Page 40 of Pucking Wild

Jake helps himself to a seat at the end of my bed. “What does that mean exactly?”

“How long are you off the ice?” Sully rephrases.

I shrug. “Doc says I’m looking at about four weeks of RICE. We don’t want the tear to get any fucking worse.”

We’ve each had enough injuries between us to know the RICE regimen: rest, ice, compression, elevation. I have to control the swelling. The rest is just pain management while the body heals itself. Doc walked me through it all twice before she left, which I appreciated since they slipped me some good pain killers down in the ER.

Sully gives my shoulder a squeeze. “Four weeks is nothing, man. Easy time.”

“Yeah, we’ll hardly even get the chance to miss you,” Morrow adds, the relief etched on his face. “The rookies will be at your beck and call. And you know the WAGs will fix you up with enough meals to last you through the rest of the season. It’ll be like a vacation—”

“Wait, doesn’t your place have like a shit ton of stairs?” says Sully.

I just shrug. “I mean, yeah. But I’ve managed on crutches before. It’s really not a big deal.”

“Dude, that dump you rent is a split-level,” adds Jake. “There are stairs fucking everywhere. It’s a death trap. You’re not staying there.”

“Guys, I’m fine. Four weeks, remember? And nothing’s even broken—”

“Maybe a rookie can just take him in?” Sully says over me at Jake. “Walsh?”

“Walsh rents a one-room apartment and has a live-in girlfriend,” I reply.

“Perry, then,” Jake offers.

“Or Dave-O,” counters Sully.

“Surely times aren’t that desperate,” says Morrow with a scoff. Then he sighs, shaking his head. “I mean…I guess you could stay with me. It’s only four weeks, right?”

Both Sully and Jake turn to him with matching frowns.

“Wow. Heartfelt,” Jake deadpans.

“Yeah, you had about as much enthusiasm as if you just offered to let him jizz in your shampoo bottle,” says Sully.

I snort a laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks, Coley. I can only guess what kind of weirdness you and Novy get up to over there.”

“Nov is moving out,” he mutters, crossing his arms.

We all turn to him.

“Wait—what happened?” says Jake, eyes wide. “Did you guys break up?”

Sully chokes on a laugh.

“Shut up, asshole,” Morrow snaps. “It’s none of your business.”

“Wait…didyou?” Sully presses. “Like…are you two secretly a thing?”

“No way,” Jake cries. “Hey, Cay and I aren’t the only ones.” He raises a hand like he’s seeking a high five, but Morrow just groans.

“It’s not like that, assholes. It was always meant to be temporary. You know, while they did the renos on his house,” he adds with a shrug.

Novy bought a big bachelor pad of a beach house a few blocks down the street from Jake. They both have multi-year contracts with no-trade clauses. They can afford to put down roots and invest in things like kitchen renovations.

We all wait for Morrow to say more but he just glares. “It’s just—look, this is about Langley’s problem.” He gestures back at me lying in the hospital bed. “He’s the one who needs a place to stay.”

“Oh god,” Jake laughs, smacking his forehead. “I’m such an idiot.”

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