Page 5 of SlapShot Sweetheart

Ouch, he mused as she turned away to look back at the glass and hesitated. Inside the glass were several little fuzzy bodies all entangled, sleeping. There were kittens, about two months old, obviously close, and utterly adorable. Soft calicos, some gray and white kitties, and one pale tabby.

“Mon grandperewould have ‘ated this,” he volunteered and winced. Why had he volunteered that? His grandfather was from a different generation, a different world, and his mother told him stories about how when she was little, they kept rabbits in the basement, and he would tell the children to stay upstairs because it was time for the bunnies to go bye-bye… and they would have stew for the next week or two. Animals were food, and telling her that wouldn’t endear him to Aimee in the slightest.

“Why?” she asked curiously – and he winced.

“Different time, different place,” he managed evasively, keeping the details to himself. He grew up in a very small village outside of Quebec, where everyone knew each other. There was one main road out to the highway leading to the main city. Hisparents had a small farm, his grandparents had a smaller one down the same road, and he remembered catching a ride with the neighbors to school. In fact, he learned to play hockey on the ponds in the village before joining the team in high school. It was a way of life that was so foreign from how people grew up here. “Do you ‘ave any pets at ‘ome?”

“No,” she whispered before hardening again. “Why are you asking? Why are you still here? How’s your tooth – and your eye?”

“I’m curious, I’m looking, and it hurts,” he smiled simply, gingerly touching the tooth with his tongue pointedly. “Still there, let’s ‘ope it stays that way.”

“Guess you should stay out of dark alleys,” she said in a clipped voice.

“I wasn’t,” he answered, equally short.

“I don’t care.”

“I know.”

They stood there beside each other uncomfortably, and he tried not to stare or notice Aimee’s reflection in the glass but couldn’t help but notice how good the two of them looked together. He was dark with jet-black hair and brown eyes where she was everything vibrant and glowing with her bright red hair and blue eyes.

“Get two,” he whispered softly, leaning toward her. “If they are a family, you don’t want them lonely… not like us.Bonne chance, my belleAimee.”

He heard Aimee’s soft intake of breath as he walked away, feeling despondent, lonely, and hungry. Groceries that would be easy to eat needed to come first. His jaw was hurting, and he didn’t really relish the juices and protein shakes that the nutritionist would be shoving at him. He would burp celery and parsley for days if he didn’t handle some of this himself. That -and Theo needed to make sure the maid wasn’t allergic to cats before he got one – or two of them.

Three days later, Theo was chugging down some vicious sludge that was full of vitamins and nutrients before the next game. He was sitting there on the bench in the locker room and couldn’t shake the vision of Aimee in his mind. Why was he so hung up on the woman when she obviously wanted nothing to do with him.

“What’s wrong with you?” Coeur said in front of his locker, yanking on his uniform. “You’re a moody little thing, and I thought I was bad.”

“You are,” Gerry mouthed, plopping down on the bench beside Theo. “You okay?”

“Oui,” he grunted, taking another big swig of the vile stuff and trying not to gag. Maybe they put apples or beets in there today? It tasted a little sweeter than normal. “Just thinking.”

“How did your date go?”

“I lost my tooth during the first course – in the soup.”

“Oh, crap, dude.”

“Now that’s funny…” Lafrenière muttered as he shoved his legs into his padding. The man was their goalie and had literally no funny bone in his entire flexible body. Just watching the man do his stretches made his own knees and hips ache. Theo held up his juice mixture – and a finger at the man who simply puckered his lips and blew a kiss at him.

“Don’t let him bother you,” Giroux said, sitting down on the opposite side of the bench. “He’s getting in your head, and you certainly don’t need anyone riling you up before we play tonight. Keep your cool, use your mouthguard, and Becca is makingfudge next weekend – which means you need those teeth. She likes pecans.”

“I like her ‘pecans’…”

“Watch it, Boucher,” Giroux snarled, getting to his feet. “Keep it on the ice and directed toward the other team. Don’t start talking trash back here – and keep it clean.”

“Exactly – on the ice and focused,” Lafrenière agreed, nodding at him and arching his neck, listening. “We’re starting up. Coeur, hurry it up!”

The locker room started to clear out as they all went toward the rink, listening as the lights and speakers started to flare to life. He sucked down one more nauseating swig before shoving the empty container at the nutritionist for the team. She wasn’t a fan of donuts, and honestly, he would truthfully kill for a freshly fried one dipped in powdered sugar like his grandmother used to make when he was a little boy.

Honestly, his mind was a mess, and he hated to admit it. This game was going to be terrible, and he could feel it in his gut. Something felt off, he was distracted and felt slightly hurt that Aimee had yet to even respond to him being polite. He texted her this morning, just a simple conversation starter that she ignored.

One kitten – or two?

The message went unread. It was like she was shutting him off, not even allowing him to try to make things right or start over like she’d mentioned. It was frustrating, and he didn’t understand why he kept going back for a second rejection or a third. If he walked out into the audience, girls would throw themselves at him. It wouldn’t be real; none of it would last, and he was tired of being disappointed in the female crowd surrounding the players. They were all more concerned about stats, plays, goals, and endorsements. He wanted someone who didn’t want to discuss any of that. Someone who wanted to just hang out with him because he was a normal guy… andTravis Giroux had no idea how lucky he was with his wife, Becca. The woman was clueless when it came to hockey. They had a relationship of their own, talking about movies, Star Wars, action figures, cartoons, and other things that seemed to entertain the both of them. Theo saw the two in action together and realized that was what was missing in his life.

He wanted conversation, a friend, someone to talk to.

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