Page 16 of The Poster Boy
Camden
You could coach.
Brayden
HA! Good joke
Connor
That was mean.
But accurate. No coaching.
Connor
What brought this on?
Just thinking that I can’t punch people in the face for a living forever. Sadly.
Laughter got my attention. Myers and Andrew were having a great time together in the rows ahead of me. Whatever they were talking about was apparently the funniest thing ever. The lively conversation continued for most ofthe flight. I was glad that Boone seemed unfazed by it, and I wished I could say the same for myself.
Through sheer determination alone, I managed to keep my eyes on my phone the rest of the time and not let them wander to try and catch a glimpse of Myers.
Boone was forced out of his little coma for landing, and now that we were back on solid ground, his mouth moved ten miles a minute. It was partly because that’s how Boone was built. He was probably talking before he came out of the womb. But if you bothered to look closer, you could see how tense he held himself for the first few minutes until he got his anxiety under control.
“Did I tell you that my sister Tracy’s kid wants to be a Zamboni for Halloween?”
I might be a grumpy asshole, but no one could be grumpy when it came to Tracy’s kid. I’d known Ansel almost since he was born. I was an honorary uncle to the kid.
“A Zamboni driver, you mean?”
“Nope. A Zamboni. My sister was up until one in the morning figuring out how to turn a bunch of boxes into one. Because the Zamboni itself isn’t badass enough, this kid wanted to be a Zamboni transformer.”
“I’m not even going to pretend that isn’t the most badass thing I’ve ever heard.”
“He made her promise that he can keep the costume until after Christmas so he can show us.” Boone eyed me. “You’re still coming for Christmas, right?”
I scoffed. “Of course, I’m coming.” It was either go with Boone or sit in our apartment and stare at the television. “I think your mom would murder me if I didn’t show up.”
“She’d definitely have a few choice words foryou.” He bumped his shoulder into mine. “I wonder if my baby sister is still embarrassingly in love with you.”
The only reason Boone found her crush mildly amusing was because there was no way I’d ever go there.
“If she is, please murder me and bury me far, far away.”
“I swear her eyes turn into actual hearts when you walk into a room. It’s a little revolting.”
“Even more reason for you to shut up about it.”
Boone was the oldest of three kids. Tracy was only a year younger than him, and eight years later came little baby Bella. The Weimer’s favorite surprise. Just recently turned eighteen, Bella’s crush on me dated back a few years, and Boone had never let me live it down.
“I’m sure she’s found someone new to obsess over,” Boone teased.
“Hopefully someone more age appropriate.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
“What are you two yammering on about now?” Church asked as we stood at the luggage carousel and waited for our bags. From here it was to the bus, then to the arena. The short flight to Calgary meant that we could travel early in the day from Vancouver. Play the game here, then be on the plane again for another short flight to Minnesota and overnight there for our game the next day before going on to Boston.
