Page 39 of Over the Line

Then he was gone, and I was home, and my heart was beating faster than it had any right to.

It also occurred to me then that I hadn’t asked why his fourth garage bay was open. There may or may not have been a story there. Or he might’ve just had more garage than one person needed. I was just curious because…

Well, because I was curious about Liam.

Probably a lot more curious than I needed to be. This man was my son’s teammate. The fact that he was openly gay didn’t mean he was an option for me.

And besides, this was a man who was built like a god, not to mention richer than that god. He was not in the market for an average-at-best middle-class dude with a decade on him and a grandkid on the way.

That middle-class dude could certainly dream, though.

CHAPTER 12

LIAM

Garrett

How do you not break your stick over a ref’s head?

LOL I’d be lying if I said I’d never fantasized about it.

I believe that. Are they just stupid? Or do they like fucking up the game?

Hell, IDK. Sometimes I think they’re taking bribes. Sometimes I think they wouldn’t know goaltender interference if it shoved them into the back of the net.

LOL So it wasn’t just me?”

Nooo. Not at all. Barns is still fuming about it.

The whole exchange made me laugh even as I struggled to get comfortable on my couch. I had an icepack on my knee, another against my hip, a third draped over my shoulder, and a heating pad against my lower back. They were all helping… a little.

My phone pinged again, and I picked it up, careful not to dislodge the icepack on my shoulder.

I feel like I could be a better officiant than some of these dildos. Well if I could skate better.

Some of THEM could learn to skate better. I missed a spectacular scoring chance last year because the linesman got in the way. (eyeroll emoji)

You should be able to check refs.

I mean if we run into them, we run into them.

But you should be able to check them. Like you do other players. Fucking mow them down and knock them into the boards.

Like I said… if we run into them, we run into them. (halo emoji)

LOL So it’s not a penalty?

Well if we do it on purpose then it is. It’s a nasty one, too. But if they’re just in the way and we bump into them, it’s not.

You’d think that would incentivize getting out of the way.

You’d think.

Do they ever get hurt?

Oh yeah. I’ve seen a few stretchered off the ice in my career.

No shit??