Page 8 of I Blame the Alcohol

The O’Brien stubbornness can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

“Well?” I mentally flip through the hairstyle options I’d been considering for tonight and discard them all. This calls for something different.

A smile snakes from the corner of Lou’s lips, all the way up to the tips of her ears, “Caveman Cody might find himself with harder issues to handle tonight than just his recovery.”

I burst out laughing, “Wes has even turned your puns dirty, hasn’t he?”

A sly grin is all I get in response.

Chapter 3

Cody

“There he is!”

The living room explodes into cheers. You would think I am a long-lost soldier coming back from war, not an injured defenseman who participated in the sprint workout last week.

A lopsided orange banner hangs from a pock-marked kitchen table, and if the tedious swinging is anything to go by, the duct tape holding it in place was hastily put on just seconds before I stepped through Mason’s front door.

Laughter bubbles up in my throat as I read the shaky black bubble letters decorating the sign in our school colours:Let Cap’s Alcohol Recovery Begin!

Side hugs and back claps pull me farther into the room as familiar and unfamiliar faces swarm before me. Mason’s living room is bigger than mine, but not enough to accommodate the number of people here tonight.

Taber is well-known for its small-town parties but not so much for its studious students.

Squeezing my way through the crowd, I make it to the kitchen, being careful to step around the banner made in my honour. I head straight for the stack of red solo cups sitting next to the keg and grab one just as a familiar voice rings in my ear.

“Heard Hunter took you for quite the spin last week.” Waiting for my turn at the keg, I turn to see Taber’s freshman goalie, Nico Montez grinning back at me.

I sigh in good nature, “And here I thought my players would wait at least two weeks before they brought up my embarrassment.”

Nico laughs, the dark scruff on his jaw a stark contrast to the glistening teeth beneath, “You have too high of expectations, Cap. You should know by now no one takes the piss better than Tigers.”

A smile tugs my lips, and I raise my glass in acknowledgement. With a smirk, Nico mimics the motion, tapping his plastic cup against my empty one, “We all need to be remembered for something, Cap.”

Stifling a groan, I keep my smile in place as I take my turn at the keg. Besides my spectacular sprint letdown, the only other memorable thing I’ve done as captain is taken a beating during our season opener with Taber’s rivals, Silverwood Sabers.

Our team had done well up until the last quarter, but the moment I’d pushed Hunter out of the way and gotten rundown by Vector Vin, it was all over. My team had refused to continue playing after I was shipped off to the hospital, so we had scheduled a rematch for the following weekend.

And Taber’s champion lacrosse team had lost.

Badly.

Having been undefeated champions for five years in a row, the team had taken the hit hard, and it didn’t help that I couldn’t participate in practices until just recently. It took all of us two minutes to realize that being a captain from the sidelines was equivalent to being a lifeguard at the Olympics. Absolutely useless.

“Are you looking forward to the break?” Shuffling over to the tall Latino, I press my back into the shabby-looking pantry door as more people funnel into the kitchen for refills. Mason’s place might look like a nice starter home on the outside, but on the inside, years of use have stripped it down to something that looks like a show home for tight student budgets.

My question sparks a bright smile to light up Nico’s face, “Couldn’t be more excited to be going home. It is my family’s turn to host this year, so all my cousins will be breaking down our door.”

I smile wistfully, “You have a big extended family?”

“The biggest. My parents were the only ones who stopped at one child. The rest of my aunts and uncles felt the need to re-stimulate the world population.” Nico rolls his eyes, but the love shining through them tells me a different story.

“What about you? Heading back to Lethbridge after exams?”

Taking a sip of my beer to collect my thoughts, I give Nico a nonchalant shrug, “Thinking I might stay here. Catch up on recovery and all that. My pride can only let Hunter beat me so many times.” The rookie laughs just as his phone dings.

“Sorry, it’s Wes. One sec.” Waving him away, I take another sip of my beer and survey the room. My eyes are accustomed to picking out Stella’s unnatural shade of platinum in a crowd, so it doesn’t take me long to determine she hasn’t arrived yet. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Wes or his girlfriend tonight either.

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