Page 19 of The Home Game

Matty laughed. “Yeah. Some of my teammates and a couple of guys who are from Toronto and haven’t headed back to their teams yet.”

Antoni shrugged. “I know nothing about how hockey stuff works at all. I don’t even know when the season starts.”

“Officially? Mid-October. But guys start trickling back into town toward the end of August or early September. Training camp is mid-September.”

“Wait, so you’re practicing before training camp?” Antoni sounded confused as he pushed his damp hair off his forehead.

Matty grinned. “Yup. So, guys used to take the summer off and actually train and get in shape at camp. But now, some players don’t really take any time off. They skate all summer. I like to take a little time to just rest and then I get into it in like July. And there’s a lot of guys in the area who train with me. We work with skills coaches and do camps and stuff. Training camp is just about figuring out who has chemistry and what the lineup might look like.”

“So your whole life is more or less hockey, huh?”

“Uhh, pretty much,” Matty admitted. “I mean, I like to golf and work out and go out on the boat too. I always hoped to have a family, which would have kind of shifted stuff, but … you know, didn’t work out for me.”

“Ahh.”

“What were you doing at the school today?” Matty said, glad to change the subject. “Classes haven’t started yet, right?”

“No. Not yet. I’m just prepping my classroom.”

“Cool. Tell me about it?”

He shrugged. “Nothing major. Just a few posters, arranging chairs the way I like them, getting all of the books sorted and organized. Stuff like that.”

“Sounds like fun.” They were stopped at a light so Matty glanced over.

“Usually it is,” Antoni said with a sigh. “I looked forward to it last year. This year, I was too busy worrying about the house thing.”

“No luck yet?” Matty asked sympathetically, biting back the urge to remind Antoni that there was a really easy solution for him.

“No.” Antoni rubbed his hands over his face. “Not at all. I’m at my wits’ end.”

“Mmm,” Matty managed because he was not going to make this awkward. He wasn’t. “How long have you been a teacher?”

“Just a couple of years. I got hired after I finished my Master’s degree.”

“So where to now?” Matty asked as they approached the neighborhood. Antoni had been kinda vague about where exactly his parents lived.

“Oh, um, left up here,” Antoni said and it didn’t take them long to arrive.

Their house was only a few streets over from Matty’s place. Beautiful and well-maintained but definitely smaller than Matty’s.

“Follow me,” Antoni said. He strode up the sidewalk and Matty obediently followed, excited that he was going to meet the kids.

“Hey!” Antoni called out as he opened the door. “I’m here. Sorry I’m running a little late. The van broke down and I had to get a tow.”

A middle-aged woman with dark hair that was threaded through with silver stepped into the hallway. “Oh no. Where did you break down? How did you get here? You could have called us for a ride, you know—”

She froze, peering at Matty. “Oh, uhhh …”

“Hey, Mom.” Antoni kissed her cheek. “The van broke down at school. And this is Matty. My, uh, friend Matty.”

Matty smiled. Yeah, friends was good. Matty liked Antoni calling him that. It was perfectly normal for Matty to help out a friend. He did it all the time.

“Well, thank you for helping out, Matty,” Antoni’s mom said with a warm smile. “We really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, of course,” Matty said, holding out a hand. “Nice to meet you, um …”

Shit, he didn’t actually know her name.

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