Fake Skating(11)

“This is my daughter, Dani,” my mom said, “and my dad, Mick.”

These grown men smiled politely and said hi to me, but then they turned to beam at my grandpa like he was a god. They immediately launched into NHL game recollections and statistics without even pausing for small talk, stumbling all over themselves to kiss his ass and tell him how good he used to be at hockey.

It was so bizarre.

Like, I knew my grandpa played when he was younger, but these guys were acting like he was Wayne Gretzky.

Grandpa Mick still only gave them one-word answers and grunted replies, but he also didn’t look uncomfortable with their attention. Obviously people treated him this way a lot.

“Will you shut up so we can eat?” Sarah said to Ed, gesturing toward the line of Crock-Pots on the counter. “You said you’d be good.”

“I am being good,” he said with a huge smile. “You think I’m being good, right, Dani?”

I was a little surprised as he gave me a conspiratorial smirk and a wink.

“I mean, sure,” I replied.

“See?” he said to Sarah, pointing at me. “Dani thinks I’m being great.”

“I don’t think that’s what I—”

“Dani thinks you should lighten up and let us talk freely,” Doug said, also giving me a grin. “Right, kid?”

I coughed out a laugh as these grown-ass men—strangers—pulled me into their jokes.

“Don’t let them speak for you,” Sarah said, pointing a big spoon at me. “They’re overgrown children who need discipline.”

“Don’t talk to our Dani like that,” Andy said with a big smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

Who were these guys?

As someone who usually hated chaotic gatherings where I didn’t know anyone, I was surprised to find myself having a decent time. I sat there, shoveling food into my face, having trouble not smiling as these guys all talked over each other about hockey, hockey, and more hockey.

What is the deal with the hockey insanity?

Fifteen minutes later they were still recapping someone’s game from the night before, and I wondered if they realized that hockey was literally the only thing they’d talked about.

Even Sarah—and my mom—were in on the conversation.

Since I didn’t know a puck from a Popsicle, I was able to listen to everyone else without having to contribute. I was relaxed and enjoying the show, so much so that I kind of forgot to be nervous about seeing Alec.

He’d completely slipped my mind until I visited the restroom and saw his bedroom across the hall.

And—no way—it’d barely changed.

I couldn’t stop myself from stepping through that doorway, because seeing his room was like stepping into a time machine.

There was still a twin bed in the center of the room, though it was now covered with a gray comforter instead of the Vikings bedspread that’d been there the last time I visited. Hockey posters still hung on his walls, though they made a lot more sense now.

I used to think it was funny that unathletic Alec had a sports-themed bedroom, but now I understood that hockey was obviously part of life up here, whether you played or not.

I looked at the little desk in the corner, the same oak desk he’d always had, and my fingers itched to open the drawer. To see if there were still postcards and stamps.

Does he still have them somewhere the way I still have mine?

A shiver of nervousness slithered through me, but what came with it was a bright side.

At least the unknown, with Alec, was almost over.

By the time I went to bed that night, I’d be back to having him in my life again.





CHAPTER FOUR Alec




“Why are you being an antisocial dick?”

Richie dropped into the chair beside me, giving me a look like I was ruining his fun.

Which was ironic when he seemed to be having the time of his life.

I swear to God he’d already gone down that hill fifteen different times.

Every year for as long as I could remember, the Novotnys had a massive February bonfire out at their place, where all their friends brought their discarded Christmas trees and they basically burned random shit all day and drank beer while the little kids took sleds down their massive hill.

We used to be the little kids sledding during the day, but for the past few years Zack had taken over bonfire duties after dark, when the adults went inside, and had his friends over for sledding and burning.

“I’m not,” I said, reluctantly taking out my AirPods and shutting down the “hell of a good time” I’d been listening to on repeat while staring into the fire. I considered myself to be a social guy on most days, but tonight I wasn’t feeling it.

I pulled my beanie down to my eyebrows because even though the bonfire was roaring, it was fucking cold.

And Richie wasn’t wrong.

Not the dick part, but I was being antisocial because—dammit—I couldn’t stop thinking about Dani.

And it wasn’t helping that my mom kept texting to see where I was.

Mom: Are you on your way?

Mom: Dani looks bored—you need to hurry.

The joke was on her, because I wasn’t planning on going home until Dani was gone. I knew I was going to have to face her eventually, but I’d prefer to do it at school.