SIX
Declan
Back home I head into the kitchen. I’m fucking famished. Living in the hockey house is very different than living with Cole and Wolfe. First, there are six of us living here and second, no one fucking cooks. We each have a section of the fridge to put our groceries in, but the guys don’t buy groceries often so they mostly just pick up food on campus.
I try to eat as healthy as possible during the season, but my food budget is on the lower side so I stick to cheap groceries. For tonight, I take out some ground meat and whole grain burger buns. I laugh looking at the buns because they remind me of Wolfe and his crazy need to eat healthy all the damn time. That’s why I chose the whole grain over the white at the supermarket.
I take out a pan and crack open a root beer as I sear the meat in the pan. I’m no cook, that’s for sure, but I add a little salt and pepper to the meat for flavoring. I take back a large gulp of root beer and think back on my day. What the hell do I do with that reporter chick from The Gazette? I don’t have a fascinating story, mine is a shit story that no one needs to know. I’m very aware that people will eat up a story about my rags to riches life, not that there are any riches yet, but I’m hoping there will be by the end of the year.
I get a text from Cole.
Cole: What’s up, asshat? I’m home. Stop in to visit.
Me: What time? I’m cooking.
He sends me a string of laughing emojis. It is pretty laughable considering I barely cooked in the two years I was living with him.
Cole: 7?
Damn, I told that Poppy chick I’d meet her tonight. What was I thinking? That you needed her off your back.
Me: Perfect. See you then.
I figure I’ll eat, shower, and head over. I haven’t seen CC, his baby girl, in a while and that kid kind of grew on me while I was living there, even though I could have done without all the crying at night.
The more I think about it, I realize it’s a perfect idea to bring Poppy over to Cole and Holland’s. That way the attention will be on CC and not me. Who can resist a cute baby?
I text Poppy my old address. Then I finish cooking the meat, prepare it on the bun with all the toppings we have, which are limited to ketchup and mustard, and I lean against the counter and dig in.
“What’s up, bro?” Bozeman walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge.
With my mouth full I just give him a nod.
“The smell of that meat made me hungry,” he chuckles and takes out a pack of chicken breast from the fridge. Of course he does, the guy replaced Wolfe as center for the team, but before Wolfe drafted to the NHL he had been mentoring him.
“How’s it going?” I finally ask.
“Eh, all right,” Bozeman says.
“Okay,” I reply and take another bite of my burger.
“Don’t know how you eat that ground stuff,” Bozeman says of my burger.
“This is good shit,” I say, waving my burger in the air.
“Whatever.” He starts to prep the stove and takes out a bunch of vegetables and yeah, I start to feel like shit about eating this burger. “So who was that chick you were hanging around with in the gym this morning?”
I’m surprised he asks.
“What do you care?” I snap unintentionally.
“She was hot.” He grins.
Damn, she was hot. Those eyes of hers. . .what color were they? So unusual. Not green but not blue either, and her body was smoking hot too. It makes me think of the other night at the bar I go to off campus, Black Market. It’s more of the locals that head there and not too many students, which I like, because on campus I’m a Dragon and attention is always on me from girls and guys alike. It’s nice to just get away and be alone. Lately I’ve been dealing with shit so that place has become my regular hangout, but the other night there was a girl there. That much I remember. She is hazy in my mind but something about her eyes, they were kind and her face… I blow out a breath. Damn, she was beautiful. I can’t believe I told her my secret. The thought makes my stomach sink. It’s good that I’ll never be seeing her again.
I realize Liam is watching me. “You high, man?”
“No,” I jeer. What the fuck?
“Sorry, dude, you’re just really spacey,” he says, and he begins to chop up his vegetables.
“It’s fine. I was just thinking of something,” I reply.
Bozeman shrugs. I finish off my burger and start on the second, and then I throw out my paper plate and walk out of the kitchen. Behind me I hear Bozeman complaining about what an unfriendly asshole I can be. He isn’t wrong. I mean, I have my moments but most of the time I’m living in my head, trying to figure out how to fix what’s wrong with my life.
I show up ten minutes early to Cole and Holland’s place, which sounds weird in my head because I lived here for two years. I’m happy for my friend though. Meeting Holland changed Cole’s life for the good and he is super happy.
I ring the bell and wait. Cole opens the door. “Bro.” We shake hands but he pulls me in for a hug and then invites me inside.
A middle-aged man sits on the couch with a woman beside him.
“I didn’t realize you had company,” I say to Cole.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. This is my dad, Oliver Davis, and his. . .” Cole pauses. There’s a woman sitting beside his dad. Cole told me all about his bimbo stepmom, Amber, but this woman doesn’t look close to our age and she is no bimbo.
“Veronica Steele,” the woman says. “I’m a friend of Oliver.”
I look at Cole but I don’t sense any apprehension on him at all.
“Nice to meet you both.” I shake each of their hands.
“Declan used to be our housemate. He drove us to the hospital when Holland gave birth to CC,” Cole explains.
“Nice to meet you, Declan,” Mr. Davis says.
“You too, sir,” I say. I look at Cole. “I just wanted to say hi. I can see you’re busy so I can get going.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Holland says as CC bounces in her lap.
“She’s gotten so big,” I state, reaching out to play with CC’s hand. She laughs and I start to make funny faces at her.
“They do grow fast,” Holland agrees.
The doorbell rings and my stomach sinks.
“I wonder who that could be,” Cole says.
Shit.
“I. . .” I run my hand through my hair. “I may have invited someone over here.”
“Wanna elaborate, McAvoy?” Cole says, arching his brow.
“The Gazette is running the Spotlight on me this year and you know how I hate talking about my life. That must be the chick who’s writing the story. I kind of didn’t know what to do,” I admit sheepishly.
“It’s fine,” Holland says. She stands from the couch and goes to open the door.
Holland says hi and I see that Poppy looks super confused.
“Declan told me to meet him here?” She says to Holland.
“Sure, come on in,” Holland says.
“Does Declan live here?” Poppy asks and then she walks into the front door and spots me.
“I used to live here. I figured it was easier to bring you here than the hockey house. Things can get hectic there at night,” I say, feeling like I’m muttering bullshit, which I am.