Page 53 of Mind Pucked

“Now, dear, don’t be getting too upset,” my mother soothes him before turning to me. “We’ll give you two more months, but if you don’t have any more proof of your brother’s whereabouts, we will come and get you personally.”

“I’m an adult, Mom, you can’t just—” I begin, but before I can say any more, the call ends.

I draw my knees up to my chest, fighting my emotions, but like it or not…the tears come tumbling down.

12

JACKSON

Itake a swig of my cold beer as I catch sight of the replays from last week’s game, on repeat on the screen across the room. It’s a goal I made that drew a lot of attention due to it being a pinch play. It wasn’t a bad play if I say so myself, but I am a bit biased where that’s concerned.

It’s been two weeks since the night at the bar and afterparty with Amelia at the hotel. She left that morning, sending mixed signals, but ever since then things have seemed alright between us. I hope like hell that talking about my wife didn’t throw her off, but she was the one who encouraged me to talk about her.

But overall, nothing has seemed off between us, so I’ve allowed myself to believe the conversation did nothing to offend her, and truth be told, it helped me out a lot. I don’t know if I’m willing to admit that to anyone, but it was nice to talk about Lyla and not feel like I have to keep her memory all bottled up.

It did strike me as odd, however, that she had heard rumors about Preston being in the car. Not that she knows who it was—or even who Preston was to my knowledge—but it still seems oddthat someone told her. I make a mental note to ask her about it next time the conversation presents itself.

Of course, we haven’t slept together since that night, but the time we have spent together with along with Hayden has been nice. I’m sitting at a bar and grill, waiting to have lunch with a few of the guys. We meet up every now and again, and recently I’ve enjoyed my time with them where before I was avoiding going out with them like the plague.

I tear my eyes from the screen just in time to see Oliver and Felix coming in the door. I smile at them as they sit down and place their orders. I already have my cheeseburger and fries ordered. This place has the best burgers.

“Hey, guys,” I say as I wave over Vaughn and Benjamin who are joined at the hip these days it seems.

In no time, our food is coming out to the table and more beers have been dropped off. It’s the middle of the day, so none of us will drink much, but it’s good to have a cold beer every now and again.

I’m enjoying my burger as I keep looking back and forth between the television with the game on it and the guys who seem to be enjoying their food just as much as I am. Between bites, Oliver and Felix are talking over some strategies for the next game while Vaughn and Benjamin are both on their phones.

I listen in as Oliver suggests we implement plays specifically against the goalie of the team we’ll be facing in the next game. It turns out he’s a bit of a sieve. It’s easy to play against goalies who leave a lot of holes in their play in which to score. I worry that the other team is gonna catch onto that kind of strategy, but I don’tsay anything. It’s really the only plan we have, since the team is rather good…all but their goalie—Sven.

I continue to eat, mostly listening since I haven’t been much of a talker as of late. Of course, I have my reasons, but then again, maybe I should talk more…as Amelia said, talking about things and getting them out in the open can help.

“So, man, what’s up with you and Amelia?” Ben asks without even looking up from his phone, as if he can hear me thinking about her.

I smile and shake my head. I don’t know if this is the kind of conversation I want to be having with them, but somehow I knew it would only be a matter of time before it came up.

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to figure out how much they saw that night at the bar.

Truth be told, I’ve thought about it a lot, but I wouldn’t change a second of that night. Apart from the part where I woke up alone, though it seemed to me that she had a good enough excuse to head out early.

“Come on, we all saw you two going shot for shot, and how you bolted once things got hot and heavy after.” Vaughn smiles up from his phone. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what ya’ll left to do,” he adds with a mischievous grin.

I frown as I take a sip from my drink, trying to think of something, anything to say that might divert the conversation. I think about what might get the guys talking the most. Hockey is always a safe bet with us, so I give it a go.

“Hey, did you guys check out that hat trick the right wing from The Avalanche played in last night’s game?” I ask, trying to drawOliver and Felix’s attention to the conversation. “I can’t believe they traded Owens for Donahue this season,” I add, trying to goad Oliver into a rampage about how Donahue is the better goalie.

I know he has strong opinions on the matter, but I don’t know if he’ll take the bait now that the subject of Amelia has come up. And of course I couldn’t be so lucky.

“Not a chance, man.” Vaughn smirks. “You’re not getting off on this conversation that easy, Jackson.”

“What conversation?” Oliver asks, as if just now noticing another conversation has been going on, pulling his attention away from hockey for the moment.

Damn…he did miss the bait altogether. I consider bringing up Donahue again, but I know Vaughn won’t let that slide.

“Oh, we were just asking Ol’ Jacksy-Boy here about his relationship with one hot nanny who works for him.” Ben nudges me in the side playfully.

The one thing I like about my friends is that they’re always good at making me smile.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask you that myself,” Felix says with a smirk that suggests he has been wondering too.

---