They were still working out the kinks with the new additions to the team.
The final lines had been announced the day before, and Jordie would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised that the girl made the team and wasn’t sent down. Elli really liked her and believed in her. Coach was a little leery, and even some of the guys were too but, man, she could hold her own. Also, with a few trades, they had two new forwards and two new defense guys. They seemed okay, but Jordie hadn’t really gotten to know them much. He wasn’t one for change, and the team dynamic was certainly changing. Elli was building a team for the Cup, he could see that, and he was ready, no matter how much he didn’t like change. The team was full of some heavy hitters, and Jordie was excited.
But he still had no clue why Erik was passing him the puck. Looking back at him, he said, “Yeah?”
He smacked his stick to the ice, and Jordie shot it to him as he asked, “You and Kacey together?”
Jordie grinned as he nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“’Cause she’s been sitting there for the last week watching us practice, and she never did that before,” he said with a grin, moving the puck back and forth with his stick. “I wasn’t sure you knew.”
Jordie laughed as he looked up at where Kacey sat, her arms wrapped around her legs as she watched. When she saw that he was watching her, she smiled, which made him smile. She had been coming to practice all week, and he really liked that she was there. After killing him in the training room, she’d sometimes hit the ice with him before the rest of the guys did. It was fun, and soon, they had fallen into a routine. Morning sex, work, and then he would go to AA meetings or therapy, come home for dinner, playtime with Mena, chilling with Karson and Lacey, and more sex. It was great and easy, but today he was signing his contract before his AA meeting, and Kacey hadn’t said a word about getting a place together. He was a little worried, not that he’d let her know that.
“It’s weird seeing you two googly-eye each other,” Karson mentioned as he leaned against the boards, making a face, and Jordie laughed.
“It’s not like we are thinking about having sex as we stare into each other’s eyes, if that makes it any better.”
His troubled face deepened and he reached out, smacking Jordie’s arm. “Dude, no.”
Jordie laughed. “I like that she’s here.”
“So things are good? Seems that way,” he said and Jordie agreed.
“Things are great, really excited for our future.”
“Which is?”
“Marriage and kids and shit,” Jordie said, looking back at him, and Karson laughed.
“Never thought I’d hear you utter those words,” he said, shaking his head. “Well, not the word shit, you say that all the time, but those other two. Mind-blowing, especially with my kid sister. And what’s really surprising is the fact that I don’t want to kill you for it.”
Jordie grinned. “’Cause you know I’d die before I’d hurt her.”
“For sure,” he said with a nod. “So, you’re good? AA has been pretty uneventful. You haven’t been sharing much.”
Karson had gone with him all week since his mom and dad had left. Karl and Regina finally got an offer on their house, one that they couldn’t turn down, which meant they’d be moving to Nashville soon. Everyone was ecstatic about that too. It just felt right having the whole family in one state. But, other than that, Karson was right, AA had been uneventful. He wasn’t sharing much because he was trying to figure out how to approach the issue of not only his mom calling but also the fact that he wanted Kacey to move in with him. She’d asked him to ask his leader or therapist, and he figured he needed to do that today.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he said with a nod. “My mom did text me the other day.”
Karson’s head whipped around. “What the hell for?”
“She wants me to call her.”
“Did you tell her to fuck off?”