She laughs softly. It is kind of late, but she doesn’t have to be quiet. Her room is practically on the other side of the house from her parents. “I’ll try, but no promises. You forgot to send me a picture of Leo, by the way.”
“How dare you accuse me of such a thing. You should check your social media more often. Go on. I’ll wait.”
“Okay, hold on.”
I can tell she’s smiling just from the tone of her voice. A second later, I hear, “Aw. You posted Leo on your account! I’m so proud of you.”
“Good. You should be.” She laughs, and I add, “Next time, you need to take him with you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because guess who’s cuddling with me?” Meredith laughs again. “You have a needy dog, Mere. He’s been following me around like a lost puppy. He even laid in the bathroom while I took a shower this morning. Do you know how weird it is to have a dog stare at you while you take a shower?”
“Yes, because he does it to me, too. Did you give him a treat?”
“He has treats?” I ask. Leo pops his head up and looks at me. His ears are perked up and at attention. He definitely knows the word treat.
“Yes! I usually give him one every day.”
“How was I supposed to know that?”
“His treats are in the same cabinet as his dog food.”
Oh. I should probably pay more attention. “I’ll give him one tomorrow before I leave. Sylvia asked if you could pick him up on your way home.”
“Of course. Text me her address and I’ll put it in my GPS.”
“Okay, I will. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Well, we’ll eat leftovers and then everyone is coming over to watch your game. I’m really excited. This is the first time I’ve watched one of your pro games with my parents. Oh! And my dad is going to help me figure out some of the details for my private lessons.”
Hearing her so happy, knowing that the pieces of her life are finally falling into place, and that I get to be a part of that? It’s overwhelming. It makes me wish more than anything else that I was with her right now instead of in another state.
“Noah, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. That’s great, Mere. When do you start back with Erica?”
That launches her into how she’s thinking of hiring Kira as her assistant. I can, and do, listen to her talk about what she’s already figured out, what she’s hoping to figure out, and her hopes for this. She’s also hoping to continue working with Erica. That honestly surprises me a little, but if Erica is treating her better, as she should, then it makes sense that Meredith loves that job even more and would be willing to stick with it. I listen and listen until she declares she’s tired. Then I tell her I love her, listen to her tell me she loves me more, and hang up. I fall asleep knowing that the biggest piece of my life that was missing for entirely too long is here and here to stay.
Not going to lie, knowing that Mere is sitting at home with my family and her parents watching this game, it’s making me a little nervous. I don’t know why since she’s obviously seen me play before, but I’m nervous nonetheless. Liam leads us onto the ice. My mind calms immediately. Game time is quiet time. The nerves fade away as my body prepares for the battle ahead of me on the ice.
Unfortunately, our team seems to fall apart. I’m not even sure we’ve played a hockey game before. Passes are missed. Blue shirts are taking advantage of our turnovers. We’re a step too late in helping Savage defend his net. At the start of the second, we’re down three to nothing. Marco and I jump onto the ice for our shift.
Something finally goes our way as Captain Hook wins the face-off and deflects it toward me. I skate with it for a moment before passing it to Nathan O’Donnell, or Donny. Donny takes off down the ice, causing everyone to follow him. He skates behind the net and I get into position on his right. He glances to his left while flicking the puck my way. I feel it hit my stick and quickly shoot, hoping to send the puck over the goalie’s shoulder.
My shot pings against the metal pole. The Hockey Gods must be favoring me tonight because it hits the back of the goalie’s arm, which sends it straight into the net.
“Fuck yeah!” I shout as the horn sounds, my arms going up into the air. The guys surround me for one of the great parts of hockey: a hockey hug that’s given after a goal.
“Always the showoff, Rams,” Marco says with a laugh. I ignore him as I lead the way to fist bump my teammates.
Five minutes later, a blue shirt, who has been trying to get under our skin, finally pisses Ian off enough after a high stick to his face goes uncalled. A second after the face-off, the two are dropping the gloves. Bruiser lands some good hits, only getting one in return, before the refs are pulling them apart. He’s still cussing on his way to the penalty box.
That seems to give us a much-needed second wind.
Thing One and Two a
re making themselves known when they’re on the ice, shooting the puck every chance they get. Bruiser, Marco, Tommy, and the rest of us D-men do our part, blocking shots that hurt like hell and covering the ice. Sav makes good saves and is solid for us.