I nod. “I want it for you, too. I want you to recover from your injury, get back to hockey and show everyone what you’re made of. I’ll be watching, cheering you on from here.”
Alexei smiles and says, “If that’s all I can get, I’ll take it. For now.”18AlexeiMy last day at Beckett is bittersweet.
I’m ready to get back to normal life—getting my phone back is at the top of the list. I’m over living with strangers and I miss skating so damn much. It’s great to be able to strength train and work on my flexibility now that my hip is feeling better, but it’s a completely different feeling to actually be on the ice.
There’s only one downside to graduating the program—I won’t get to see Graysen every day anymore. And if she convinces herself that being with me is a bad idea, I may never see her again.
“Alexei, I’d like to introduce my husband Jack,” Melinda says, approaching me. “Jack, this is Alexei.”
Jack is tall and bald, and he looks like a warm, happy guy. He’s wearing a well-cut suit and looking proudly at his wife every time she speaks.
“I meant it about keeping in touch,” I tell Melinda. “You guys are welcome at Blaze home games anytime, and I hope we can get together for dinner soon. We can invite Joe too.”
“We’d like that,” she says. “I know my kids and grandkids would love to meet you.”
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Knowing you has changed my life for the better. I’ll always be in your corner.”
Her eyes well with tears and Jack gives me a grateful look.
“Same here, Alexei.”
“One day at a time,” I remind her.
“This is him!” Joe calls out, ushering his kids over to me. “This is my new bro, Alexei.”
His son looks up at me, wide-eyed.
“Hi Alexei, I’m Trish,” his wife says, shaking my hand.
The kids are all dressed in their Sunday best for their dad’s graduation ceremony. They all introduce themselves, none of them straying too from their dad after being apart from him for five weeks.
“This guy’s been my best friend in here,” I tell them, putting an arm around Joe’s shoulders. “He promised he’d bring you guys to see a Blaze game soon, so you make sure he does, okay? You can sit in the friends and family section.”
They erupt with excitement and Joe takes the moment he doesn’t have kids gripping onto him to give me a hug.
“You’ve got my number,” he says. “Call me anytime, 24/7.”
“Same here.”
He grins. “We did it. Man, I didn’t think I could at first.”
I hold up my two small medallions—one for thirty days sober and another for fifty. Even the days I was in a coma counted, so I’m coming up on two months alcohol free.
“I want to see yours when we get together for a…meal sometime,” I tell Joe.
Getting together with friends for a beer is one of those things I’m going to have to replace with something new. It was never just one or two beers for me; it inevitably turned into me closing down the bar, my friends long gone by then.
There’s a catch in my throat as I see Martin and Laura coming toward me, both of them smiling. Anton’s on the road with the Blaze, so he couldn’t be here, but Martin and Laura are looking at me like I just won gold in the Olympics.
“You look wonderful,” Laura says, hugging me tight. “We’re so proud of you, Alexei.”
Martin hugs me next, then stands back to study me. “You’ve been keeping up with your training.”
“Trying to.”
“How’s your hip?”
“It’s getting better. I’m able to do more every day in therapy.”
“Good, glad to hear it.”
I want to introduce them to Joe and his family, but they’ve moved on already. Since the three of us are alone now, I take advantage of the moment to say something I’ve been thinking about.
“Guys, I need to apologize for the embarrassment I’ve caused you.”
“We’ve never been embarrassed by you,” Martin says, shaking his head.
“That’s nice of you to say, but—”
He cuts me off, putting a hand on my shoulder. “It’s the truth. We’ve been worried about you, but never embarrassed. No one’s perfect.”
There’s a lump in my throat, but I manage a nod.
“Alexei, Mia asked me to tell you their guest room is all ready for you when you leave here,” Laura says.
“Oh. That’s good of them, but I’m gonna stay downtown in a hotel and start looking for an apartment. I’ll have to be downtown for physical therapy twice a day anyways.”
She lights up. “Our hotel room is at the Palmer House. If you stay there, we could take an extra couple days to stay in Chicago and spend some time with you. We can go out for dinners and maybe shop for things for your new place.”