Page 34 of Playmaker

Ducky sat on the bench in front of his locker. “I’ll go home for a week sometime too, but mostly I’m here. We should do stuff!”

JJ frowned at him. “What kind of stuff?”

JJ was staying in town for most of the summer. His twin sister shared his condo, and since she worked a regular job she wasn’t leaving. The siblings weren’t close to their parents in any case.

“We could go to the beach and swim. Spend a day at Wonderland. Go out to a club or something.”

“Do you have any idea what the water temperature is in Lake Ontario? Your balls will pull up so far into your body you’ll never see them again. I’ll pass on swimming.”

Petrov crossed his arms, pale, naked body fully exposed. “We are in training. No clubs.”

Ducky pouted. “All right, how about poker nights?”

“Not if Royster is playing,” Crash objected.

Royster, Barnes and Bongo were our shutdown line and shared some kind of poker voodoo. They rarely lost.

“We’ll come up with something, Ducky,” I reassured him. We all wanted to be at our best for the next season, but we couldn’t train and do nothing else. As captain, I had to make sure we were all in a good place, mentally and physically.

“You’re in town all summer too?”

“Mostly,” I agreed. “We’ll do some golfing if you want.”

“When are you away?”

“End of summer. Family wedding.”

“Weddings can be fun.”

I wrapped a towel around my hips. “Not this one.”

“Do you have to go?”

I’d face incredible pressure if I didn’t. I’d considered it. But the same part of me that had mapped out all the billboards where I’d posed mostly nude in my sponsor’s underwear made me determined to go and flaunt the success I’d gained in front of my family. By almost any standard, I’d succeeded, and I was proud of what I’d done. Would have been nice to bring the Cup along with me. But not this year.

“There’s no one holding a literal gun to my head, but it’s family, so.” I shrugged.

The guys nodded. They were familiar with family pressure.

“But you can get a killer date. There was that actress you went out with, right? And that model…”

I smirked. These guys—most people—would find a date like that impressive, but not my family. “Oh yeah, I’ve got a date lined up who will make the perfect impression.”

I left for the shower before Ducky asked any more questions. He had his brow furrowed, so something was coming.

I was the last to leave—I’d promised management that I’d make sure the place was left secure. I buckled on my watch and my phone buzzed. I checked, and like he’d been summoned by the previous conversation, it was my brother.

Call the skydive place for the B-party. You’re in charge of that.

What the hell?Anything like that was against my contract. The fucker knew that. I was sure he was just waiting for me to complain about it.

Don’t even try to say you’re modeling that weekend.

Turned out, I had plans for the weekend before the wedding. Golf lessons with Callie. And my busy tax lawyer date couldn’t get that much time off. I’d tell my family she couldn’t, anyway.

Date can’t get away early. Will only be present for the wedding events.

I turned my phone off before he answered. He could go break his neck skydiving without me. I’d better turn in that RSVP with my plus-one.

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