Page 55 of Slapshot Summer
“How exactly should I ‘look after her’?”Mac asked.Logically.
“I’ll give her your info and tell her she can reach out to you anytime.That okay?”It would give Josh a legitimate excuse to contact her one last time before he left for Russia.And once again, his rebel of a brain detoured.What if he asked her to wait for him to finish out his contract?He could fly home every once in a while to see her, and when he was done, they could start their life together.He’d be thirty-five, and she’d be thirty-two.Still plenty of time to start a family.
What the actual fuck is wrong with you?
“Yeah, go ahead and text it to me.Mia says to pass on her contact info too, in case it’s easier to reach out to another woman.”
Josh pushed out a relieved breath.“Thanks, man.”
“So you going to give me any particulars?”
“Hell no!”
“I mean about how you met her, dickbrain.I don’t need the gory details.”His friend chuckled.“Man, youdohave it bad for this chick.I can’t wait to meet her.”Mac’s cheerfulness grated on Josh’s frayed nerve endings.
His phone alerted him to an incoming call, and he checked caller ID.“Hey, Mac.I gotta go.My agent’s calling.”
“Talk later, buddy.”
Josh switched calls.“Hey, Herb.Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you with that answer yet.”Josh had made up his mind but had been so focused on his last hours with Lexi that he hadn’t given Herb the go-ahead yet.
“We got another offer, buttercup.”
Stunned, Josh fell back into an empty seat.“From who?”
“The Arizona Dunehawks.”
Josh’s mind immediately leaped to the short flight between Phoenix and Denver.That kind of long distance might work.The Dunehawks were a newer franchise, a team that hadn’t made the playoffs yet, but they were brimming with young talent, and their record had improved year over year.Wait.They had a phenom in net already.Were they trading him?
“I’m listening.”
“They’re looking for a veteran backup to mentor their youngster.”
Shit.“That’s a non-starter, Herb.I have no interest in riding the pine behind a number one.You know that.”
“Remember when McPherson’s wife died and he had to leave the game?”Herb droned.“You won the starting job from him.”
“Yeah, but that was different.”
“Was it?Life happens.This kid could be a flash in the pan.”Herb ticked off names of rookie goalies who had started with a bang and flamed out their sophomore year.“What if this kid gets injured or chokes?Their steady veteran backup becomes the starter.”
So his choice hovered between being a starter in Russia or a backuphopingfor a disaster that would slide him into first position?
Josh ground his back molars.“No.I’m not doing it.”There were too manyifsin this scenario, and Josh didn’t have that luxury at this stage of his career.“You can call them back and tell them, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’”
Fuck.
Hello, Russia.
“Honey,youlookalltuckered out.Did you have fun?”Josh’s mother side-eyed him from the driver’s seat.She’d insisted on picking him up, and he hadn’t been able to wriggle out of it.Right now all he wanted to do was climb into bed, pull a pillow over his head, and wallow.
“Yeah, Mom.I had a good time.”His tone was anything but convincing.
“I see you’re not wearing the shirt I gave you.”
Shit.“I wore it while I was there.”Truth.“But someone spilled beer on it, so it’s packed with my dirty clothes.”Untruth, but he was too tired and too bereft to think up a more creative excuse.
His mother’s voice slid into sly territory.“Did it do the trick?”
