Page 52 of Goalie Interference

He nodded. “That was your dad and Cash. You wouldn’t do anything to upset me, and I leapt to conclusions just because he was living upstairs.”

I clenched my fists on my lap. “And you’re sorry because you don’t want to upset me either, right?” The way he phrased that was weird. Why would I moderate my life to make him comfortable? We were divorced. He’d been the one to initiate theend of our marriage. He’d been right about it, but I didn’t owe him.

His gaze skittered away. “We’re both free to move on.” But before I could probe further into what he was up to, Joanna asked if I’d come sit by her so we could talk. Her friend, the one who loved hockey, had been sitting beside Joanna and was already standing, ready to swap places.

Still a little irritated with Ollie’s apology, I smiled and agreed. He shot me a glance, but my dad merely looked up and nodded, happy that I was making Joanna happy.

I left early. I wasn’t sure anyone noticed.

Chapter 21

Are we being catfished?

Remy

The team put together a Thanksgiving dinner for all the players who were single or lived too far away to join their families. Some of the guys, like Lathan and Miller, stayed on the East Coast after the last away game to see their relations before flying back for our next game. My parents were in Malaysia and this wasn’t our Canadian Thanksgiving, so I was one of the orphans.

Murdock, who was a team dad for a lot of the Aces, hosted it. His wife prepared the traditional meal, and he had a couple of rug rats running around. There was football on for those who were interested, and lots of food and drinks to keep us going before the official dinner.

I ended up sitting by Dante, from PR, once we got to the table. I was a little suspicious of her, since in general I liked to avoid publicity. She was smart though.

“I heard you have a dog. Something about the team finding a place for you that was dog friendly?”

I nodded, hoping we’d soon be interrupted by the toast I could see Murdock winding up for.

“What’s he or she like?”

I switched my attention to her. “Beast is a rescue. He’s small but mean for his size.”

She smiled. “Fear aggression, right?”

“He had a tough time before I found him.” And before I realized, I’d told the story of adopting him, bringing him here, and how he was improving. I could have stuck with one-word answers on practically any other topic than Beast.

“Sounds like you’re building a relationship with this shelter where you’re walking Beast with their rescue dogs.”

I nodded. A glance at the end of the table indicated I’d soon be off the hook because the speech was about to start.

“Maybe we could get the team involved. Animals are always a draw, and it sounds like they’re doing good work. Cian is involved with the Austin Animal Allies.”

I turned back to her. “That’s the same group. They’ve got a couple of shelters. I’m sure they’d appreciate any help they could get.”

She quickly made a note in her phone, and then it was speech time. I listened with more focus than I normally would because Dante was going to push for something from me, I just knew. But she let it go, turning to general topics. I relaxed and enjoyed an excellent meal. Maybe the team would throw them some money, but I’d done what I could.

After Thanksgiving the team had a three-game winning streak going before a loss in LA, but we were in good shape with the Christmas holidays coming up. I’d had three starts, two wins and a loss. Lappy had lost a couple lately, and I could see the pressure getting to him. He was flying home to see his family in Quebec over Christmas, so I hoped that helped him. He was getting obsessive over his pregame rituals. And while kissing his medal or following a certain order to dress wouldn’t hurt him, ifhis routine got messed up and he mentally made a big deal about it, there could be some negative fallout.

After our talk, Sophie and I were doing the friends thing. I’d often hang out at her shop in the afternoon, if I wasn’t helping at the shelter. It was soothing to watch her work. Her movements were confident, and the smell of wood and oils was calming. Goober and Beast continued their odd relationship, seeming to tolerate each other more all the time, though I wouldn’t want to leave them alone together.

On days when Sophie went to String Theory to build a guitar, I’d stop in to see how things were going after walking Beast with a shelter dog. It gave me time that wasn’t all centered around hockey, and the animals helped me control my impatience over how my playing time was going…or not.

Then one day in December when I returned from walking Beast and a shelter dog, Delores thanked me for what I was doing.

I was confused. “These walks have been helping Beast, so I’m getting more out of it than you are.” Unless the donation I’d made wasn’t as anonymous as I’d thought. The way I kept showing up had to prove that I enjoyed volunteering.

She laughed. “Not the dog walks, the auction.”

I blinked at her. What auction was she talking about and how was I involved with it?

Her laughter stopped. “The photo shoot?”

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