Page 99 of Icing the Play

“I miss you too. You come home tomorrow night, right?” His forehead lined.

“Yeah, I do. I’ll see you then, babe.” I might miss him even more when I was on the phone with him. “Anyway, I should get some rest. Tomorrow will be another busy day.”

“Sure, love you.” He kissed the screen.

“Love you too.” I pressed my lips to his through our connection. “Bye.” I ended the call. It was time for bed.

A month later,I was sitting on the couch next to Myles along with Ace and Zoma, all of us glued to the television while the draft played, each of us holding beers. This was not for the faint of heart. My life was riding on this day.

“This is nerve-wracking.” Myles squeezed my thigh under my athletic shorts. “Will your friends be going through this next year?”

“Yeah, JJ will.” I sipped my beer.

“JJ?” Myles cocked his head. “You know I saw him holding hands with a guy on campus yesterday?”

“You did?” I peered at him. “I haven’t seen him much now that I’m not playing with the team anymore.” In fact, since I’d moved in with Myles, I’d become closer to Myles’s friends. What a crazy year.

“Well, I think he has a boyfriend with the way they were acting.” Myles gave me a sly grin. “I haven’t seen the guy around, so I don’t think he’s a football player.”

“Hush now.” Ace leaned forward. “Minnesota is about to pick.” He grabbed Zoma’s hand. “I don’t know how you guys do it. I’m having a nervous breakdown for you both.”

“Oh, Ace. You care so much for your friends.” Zoma leaned into Ace’s side.

I grabbed my phone from the coffee table. If they were going to pick me, they’d be calling. My phone lit up. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Myles glared, wide-eyed, at my phone. “Is it them?”

“I don’t know.” I answered the call. “Hello?”

“Cooper Hayes?” The caller held a faint accent I couldn’t place.

“Yes?” I fisted my free hand and tightened the hold on my beer can. Could I say no? I’d be fucked.

“Your car insurance has expired. Can I interest you in?—”

“Son of a bitch.” Barking out a laugh, I ended the call. “What a time for a fucking spam call.”

Everyone blew out a breath and sighed.

“Fuckin’ A, man, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Ace leapt from the couch and jogged into the kitchen.

“Look, they picked some other guy from Purdue.” Zoma pointed at the TV.

“Oh, that was my roommate. Good guy.” I narrowed my eyes at the screen. “What’s his name, Trent Watt?” I could barely remember it. This last month had been a blur.

Ace returned with a bottle of bourbon and some short glasses. He set them all on the table. “Since they picked the other guy, I think we need to prepare for a celebration.” He unscrewed the cap on the bottle.

“Wait…” Myles stuck his hand out. “Don’t pour it yet. You don’t want to jinx it.”

“Oh, yeah.” Ace screwed the cap back on.

Hockey players and their superstitions. I smiled to myself. But maybe they’d given me their good luck with all the crazy shit they did.

Another half hour and Seattle was coming up. “Fuck, here we go.”

My phone buzzed on the table. “Oh, shit.” I scrambled for it, almost dropping it on the floor, and put the phone on speaker. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Cooper Hayes?” A man’s voice asked.

---