Page 121 of Suck My Puck

I gaze around the cluttered store that’s full of mugs, shot glasses, postcards, refrigerator magnets, calendars, and shirts, all plastered with the Canadian flag.

Bella stops at a massive bin filled with chew toys. She plucks out a hot pink chew toy bone displaying the Canadian flag and holds it up. “Maizie needs one of these.”

I fight a smile. “Okay, yeah, that’s really cute.”

We stroll around the store. Bella grabs a container of maple candy. “For Lauren. She’s having major sugar cravings.”

I take the dog collar and candy from her so she can grab more stuff if she wants.

She runs over to a massive t-shirt display along the wall, grabs one, and holds it up for me to see. She laughs. “I’m definitely getting this for you.”

On the shirt is a silhouette of a small ape, then a biggerape, then one standing upright, then the silhouette of Big Foot. At the very end is a silhouette of a hockey player. Underneath the graphic are the words, “Evolution of a Canadian.”

I burst out laughing. “That’s actually pretty funny.”

I see a shelf of Big Foot bobbleheads and grab one.

Bella chuckles. “See? I knew you’d love this store.”

“Bobbleheads are fun. My dream is to be a bobblehead someday.”

She grins wide. “Really?”

“Yeah. It almost happened. A couple years ago the Bashers released bobbleheads of all the players on our roster, but whatever company they hired to design them did a terrible job. None of the bobbleheads looked like us.”

“What did they look like?”

“All of our faces looked like a cross between Pikachu and GI Joe. They were terrifying. The team’s merchandise department got rid of them immediately.”

Bella laughs so hard, she almost falls over. I reach out and grab her arm to steady her, chuckling too.

“That sounds wild,” she manages to say after a minute.

“It was pretty funny. Guess I’ll have to wait a little longer for my childhood dream to come true.” I chuckle, sobering after my own words trigger a memory I haven’t thought about in years.

Bella touches my hand, her brow furrowing in concern. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “I was just thinking about years ago when I did one of my first media interviews as a college hockey player. A reporter asked me what my biggest goal was and I said it was to someday have my own bobblehead.”

“That’s really sweet,” she says.

I rub the back of my neck. “My dad didn’t think so. Hewent off on me for giving such a stupid and immature answer during a media interview. He said I should have talked about being drafted into the pros or winning a championship. In his eyes, it was yet another thing I messed up.”

“Hey.” Bella holds my hand in both of hers. “There’s nothing wrong with what you said. It was honest and true to yourself. Never, ever feel bad about being you, Braden. Your dad was wrong to make you feel bad for that.”

Warmth gathers in my chest at the conviction in Bella’s tone, at how much she cares about me, at how she’s comforting me about something that happened years ago.

I press a soft kiss to her mouth. “Thank you.”

We head to the register and pay for our stuff. I carry the shopping bag as we walk out of the store and back down the street toward our hotel.

A light rain starts to fall. Bella buttons up the long wool coat she’s wearing and grabs my hand, smiling up at me. “You’re gonna look so hot in that shirt.”

I groan-laugh. “No way am I wearing that in public.”

“Braden?”

I freeze at the sound of my dad’s voice. I turn around, stunned to see him walking out of some restaurant.

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