Page 25 of Slew Foot
Like you.He heard an echo of the words Mickey had said yesterday.
SurelyRafe had heard him wrong though. Mickey didn’t seem the type to say romantic things, and he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in dating teammates. He’d probably been repeating his order so he’d remember it for the future.
Besides, very few guys were into the whole demi thing. They never wanted to stick around when they found out it took him a long time to ever get to the sexual attraction part of dating.
“Seriously, the Canadian government makes you apologize constantly?” Mickey sounded doubtful.
Rafe chuckled. “No. Not that. Seriously, I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a mess since I got here and made you wait for me and everything.”
Mickey shrugged, taking a corner at a speed Rafe was fairly sure was illegal. “I’m not upset.”
“I—” Rafe sighed, taking a bite of his breakfast to give himself time to think about what he wanted to say. “Toward the end there in Minnie?—”
“Minnie?” Mickey asked with a frown.
Rafe nearly laughed aloud. Mickey and Minnie …
“Uhh, Minnie is short for Minneapolis,” he explained. “I think it’s mostly just hockey players who call it that. Most people call it the Twin Cities. But toward the end there, my playing was pretty bad. I just want—I want to do better now, you know?”
“I understand.”
“I got …” He glanced down at his food. “I got too, like, wrapped up in my relationship with my teammate, Logan, I guess. We started dating and when we broke up, it was bad for the team.”
“Ahh.”
“So, I want to dobetternow, you know?” Rafe’s throat went a little tight.
“Yes, I know.”
“So, I’m mad at myself for sleeping in and making us late and?—”
“We’re not late though,” Mickey said calmly. “We’re doing fine.”
A glance at the clock told Rafe that was true.
“Okay, but only because you got here early and bought me breakfast and?—”
“Rafe,” Mickey said, his voice rising a little. “Stop.”
Rafe clamped his lips together, both surprised by Mickey’s tone and how it instantly made him shut up.
“You’reokay,” Mickey said more softly. “I know you want to make a good impression here, but you had a terrible start with the long flight. Don’t beat yourself up because you had a rough couple of mornings.”
“Okay.” Rafe slumped back in his seat.
Mickey patted his thigh and Rafe glanced down, surprised by the touch.
“Sorry.” Mickey lifted his hand away. “Didn’t mean to?—”
“No, it’s okay,” Rafe said. “We’re friends, right?”
“Yeah. I think we’re gonna be,” Mickey said softly as he turned the car into the parking lot of HCI.
Rafe laughed as a thought occurred to him. “Hey, you know, maybe the apologizing is contagious and some of my Canadian-ness rubbed off on you.”
Mickey shot him a smile. “Maybe so.”
Mickey followed Tanner toward the practice rink, the rubberized flooring that ran from the locker room to the ice flexing a little under his skate blades.
