Page 169 of Most Valuable Players
“Really?”
The other guys look to me with equally surprised faces.
“I didn’t know.” Or maybe I did and forgot it already. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking past next week. Even my own future feels weird. Pro hockey is like this thing I’ve agreed to but doesn’t really feel like it’s going to happen. Two and a half years feels so far away.
“We’re gonna be busting people up and he’s going to be putting them back together,” Mav says, mouth full of peanut butter.
“I can see you being a team doctor or something; that’d be cool.”
He laughs and says sarcastically, “Thanks. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I’m sorry. You probably mentioned it before, and I let it go in one ear and out the other. Making plans isn’t really my thing.”
“Speaking of plans, is it okay if I crash here tonight?” Maverick asks. “I’m meeting up with that girl Holly later and I don’t want her to know where I live.”
“Dude, gross, stop hooking up on our couch. You have your own apartment for that.” Adam’s laughing as he says it though, the mood light before we have to get serious and ready for the game.
He looks to me. “What about you? I haven’t seen any girls running out in the mornings.”
“You’re never here,” Rauthruss points out, somehow managing to follow two conversations—his with Carrie and ours.
“Okay, well, fine, but I don’t see them zipping through to your room at night before I leave to go to Taryn’s either.”
Mav’s smile is big and mocking. “Yeah, Heath, what’s up with that?”
Well, now I know why I don’t try to make small talk with Adam.
I stand and start toward my room. “Just focused on hockey.” I come back with my bag. It’s a little early, but I need out of this conversation. “You guys ready to head over?”
None of them mention the time. They’re all just as ready to get out of here as I am.
* * *
“Hey,can I catch a ride over to The Hideout?” Maverick asks after the game.
I’m pulling on a shirt and jeans, but I glance over to make sure Adam is out of earshot before I answer. “I can drop you off, but I’m not going.”
“Why not?”
“Taking Ginny out.”
“A date?” he asks, louder than I’d like.
Adam’s still not paying us any attention, so I nod. “Yeah, a date, hanging out, whatever.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Prickly Pear since all the guys will be at The Hideout.” The Prickly Pear is our second favorite local hangout, but on the weekends. It’s often taken over by townies, so we aren’t likely to run into anyone we know there.
“That’s a lame date.”
“Then I guess it isn’t a date.”
“Yo, Scott,” Mav calls and I fight the urge to pummel him. “What’s the best spot in Valley to take a girl on a date?”
“On a Friday night?” Adam asks, eyebrows drawn together in consideration. “The drive-in up on Mount Loken or pretty much anywhere downtown. Araceli’s has a nice outdoor patio and good food.”
“Didn’t take you for the romantic type, Mav,” Jordan says.
