Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“And you chose to play hockey …”
“Hockey chose me.”
Simms grunts. “Do you turn everything into a joke?”
“That wasn’t a joke. West played hockey; my dad wanted me to play too so he could drop us at the rink and disappear for a while, but I fought him so hard on it. I wanted my own thing. I didn’t want to have to be compared to the great and powerful hockey prodigy.”
“So what happened?”
“Let’s see. I couldn’t catch a football to save my life. I struck out in baseball. I even tried soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Lacrosse stuck for a little bit.”
“What changed?”
“I put on a pair of skates.”
Simms nods. “Ah. And the rest was history?”
“Pretty much. Okay, your turn.”
“My name, by the way, is Kieran.”
I screw up my face. “You don’t look like a Kieran.”
“You don’t look like an asshole, but then you open your mouth. So …”
“Touché.”
Simms leans forward. “Okay, real talk. My parents have given me until the end of my degree to get an NHL contract. They say if it doesn’t happen, I need to go to law school. I don’t want to be a fucking lawyer. I’ve missed my chance at the draft, so I’m hoping I can get signed as a free agent, but to do that—”
“You need ice time.”
“I need eyes on me. It’s why I’m willing to learn to play on the left if it gets me on that first line. I’m used to playing center, and I’m not trying to screw up on the ice, but you don’t make it easy.”
I run a hand through my hair. “I shouldn’t have to be watching my back for when my teammate might try to steal the puck from me.”
“I get that, and I’m trying. It might go a whole lot smoother if you show some patience though.”
“I don’t think I was born with that gene.”
“A patience gene?”
“Exactly. I need everything, and I need it now.”
“In other words we’re fucked. Goodbye, Frozen Four. Goodbye, NHL.”
Simms has managed to hit me where I understand the most. Hockey is everything, and he desperately wants to make it. I’m worried by putting my life on hold to look after my brothers and sisters that I’ll miss my chance. Simms doesn’t even have that chance yet.
I sigh. “I can try. We probably just need to get comfortable with each other.”
“How did you do it last year with Cohen?”
“Drank lots and flirted with his boyfriend.”
Simms shakes his head. “Anyone ever tell you you’re messed up?”
“More than you’d think.”
“I dunno. In my head it’s a lot.”
“In reality, it’s a lot more.” Even if it’s my own voice saying it.
Simms shifts in his seat. “So … his boyfriend, huh? You gay too?”
“Nope. Not gay.” I omit the other labels I could be considered: pan, fluid, heteroflexible … I’m not getting into it with him.
“But—”
“I was hoping Cohen would punch me in the face.” And when I realized that was never going to happen, I’d discovered it was fun to mess with Seth. “Since you don’t have a boyfriend I can flirt with, I can either hit on your girlfriend or we can try the drinking thing if you want.”
“You’re not going anywhere near my girlfriend, but I’m only twenty.”
“Fake ID?”
“Nope.”
“Damn. I could probably—”
Simms shakes his head. “Can’t risk it. If I am going to become a lawyer, I can’t be busted with a fake ID.”
I grin. “We’ll have to make sure you don’t become a lawyer, then.”
I realize I actually mean that. We don’t need to be besties to gel on the ice, but mutual understanding and a love for hockey will help. I know what it’s like to be held back from the NHL, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else or actively try to sabotage their chances.
I’m an asshole; I’m not sadistic.
“Is that enough to be let out of here?” I yell.
“Nope!” Kole yells back.
I’m starting to question my friendship with him. Honestly.
“Do you have any free time for one-on-one practice to try to get us to gel?” Simms asks. “I want to be like Foster, Jacobs, and Cohen were the year we won the Frozen Four. That game was magical. Everything was smooth. I only got seven minutes of ice time, but watching those three do their thing, I wanted to be like that.”
“That game is why I agreed to come to this school in the first place. But … I really don’t have any extra time. I have five younger siblings at home, and West tries, but he can’t handle them all. In between making sure they’re fed and happy and studying—”
“Shit, man. That sucks. I have two younger siblings, and that’s enough of a headache for me.”
Suddenly, the door clicks open, and my brother steps through. “I’ll work something out. I’ll hire a nanny or—”
I want to yell at him for eavesdropping, but I get more stuck on the nanny thing because he’s been so against it from the beginning. “You don’t want to leave them—”