Page 63 of The Tryout

“Well, I was really worried that the Huskies would want me to stay amateur for a couple of years. I didn’t really have the brains for college or the money for Juniors. The, uh, grant that paid for my gear expired at eighteen when I left the system. But he assured me Minnesota didn’t care one way or the other, and that I’d just maybe need to spend a little more time in the AHL than usual. Which has, sadly, been true.”

I nod, pressing my lips together.

“Did you know you’re on an AHL-only contract?”

A look of confusion appears on Finn’s face.

“What…what does that mean?”

“It means that the Huskies couldn’t call you up right now even if they wanted to. Or, at least not without getting you to sign a new contract.”

His mouth drops open.

“How…how do you know that?”

I consider telling him a lie, telling him that I Googled it. I could, after all – this is publicly available information. But no, he’s had enough of that.

“I, uh, sent an angry text last night. A couple, actually.”

He looks confused again.

“Why were you angry?”

Why was I angry? Is he kidding me?

“Because Robby got called up instead of you. Obviously.”

A flush rises in his cheeks.

“Oh. That was…nice. But if I’m on an AHL-only contract, why do I keep getting invited to camp? Kind of sends a mixed message, doesn’t it?”

I shrug, having wondered the same.

“I assume they view it as important development. And from what Ethan was able to turn up, it seems like they really are interested in you as a player.”

“You sent an angry text to Ethan Tremblay about me?”

His eyes are wide with alarm.

“Oh please, as though he didn’t literally invite you to stay with him in September. He’d have looked into it on his own, I just…prompted him.”

I’m fairly confident that’s true, but at the moment I’m not sure I care.

“So do I need to wait until the end of my contract? Is that my only option?”

I sit back in my seat, picking at the last of my noodles with my fork.

“What is it, Avery? You can tell me, even if it’s bad news.”

“It’s not…it’s not bad news. But I’m going to need you to let me do you a favor. Maybe a couple, and maybe kind of big ones.”

He looks as unsettled as I expected.

“I want you to know that if it’s a non-starter, it’s a non-starter, and I’ll help you figure out an alternative without me. But I think I have a solution.”

“Hit me.”

At the moment, he looks like he hopes I will actually hit him.