Page 21 of Riding Pine
“Do you have a place to stay here yet?” I ask. Why I’m always curious about people’s living arrangements, I don’t know.
Landon wipes the blood from my neck and chin with a wet cloth. “I do. A friend of mine set me up with a sublease in his friend’s building. I guess the dude is a billionaire and owns property everywhere. My friend Colby asked him for a favour and I’m not mad about it.” Landon laughs, and I’m happy his landing here was smoother than mine.
“Nice. Good for you, man. It’s a hard city to find anything decent that doesn’t take all your pay. I’m keeping it simple and just got a smaller apartment. I need to be more careful with the money if this is my last kick at the can.” Hopping off the table, I grab my helmet and pause. “Listen, other than the team, I don’t know many people here. If you ever want to hang out, I could use another friend.”
Jesus—his smile is more sunshine than Ben’s.
“Oh, for sure! I’d love that.” He offers a hand to shake, and we laugh.
“No offence, Landon, but I’d rather get to know you out of the medical room. The less I’m in here, the better.”
He throws his head back in a laugh. “I understand that. I’ll see you around, Lukas.”
With a wave, I let Landon clean up and return to the practice. Everyone is off the ice and changing to do our first dry land workouts. Plunking at my stall next to Smitty, I ask him how the rest of the scrimmage went.
“Did I miss anything good?”
He glances around us and leans in, whispering. “Evans got laid out by Youngblood. I don’t know what that guy’s issue is, but Coach isn’t too happy about it.” He glances around again and leans closer. “You should have seen him go down. Youngblood is stronger than he looks.”
Evans is across the room, headphones already in, set to hit the treadmill. When he notices me watching, he gives me the finger before leaving the room. Nice.
“I’ve never played with him before, but I’ve played against him for a few years. I don’t know what his issue is, but he might cause problems on this team.”
“I thought the same. But I’m hoping maybe it’s just a bad day for him.”
Stripping off my gear, I grab my shower kit and a towel.
“I know we’re working out right after lunch, but I can’t stand the smell of the blood from this cut. I’m washing up quickly, and if you want a partner in the gym, save me a spot.”
Smitty agrees he’ll save me a place, and I linger in the shower, enjoying the last time nothing on my body will ache until the season is over.
seven
Ben
God, this building is cold. Although I guess it has to be, since it’s a building with a sheet of ice in it.
Following the directions from the man I spoke with, George, I head to the basement of the arena. If I thought it was cold upstairs, it’s worse in the basement. The unholy racket from the cooling systems, random floating cobwebs and low-hanging ductwork throw massive horror flickvibes.
But apparently, the room for sweater repairs and now beaver costumes is down here. Like a fucking spy, George insisted I come after the players were gone and it was unlikely anyone would notice me. He’s all in with the secret identity thing, so I just agreed with it.
Finally arriving at the door with the poster of an old-time hockey player missing teeth on it, I push it open.
Inside a giant sewing machine sits in the middle of the room, and the man, who I assume is George, sits up. His white hair puffs up in haste to greet me, and he lets the reading glasses hang around his neck on a chain.
“Good, you found it okay!” He offers me a hand to shake.
“I did. Thanks for meeting me. I’m Ben.”
“George. Now what can I do for you?”
Yesterday I spent a few hours in the suit at my studio. Any kind of move I could think of, I tried and made notes. If Christine wants me to succeed, I need drastic changes to this thing.
“Well, the first, and maybe the easiest one, is the tail. It’s too big if they want any kind of tumbling or circus stuff. Can you make it floppier and add a hook so I can keep it out of the way?”
George lays out the costume on a nearby table, inspecting what he has to work with.
“I can remake the tail with something softer and lose the stiffness. I’ll sew a snap right onto the top of the suit here.” He smooths the area around the waist. “Or what if I make it removable? I can make a line of snaps along the waist, and you can just take it off?”
