Page 60 of Dump and Chase

“What’s his last name?” I told her, and Jill pulled out her phone and googled him. She whistled when his picture came up on her phone. “I wouldn’t throw him out of my exam room.”

“Oh stop!”

Jill put her phone down and sucked back more of her margarita. “I get what you’re saying. It’s probably the worst time to date, and last time I checked, hockey players make shitty boyfriends. So why not have some fun with him instead? Go out for dinner and meet these ‘friends,’” she said, using air quotes. “I think you deserve to have some fun, otherwise your current living situation will drive you insane.”

Maybe I would take him up on that dinner date when I got home. I had nothing to lose.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Ethan

The condo was different without Tangi in it. Even though she’d be gone only a couple of days, I missed the smell of her perfume or the way she hummed when she made her lunches for the week. She was still pissed at me, but I loved having her around anyway.

At first I thought this trip was Tangi’s way of getting away from me, but she’d mentioned in passing about Wolseley’s vegetarian restaurant—or was it vegan? Whatever it was, Ava was going too, so it was all legit. Maybe the few days away from each other would do us good. I hoped when she got back that we could talk, that I could try to explain to her why I’d made such terrible choices three years ago. That was if she’d even listen.

We had a preseason game that night, but Coach Anthony had told me I wasn’t going to play. I was fine with that. I was nursing a tender shoulder from getting hit into the boards by one of the new kids trying to prove himself. Jeremy had a talk with the kid after practice. While Jeremy was a playboy off the ice without a care in the world, on the ice, he took his role as captain seriously. Not injuring your teammates should have been obvious, but he’d tell the kid anyway.

While I wasn’t playing that night, I still had practice to attend. With the season about a week away, the roster was being pared down by the day. Some players were being sent down to the Ravens, while others had opted to play in Europe. Others were outright released. Some good people were leaving town.

I downed a protein shake and headed to the rink. All the guys who weren’t playing that night were suiting up. My shoulder was still acting up, so I let one of our assistant coaches know that I was going to check in with Nate, our head trainer. He was in the training room, talking to Peter Ashburn, one of our top defensemen. Apparently they were just wrapping up whatever they were doing, because Peter nodded at me and left the training room.

“I like you, Ethan, but I hate seeing you here,” Nate said. “It means something’s ailing you.”

Nate had been with the team as long as I had. He treated all the players the same, which won him respect around the dressing room. Too many times a trainer played favorites, but Nate was a good guy.

“That hit the other day, the one from Mitchelson? My shoulder is acting up. Nothing serious, but I don’t want to ignore it with the season about to start.”

“Good plan. Okay, let’s take a look.”

He checked my range of motion and quickly ascertained that I’d tweaked it. “I want you to rest up a few days and then we’ll see if we can get the inflammation down. I’m going to send you to see Dr. Warren in case he wants to prescribe something for it. But nothing is separated, so that’s good news. I’ll let Coach know.”

While the guys got ready for practice, I did some work on the bike and some other lower body exercises. I then watched the rest of practice, met with the team doctor, and went home to an empty apartment.

That night Ryan and I walked to the game. He lived a few blocks away, and it was nice to get some fresh air and hang out.

“What’s up with the shoulder?” he asked.

“Not separated, otherwise I’d pummel Mitchelson into his next life. But it’s inflamed and sore, and Warren has me on some anti-inflammatories for now. I’ll see the PT tomorrow.”

“But you have a live-in one,” he said, arching a brow.

“She’s barely talking to me.”

“What did you do?” he asked.

We got to the arena and passed through security. We could have gone to the locker room to see the guys, but it was a preseason game, so not much was at stake. Instead, we headed for the Kodiaks box and hung out there. No one else was around yet.

“I didn’t realize how much hurt she still had over what went down between us, or what the engagement meant to her. She let me know in no uncertain terms,” I said, once we had no audience. “Something about committing to Brandi when I wouldn’t commit to her. I tried to explain that it was a different time. When Tang and I were together, we were young. I was older when I met Brandi.”

Ryan’s face looked as if he’d been sucking on lemons. “That’s a bullshit response. You were an ass. You think I don’t remember what happened on New Year’s Eve?”

Fortunately, not a lot of people were still around from that day. Just a handful of guys who either didn’t notice or didn’t care. But Ryan and Jeremy were there, both with their girlfriends at the time. They witnessed me behaving like a fool. I wasn’t a big drinker, not like some guys on the team, but that night I’d been putting a few back. By no means had I been drunk, but I’d had enough to say and do things I shouldn’t have.

Our captain then, Wes Erickson, had thrown the party at his house in Kitsilano. All the players were invited as well as the training staff and anyone else Erickson could think of. Tangi had looked so pretty that night, in an eggplant-colored dress that hugged all her curves. We’d both been having a great night, and even though it was cold outside—by no means anything close to a Minnesota winter night—we stood outside on Erickson’s deck and took in the lights and the ocean. We’d held hands, and I don’t even remember how we’d gotten onto the subject of marriage.

“Vancouver is growing on me,” she’d said. “In the year and a half I’ve been here, I could see myself staying long-term.”

“Good, because I plan to sign an eight-year contract.”

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