Page 47 of Playoff
“You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you’re here.” He shrugged. “Changing cities is part of the job, so who knows where we’ll be next year?”
He pushed open the door to the unit at the end of the hallway, and I heard familiar voices from farther inside. There was a pile of shoes at the door, and jackets dropped on the floor. Fitch twitched when he saw the mess before opening the closet to hang up his own jacket. I did the same. It would be easier to find my coat in the closet than in the pile.
We’d brought beer and food with us. I could smell something warm and appealing from inside the condo and turned the corner to find a good number of my teammates sitting in Ducky’s living room. Beyond, I caught a glimpse of the kitchen, more bodies moving around there.
Ducky was sitting in a recliner, foot elevated. “Fitch! Denny! There’s food and drinks in the kitchen. Help yourself!” He had a beer in his hand, and on the coffee table was a pile of drinks, most on coasters, and bowls of chips and various dips. Crash, Royster, and Oppy were on the couch playing video hockey while they waited for the All-Star Game to come on.
Fitch greeted them and continued on to the kitchen. I nodded at my teammates and followed Fitch, a bag with a couple of six-packs of beer in my hand. Our backup goalie Mitchell was leaning on the island, the only guy in the midst of several women. One of whom I knew all too well. I stopped in the doorway, not sure how Jess wanted to handle this.
Fitch performed introductions. “Denny, not sure you’ve met everyone. That’s Katie, Josh’s girlfriend. Callie is with Cooper, and Jayna is a former Olympic champion in women’s hockey. Mitch is dating her. Jess is Justin’s twin.”
I nodded and said a generic hello. The women had waved or nodded as Fitch introduced them. I vaguely recalled them from the night we’d gone to the Top Shelf. Pretty sure I remembered seeing Katie, the curvy brunette who was now living here with Ducky. I’d definitely noticed Cooper’s girlfriend, the redhead with the great rack. That left the woman leaning on Mitchell as Jayna.
Jessica turned away from the door to play with the air fryer making chicken wings for the crowd. So, we were pretending not to have met. No reason to be upset. But I was.
“Nice to meet you all. Is there room in the fridge for more beer?” The fridge was several feet away from Jess, so it gave her a heads-up.
Fitch pulled out the stuff he’d brought to eat while I passed him one of his beers, putting the rest of his and all of mine in the fridge except for the one I was going to drink immediately. I hoped no one was planning to drive tonight, because there was a lot of beer in there.
“Ooh, you brought your hummus?” Katie said to Fitch.
He smiled at her. “I know how much you like it.” He passed her a couple of containers.
She snatched them from him. “Give me.”
“And the pitas to go with.”
She grinned at him. “Sure you don’t want to move back in?”
He shook his head. “No, too noisy. Though Denny isn’t any better.”
My eyes turned to Jess without thinking. She stared back, eyes round. She bit her lip and I rubbed a hand over my jaw to cover a grin.
“I believe everyone was satisfied,” I said.
That had every eye on me, instead of Jess. Before I could be interrogated, there was a yell from the living room, letting us know that the game coverage was about to start. Fitch and I followed Jayna and Mitch into the living room. Even though Ducky had a huge room and a lot of furniture, there were more of us than there were seats, so I grabbed a pillow from behind Oppy and sat on the floor.
The initial coverage was a lot of commentary from the guys in the studio, but not much of real interest.
“How many of you guys have been there?” Ducky asked, tilting his beer at the screen.
“Dallas? Or the All-Star Game?”
Ducky rolled his eyes. “The game, obviously.”
“I have,” I answered without thinking. No one else spoke up.
“A few years ago, right?” Fitch had settled in a recliner. I could have sworn Oppy had been sitting there, but no longer.
“Yeah. Nevada didn’t have a great team, and someone had to play for them.”
Fitch narrowed his eyes at me. I smiled back, blandly. I didn’t need to brag. I’d been the team’s top scorer, so I was the obvious choice. Plus it had earned me a nice little bonus.
Ducky missed the byplay. “I think Cooper has a permanent invite.”
Conversation continued on to other players who were a given, and discussion of some of the new attendees.
The players for the game were introduced, and Cooper got a big cheer from the people in the room. Katie and Callie had come in with more food, and I saw a proud smile on the redhead’s face as her boyfriend took the ice to applause. A tax attorney and a hockey player was an unlikely pairing, but she seemed into him.
