Page 55 of Leave

And thishadbeen his idea. I’d had his back in California as much as I knew how to, and it had been a shorter visit than either of us had expected. I just prayed that in the brief time we’d been there, I’d done enough for him to hold up his end of the deal. I didn’t know what to do if it wasn’t.

My dad looked at me, and I snapped out of my thoughts in time to catch his question: “Do you boys have plans tomorrow night? I know it’s last minute, but the Breakers are playing in town. We got tickets because we thought you’d like to catch a game before the season’s over.”

That brightened my mood. “Are they still playing? I thought the season already ended.”

“Nope, still a few more games to go.”

“Yeah?” I asked. “Are they—I haven’t been following the standings. Are they in the playoffs this year?”

My parents both snorted and rolled their eyes.

I laughed. “Yeah, I figured.” That was on-brand for most pro sports in Seattle. I turned to Riley. “What do you think? You want to go?”

He blinked. “Uh. At the risk of sounding clueless… what sport?”

“Hockey.”

“Oh! Sure, yeah! That sounds fun. I don’t know anything about hockey, but…” He half-shrugged. “I’m in.”

I grinned. “Awesome. I think you’ll have a blast.”

Hockey games were always a lot of fun, but for some reason, the prospect of going to one with Riley had me excited in ways I couldn’t quite explain. Maybe because I’d been dreading so much about this trip, I’d forgotten there could and would be fun parts too.

“Shame I didn’t bring one of my jerseys,” I said. “I didn’t think to pack one.”

Dad waved a hand. “I’ve got you covered.” He peered at Riley. “Mine will probably be a little big on you, son, but I think we can manage.”

“Oh. Uh.” Riley glanced at me. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure I can just wear a T-shirt or something.”

“Oh, you’ll want to wear a hoodie at least,” Mom said. “Our tickets are close to the ice, so it gets chilly.”

That got my attention. “Wait, you guys are down by the glass now? I thought you liked sitting in the upper bowl.”

“We did,” Dad said, “but Matt and Sophia got us glass side tickets for Christmas, and…” He shrugged.

“We got a little spoiled,” Mom clarified.

I snorted. “All those years you said it wasn’t worth it to sit that close…”

“Yeah, yeah, smartass.” Dad rolled his eyes. “Eat your damn dinner.”

I just chuckled and kept eating.

And for the first time, I was actually looking forward to something on this trip.

Chapter 17

Riley

As promised, John found a couple of Seattle Breakers jerseys for Nolan and me to wear. Mine was indeed a little loose since I was narrower in the shoulders than either of them, but hockey jerseys seemed to be kind of loose anyway. It also left room to wear a hoodie and a T-shirt underneath, which I was glad I’d done.

“Wow,” I said as I took my seat. “You weren’t kidding about the cold!”

Carol laughed, squeezing my arm with a gloved hand. “Just be glad you didn’t have to learn the hard way like we did.”

“You didn’t have to learn the hard way,” Nolan corrected. “You could’ve listened to me and Matt when we told you.”

“Hey.” Carol reached across me and thumped him on the leg. “Don’t talk to your mother that way.”

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