldn’t google it either because he sure as fuck couldn’t spell it.

Obviously, he could ask Mickey, but that sort of defeated the purpose of it being a surprise .

So, Rafe kept thinking. That didn’t really get him anywhere because no one had ever said thinking was, like, his strong suit or anything.

But one afternoon, after he had practice and Mickey’d had a virtual meeting with someone from The Blueliner Initiative, they stretched out on the bed to talk and nap.

The tinnitus had been pretty bad today, so they’d been sending each other messages on their phones. Mickey had passed out with his phone still on and Rafe was gently prying it from his hand when a message came in from a Katrin Schmidt.

It was in German, so Rafe didn’t have a clue what it said.

He wouldn’t have had a clue who she was either, except he and Mickey had added each other as emergency contacts for the Harriers’ organization.

When Rafe had seen Mickey’s mom’s name on the paperwork, he’d told Mickey he thought the name Katrin was pretty.

Mickey had smiled and said that was his mom.

Now, Rafe touched the screen and stared down at the message.

Was it snooping if he pulled up her contact and saved her number? Would Mickey be mad if Rafe messaged her?

He only wanted to ask about the plum cake and see if there was some way of getting one to Mickey. He bit his lip and carried the phone out into the living room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Tanner was sprawled on the couch, headphones on and watching something on his laptop.

Rafe waved but got no response, so he grabbed his sock-covered foot and wiggled it to get his attention.

Tanner shot upright, nearly dumping the laptop on the floor. “Shit, what was that for?” he asked, pulling the headphones down.

“I have a question.” Rafe glanced at the phone, saw the screen start to dim and swiped his finger across it to wake it up again. He didn’t actually know Mickey’s passcode. “Does it make me a bad boyfriend if I snoop on Mickey’s phone?”

“Uhh,” Tanner said. “Well, we both know I’d be a shitty boyfriend so I dunno why you’re asking me.”

“You’re the only one here,” Rafe pointed out.

Tanner nodded like that made sense. “Umm, I guess I’d wanna know why you’re doing it? Do you think Mickey’s cheating on you or something?” He sounded doubtful.

Rafe laughed. Yeah, right. Like Mickey would ever . “No, I want to buy him a cake.”

Tanner squinted. “Why do you need to go through his phone to do that? And I thought he didn’t even like dessert much.”

“He doesn’t, but there’s one cake he likes. One his grandma used to make. I want to text his mom to see if she can help me figure out how to get one.”

“Ohhh, dude you’re good then. If it’s snooping with good intentions, it’s totally fine.”

Rafe squinted back at him. Was that actually a rule? Or was that something Tanner had made up?

He asked Tanner, who shrugged. “I dunno if it’s like a rule , but my dad always said it.”

“Aren’t your parents divorced?” Rafe asked.

“I mean, yeah.”

“Right.” Maybe he should talk to someone who actually knew something about relationships.

“Screen’s going dark again,” Tanner said.

Rafe yelped and swiped his thumb across it.

“Dude,” Tanner said with a roll of his eyes. “Fucking save Mickey’s mom’s number in your phone, so you don’t have to keep doing that. You can decide if you’re going to do something with it later. If you decide not to, you can delete it.”

“Okay, that’s a good call,” Rafe said. Tanner wasn’t always helpful, but when he was …

“Give me your phone. You can read off the number while I put it in.”

Rafe handed over his phone. He was about to give Tanner the passcode for it but a moment later, it was unlocked.

Rafe gaped. “How did you do that?”

Tanner gave him a look. “Dude, you just changed it the other day. I tried a combo of your and Mickey’s jersey numbers and hey, what do you know?”

Rafe scowled. Okay, maybe he needed a better passcode. Mickey probably had a better one.

“Screen’s going dark again,” Tanner reminded him.

“Fuck!” Rafe woke it up, then opened Katrin’s contact. “Okay, you ready to put in the number?” he asked.

“Ready.”

When Rafe was sure he had it right, he closed the contact and turned off Mickey’s phone.

“Thanks,” he said when Tanner handed his phone back. “I’m gonna text Connor and see what he thinks.”

“Good call.” Tanner stretched out again, leaving no room for Rafe. “He’ll know what the right thing to do is.”

Rafe sighed. They really needed a bigger couch.

He sat on the floor, typing out a message to Connor. Would you be mad if Jesse snooped through your phone to get your mom’s number?

