Out on the Ice (Out in College 5)

I adjusted my right earpod and hummed to let her know I was still on the line while I typed. She usually texted me ’cause she I knew I didn’t like talking on the phone. So, when I saw her name pop up on my cell, I answered right away. But after five minutes, I still wasn’t sure what she wanted. Maybe she was curious about why I was still at the office when I’d always made a point of celebrating my last day of work in August. Now, it was September and yeah, I was still here.

“…the first week is always exciting to me, but less so to my students. Two weeks in, it can already be stressful. You seem to be coping well, though.” Her statement sounded vaguely like a question.

“I’m good, Mom.”

“Excellent. Do you have a game this weekend?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. Saturday. It’s more of a glorified scrimmage, though. Don’t worry about missing it. Harry said you’re going to Ojai.”

“We are, but I was hoping I could get you to come by for dinner this week. Like…maybe Thursday?”

Ahh. Finally. “What’s up?”

“You know the young man Harry hired to take over for you?”

“Who? Sky?”

I glanced over my shoulder at the partition behind me, then stood and stealthily scanned the office for Sky. I spotted him talking to Jake the snake from HR. Jake’s primary mode of communication involved flirting. The guy couldn’t ask for directions without giving a smarmy compliment. I tamped down the surge of jealousy and quirked my brow when Sky looked my way. Maybe the lopsided smile and the smoky glint in his eye wasn’t supposed to turn me on, but my body and my brain hadn’t been cooperating for months. I returned to my desk and stared unseeing at the numbers on my laptop.

“Yes. Harry invited him for dinner Thursday night,” Mom said.

“He mentioned it.”

“I told Harry to extend the invite to Sky’s significant other, but I think he’s coming solo. I’m asking you myself because you always say no to Harry, but I think it might be nice for Sky to have someone his age at the table. Are you free?”

“Maybe.” I paused, then added, “I don’t always say no to Harry.”

“Yes, you do. You live to give him a hard time. In this case, do it for me. I think this kid has had it rough. You know how that feels and—”

“What’s for dinner?” I intercepted like a pro.

“Whatever you want,” she replied.

I heard the smile in her voice and felt my shoulders relax. I didn’t want to rehash old family issues. Not now, anyway. They had a way of coming up on their own. No sense stirring shit up.

“Spaghetti, please.”

“You got it. Love you, Colb.”

“Love you too.”

I disconnected the call and went to find Sky. He was at the temporary desk he’d been assigned two cubicles away from me. I knocked on the metal edge of the partition to announce myself, then sat on the corner of his desk.

Sky flashed a sweet grin as he swiveled to face me. “Hi.”

“Hi. Why didn’t you tell me you’re having dinner with Harry?”

“Dude, you’ve gotta work on your wording. I’m not going on a date with him. And you already knew he invited me for dinner. Is that a problem?”

“Yeah, the problem is that now I have to go too. So, thanks for that,” I huffed.

“Hmm. You don’t like eating with the parents?”

“First of all, Harry isn’t my parent. And second…no. I don’t. But if you’re there to take the heat off me, it might not be so bad.”

“The heat?”

“Yeah. Cross-examination with my mom is brutal. She thinks she’s subtle, but she’s not. You’ll see,” I warned him. “I’m leaving in a few minutes for practice, and I’m not coming in the rest of this week.”

“So, this is it.”

“Yeah. I was supposed to be done a month ago, but then you came along and…”

Sky’s smile morphed into a shit-eating grin. “You’re gonna miss me, huh?”

I shrugged with faux nonchalance. “Nah.”

“We can still do stuff together, you know.”

I narrowed my gaze and peered over the partition to make sure no one was watching when I pumped my hips. “What kind of stuff?”

Sky snickered. “Yeah. And hang out.”

“Hmm. Okay.” I checked my watch, then hooked my thumb toward the corridor leading to the Barnes and Bailey’s offices. “Wanna hang out now? I’ve got ten, maybe fifteen minutes before I need to get to practice. We could—”

“There you are! I wanted to be sure to say good-bye to you. We’re going to miss you, Colby.”

“Thanks, Harry, but—”

“No, buts about it! We’re all going to miss you, aren’t we, gang?”

Oh, my God. No.

I cast a quick glance at Sky, who pursed his lips like he was holding back laughter when the entire fucking office gathered around his cubicle and sang “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” with Harry in lead vocals, singing at the top of his lungs.