“No, but when your career is all you have, you want to do something with it before you get too old or get injured and have to retire before you’re ready. You want to know you have done something worth all that hard work.” He sounds sad.
“Carson, you’re in good shape. I’m sure that you will have a successful season.” I try to sound hopeful.
“Says the girl who doesn’t know shit about hockey. Are we done?” The hard expression that I’m used to is painted on his face.
“Yep, I’ll keep you in the loop of everything that is happening. We will be going through the sketches of the clothes this week. Have a great day, Carson.”
Chapter Eight
Carson
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, my favorite person, Carson,” she rushes. “Happy birthday to you,” Gracie finishes.
“Thank you, Gracie. That sounded perfect.” I hold the phone between my ear and shoulder as I lock the door to my house.
“Really?” she asks in that hopeful tone only a child can do. “I practiced a few times once Mommy told me I could call. Are you going to have a party for your birthday? You should have a party. And cake.”
I chuckle. “I’ll have a party and a big slice of cake, just for you.”
“Okay. When are you coming to see me? I miss you bunches.”
“I miss you too, but I’m not sure yet, Gracie. I’ll come see you soon, though, okay?” I tell her as I get into my car.
“Okay. I hope you win tonight since it’s your birthday. Mommy said I could watch on TV.”
“Did she? Well, I’ll try my best to win for you. I gotta go. Thanks for calling me, Gracie. You made it one of the best birthdays ever.”
On the drive to the rink, I end up talking to Gracie for a few more minutes and then her mother. If Gracie is watching, then we definitely need to win.
~
Happy birthday to me! We won the game today as planned, and now there’s a massive party at my recently finished personal ice rink. Music has the place vibrating. Models have every man in this place hard and there’s a huge supply of alcohol. The entire team is here. They brought people, and those people brought even more people.
As I scan the room, I see body shots being done and dancing on tables and the bar. There’s a girl standing in front of me, running her hands down my chest. I have to give her props because there are three other girls around us and she decided to take charge between them, which is how she ended up against me. I lean down to kiss her just as I hear someone call my name.
“Let’s play, Carson! C’mon!” Tyler shouts from somewhere nearby, close enough that I can hear him.
I move past her lips to her ear. “I’ll be back later, sweetheart.” She’s upset as I go over to where he’s standing, but I don’t care. After taking a quick sip of my beer, I set it down on the nearest surface and take my skates that Tyler hands me.
“Three on one?” I question, noticing there’s only a few other people on the ice. “You know I’m going to kick your asses, right?”
He grins. “We’ll see.”
After I lace up, I skate onto the ice and face my guests. “You,” I start loudly to be heard, “are all about to witness an old man beat three youngsters. Four, if you count the goalie.”
“Let’s do this already,” Tyler mutters from behind me.
“Suit yourself.”
We start a little game, the crowd cheering when I get the puck and booing when my teammates do. I reach out, stealing the puck from Tyler, and head towards the goalie. Once I’m close enough, I rear my stick back and slap it towards him.
Of course, I shoot, I score.
“Wooooo!” I holler. “What did I tell you?” I skate over to get off the ice, wanting a beer. The first girl I see, a big-breasted blonde, smiles at me. Fuck a beer. I walk up to her, take her face in my hands, and kiss the hell out of her.
“Hey!” A guy shoves my shoulder. “That’s my girl.”
“Sorry.” I laugh. “You’re a lucky guy. She’s a great kisser.” I don’t give him time to respond before I walk past them, patting him on the shoulder as I go. My fingers fumble with my laces after I found a place to sit to remove my skates.