A moment later, he got three question marks in response, then, Why would he? Jesse knows my ma’s number. Hell, they probably talk more than she and I do at this point.

Rafe rolled his eyes and explained what he was trying to do.

I think under the circumstances, Mickey would understand you snooping. It’s harmless. Jesse agrees and says ‘aww, that’s sweet’.

Finally, something helpful. “Captain and goalie approved,” Rafe said.

Tanner shot him a thumbs-up.

Rafe bent his head and typed out a message to Mickey’s mom.

Hi, Mrs. Schmidt. This is Rafe, Mickey’s boyfriend.

I wanted to do something nice for him and get him the cake his grandma used to make him when he was a kid.

He’s talked about it before. He said it had plums in it?

Could you tell me what it’s called and how I might be able to get it?

Do they deliver cakes from Germany? The cost doesn’t matter.

It took about fifteen minutes before he got a reply back.

Hi, Rafe. It’s nice to meet you. Please call me Katrin.

That is a very nice gesture, and I am glad to hear you’re looking out for my son.

The cake you’re looking for is called ‘Zwetschgenkuchen’.

While I think it might be possible to get a cake delivered from Germany, I think it might be a better idea to look for a German bakery in Boston that makes it.

Oh! Duh! Rafe smiled down at his phone and sent, Awesome idea. Thanks! Uhh, I am not sure I remember how Mickey pronounced it though.

A moment later, a voice message appeared, and Rafe played it, listening carefully.

Tanner sat up. “Dude who is that? She has a sexy voice.”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “It’s Mickey’s mom . And she was talking about cake .”

“What kind of cake?” Tanner waggled his eyebrows.

“The dessert from a bakery kind, you weirdo.”

Tanner lay back down again. “Oh, well, she’s got a MILF-y voice.”

“Do you ever think about anything but sex?” Rafe asked.

“I mean, hockey,” Tanner said like that should have been obvious. “And like … food. Video games. Lots of things.”

“Mm-hmm,” Rafe said, typing out a response to Katrin. Thanks! That’s helpful.

Ask them for a yeasted dough with no streusel.

I will! Thanks again.

I’m happy to help. Let me know if I can do anything else. Mickey is very stubborn about accepting help.

I had noticed that, Rafe agreed. It’s okay. I love him.

Rafe got a heart back in response.

Although Rafe found a couple of German bakeries in the area, none of them had the kind of cake he wanted listed on their website. He might have to ask them to make it special, which was fine. But he wasn’t sure which one was the best.

And Mickey deserved the best.

Time to talk to another O’Shea. He scrolled through his contacts before bringing up the text thread he had with Catherine.

He typed out a message. I need your help. Do you know of any German bakeries in Boston?

There wasn’t a response right away, so he dicked around on his phone while he waited.

There are several , she said when she replied. Did you have something specific in mind?

He explained the whole thing and she said, Well, I think there are a couple of options. Would you like me to recommend which I think you should try first?

That would be great!

The sound of the door opening made him jump in surprise and Mickey appeared in the living room a few minutes later, his hair sticking up in every direction and a confused look on his face.

“Where’d you go?” he rasped, leaning against the wall. “And where is my phone? I’ve been looking everywhere for it.”

“Your mom sent you a message,” Rafe blurted out, holding Mickey’s phone out to him. Ahh fuck . He’d kinda forgotten this plan might involve not being totally honest with Mickey and he was so bad at lying.

“Oh, thanks. Good idea. The vibrations might have woken me up,” Mickey said, taking the phone from him.

“Sure,” Rafe said. They’d go with that.

The latest scan results came in two days later and Dr. Pope was right. Mickey had labyrinthitis.

Rafe and Tanner wanted to celebrate. After all, this ear thing was easier to treat than a concussion.

But Mickey seemed reluctant to get his hopes up, and they all went back to being nervous about it as Mickey took the first doses of medication.

“It could take a little while,” he warned them both, but Rafe could see the way his face fell the next morning when he woke up to ringing in his ears.

And when it wasn’t really any better the next day either.

“It’s only been two days,” Mickey said bravely, but Rafe could see it was wearing on him.

In between waiting for improvement in Mickey’s symptoms, trying to win some hockey games, and hunting down German plum cake, Rafe was even more of a wreck.

“What are you so jumpy about?” Mickey asked him with a frown one night as Rafe prepped for a game.