Page 2 of The Rebound Play
“Positive.”
“I want to be out there, playing my part. This season we’ve got as good a shot as any team of winning the Cup.”
I’m not being arrogant. I know I’m a good player. I got drafted in the first round, right out of college, and I’ve got a seventy-six-point average per season. Not bad for a small-town boy whose hockey-obsessed dad had to take a second job at the gas station to afford my sport.
Now, being able to pay off my parents’ mortgage, as well as take them on a cruise of their choice each summer, is my way of paying back their sacrifice, despite the fact they’re always telling me their pride in my success is more than enough.
I know I totally won the family lottery, from my actor brother, Ethan, right down to our book-obsessed kid sister, Emerson, aka Emmy. Mimi, our grandmother, lived just down the street, always feeding us delicious baked goods from her kitchen, and instructing us not to tell our mom. We’re close, supportive of one another, with a set of parents who might not have had much when we were growing up, but who went beyond the necessities for each one of us. For me it was hockey lessons and running me around for games, for Ethan it was acting class, and for Emmy it was an endless supply of books.
“I get it. Hockey’s your world right now,” Troy replies. “Which is why coming back to your hometown to play is so perfect for you. I can work things out with your team management to get you the time off, and we’ve got an excellent PT. She’ll get that wrist back into shape before you know it.”
“I’ve got to admit—it’s tempting.”
And besides, there’s another reason for going back home, and it’s kind of a big one. Keira Johnson. My Kiki. Only she hasn’t been my Kiki for ten years now.
Just the thought of my high school girl—the girl I left behind—has my pulse kicking up a notch or ten.
Keira is the girl I’ve never been able to forget.
Sure, there’ve been other girls. It’s been a long time and I’m no saint. Women tend to throw themselves at you when you’re an NHL player, particularly when you’re known as the pretty boy of the team. Those puck bunnies, as they’re sometimes called, simply come with the territory—and it’s fun territory, believe me.
Of course, the fact that my kid brother is the current heartthrob on the hit Netflix fantasy show, It Came One Winter, doesn’t exactly hurt, either.
But here’s the thing: Most of the women I meet are only interested in me because I’m Dan Roberts, center for the Chicago Blizzard, brother to the guy they love to watch on TV. Relationships for me tend to last a few weeks, a month, tops. My lifestyle means it’s hard to hold down a relationship. And besides, those women aren’t interested in plain Dan Roberts, the hockey-obsessed kid from Maple Falls, who worked his butt off to make it to the NHL.
So, my heart has been safe, never forgetting my first love. Keira.
An image of her springs into my mind. She’s laughing at something, her gray-blue eyes dancing, her blonde hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders. Her smile is framed with those cute dimples of hers, the dimples I used to get to brush soft kisses against.
I took her for granted when I had her. I was a dumb kid, only seventeen when we broke up. I figured there’d be other girls, other loves. It’s been ten years since we broke up for me to take my hockey scholarship at Yale, literally the other side of the country from her. But I know if I ever got the chance to be with her again, trust me when I say I would leap at it.
“When do you need me?” I ask, my mind made up.
“Seriously? Dan, that’s awesome! Having the great ‘Dan the Man’ Roberts, hometown hero and famous NHL star, on the team would mean even better media coverage and more money for the kids.”
I laugh. “And I get to have some of my mom’s home-cooked meals.”
“On that, it would be good if you could stay with the team. Me and Kelly bought the Maple Falls arena as well as the lodge. You might remember it. The Hawk River Lodge?”
“The one on the edge of town with the big pool. Yeah, I remember it.”
“I don’t have to tell you it’s nothing too fancy.”
“There’s nothing much fancy about Maple Falls,” I say on a laugh. “But that’s part of its charm.”
“You’re so right. Can you get here by the end of the month?”
My entire schedule consists of physical therapy and gym workouts. Occasionally, I catch up with the guys from the team, but it’s hard when I’m not training with them, getting ready for the season.
Truth be told, I spend more time alone than I’d care to admit. I guess I’ve been so busy chasing success I’ve not created the life I actually want. But I tell myself that will come in time. Right now, it’s all about hockey. I’ve worked too hard for it not to be.
There will be time for a wife, kids, a place that feels like a real home. As slick and spacious as my house is, it’s never felt like a real home to me. Not like where I grew up.
Don’t get me wrong: my life isn’t exactly horrible. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and I’m reaping the rewards, from the huge paycheck to the fame, and everything that brings.
As ungrateful as it sounds, it’s not enough for me.
I want that special someone, someone to have a family with, someone to grow old with, someone who loves me for me and not the fame or the money.