Page 74 of On the Power Play

He was a hypocrite. The problem was he couldn't quite figure out what he needed to do with his whole ass. Was he going to focus on the hockey? Focus on the team? What did that even mean anymore? It's good for the team, and what's good for the team is good for all of us, right? Lisa’s words came back to him. She was convinced shoving him and his relationship with Delia into the limelight was a valuable contribution. But was that what he needed? What the team needed of him?

Maybe that’s how pro hockey was. More business than sport. Here he was whining when he probably wasn't such an anomaly. Jack scanned the table, taking mental note of the guys that had been playing in the NHL for more than a handful of years. Nathan Pelletier. Nils Johannsen. Noah Gaudreau. Not to mention Owen Monahan. Maybe this wasn't about him coming in and trying to help the younger guys. Despite his age, maybe he was still a kid who needed some guidance too.

“I’m telling you, I’ve had it happen before. It fell out like your mother’s third child.” Nils mimed in the air in front of him. “Straight out of my pants onto the ice.”

Gaudreau laughed. “You left it there?”

“Hell, no! I stickhandled that cup back to my bench, flicked it over the boards, and kept playing. Nobody said a word!”

Liam chomped on a fry. “Probably because it was so small, it wasn’t noticeable.”

Nathan’s face contorted with laughter as Nils leaned back in his seat. “Your sister says I’ve grown substantially since U13.”

Liam flipped up his middle finger and reached for the ketchup. Jack grinned like a kid finding a dollar under his pillow after losing his first tooth. As strange as it was, that BS was what finally pulled Jack out of his head. This was what he’d been missing.

Jack pushed aside his menu, already decided on the western burger. “No way that happens in adult leagues. A cup can’t escape past those logs.” He pointed at Tkachuk’s upper thighs.

Tkachuk wrapped both hands around the circumference of his right leg and had at least twenty centimeters between his thumbs. “Still hold the squat record.”

Nathan scoffed. “Only because you didn’t go up against me three years ago when I was your age.”

“Deterioration, old man. You’re already shrinking.” Tkachuk stole one of Liam’s fries.

Jack put in his order when the waitress came by their table, the wheels in his head finally gaining traction. Something had to give. This thing with Delia wasn’t going to last forever, and this was what he wanted.

The thought sent his heart racing. He could do it. Quit his job. Give his two weeks’ notice and play hockey until May full-time. And then be jobless living in his sister’s basement when he didn’t get re-signed for next season. Or get that contract.

“Jack, what does this look like to you?” Monahan held up Nils’ arm and pointed at one of his tattoos.

He went with the first thing that came to his head. “A cat with no teeth.”

Monahan burst out laughing, and Nils yanked his arm away. “Those aren’t eyes!”

Jack’s sides ached by the time they finished their meal and it was time for him to go back to work. He reluctantly pushed his chair back and stood as his teammates began gathering their things.

“Jack, you joining us for movie night?” Monahan asked.

It was the first he’d heard of it. “When is it?”

“Sunday afternoon. My place. I’ll text you the details.”

Nils leaned in. “You don’t want to miss it.”

His mischievous smile made Jack suspicious. “It’s not porn, right?”

Nathan guffawed. “So much better.”

Monahan clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Just show up, eh?”

Jack nodded, noticing that the rookie had already left the table. What would Delia be doing Sunday? If it wasn’t on his calendar from Tony, it didn’t matter, did it? “I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for the invite.”

_____

Delia slid into the back seat of the car next to Mary with lipstick on and her hair pulled up into a messy bun. She may have also been wearing the bra that Jack had seen her folding a few nights prior which, she told herself, had nothing to do with anything. It was just a bra.

Mary passed her a bottle of water as their driver pulled away from the curb with Delia's security guard, Alvin, in the passenger seat. “You haven't stopped smiling since we left that meeting this morning.”

Delia couldn’t even pretend she was wrong. That morning, they’d met at a studio downtown with Ethan Hayes about the song they were collaborating on. All night she’d been a ball of nerves. After so many instances where she’d hoped to be a creative partner on one of her songs and walked away disappointed, she put in a lot of effort to keep her hopes well tethered to the ground.

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