by Kat Obie
He pulled into Alice’s apartment complex. He used her parking spot since he knew today’s trip would take a little bit longer than usual. He got out of the car and waited for Chloe to jump out the driver’s side door before shutting it.
He grabbed the puppy’s leash from the seat, leaving Chloe unleashed. It seemed like the puppy kept growing in both height and bravery on each and every road trip.
Unsurprisingly, Backup threw up one more time. He knelt down and rubbed behind the puppy’s ears. Once he was sure that Backup was done, he headed inside. Thanks to Backup’s motion sickness, he had to clean the car first. So he brought the pups inside and just let them explore her apartment as he cleaned the car.
Originally, his first plan of attack was to load up his car with a few of Alice’s belongings. He knew that movers would come tomorrow to pack and move her stuff over to his place. He figured he could grab some of her stuff like her precious craft beer and some of the artwork.
It was amazing how long it had taken to get their schedules to line up with the movers, so Alice hadn't properly moved in. She had everything required for day-to-day living, but she was basically a guest in his house. He couldn't wait until tomorrow when they could really make it more like their place with a blend of their tastes.
He opened up the mailbox to get the mail that Alice requested him to pick up. Right on top was the letter that Alice was looking for. It was a thick envelope, and he had a feeling that it couldn’t be good news. He texted Alice to let her know that he got it, but she didn’t respond right away.
The dogs were silent, and that was never a good sign. He went back towards the bedroom to see what they had gotten up to. Chloe rested on Alice’s bed and just being a wee bit lazy. Backup had one of Alice’s teddy bears in his mouth.
“No, Backup. Don’t play with things that aren’t yours,” scolded Scott in a very stern voice.
Backup immediately dropped the teddy bear in shock since he’d never heard Scott scold him. Chloe only perked up her ears for a second. Scott picked up the teddy bear and put it up high on the dresser so Backup couldn’t chew it apart.
Once the teddy bear was safe, Scott leaned down to Backup and said in a very calm voice, “That’s your mama’s bear. She won’t like it if you destroy it. Let’s get you home so you can chew on stuff there.” Backup immediately licked Scott’s hand to atone.
He finally heard back from Alice. She told him to open the prosecutor’s letter, so he did and realized very quickly why the letter was so thick. There was a second person charged in the case, and there was another victim impact form.
S: Do you want me to call or text?
A: Text. I can’t talk until later.
S: 2nd person charged in adult court. You need to do another impact statement.
A: Oh joy. FML since you can’t just cuddle with me as I write this one since I’m not bringing that to Philly.
S: I’m sorry but you can do it. I will support you through it any way I can.
A: I know. You are truly amazing.
S: So, how’s Nashville? Feeling calmer?
A: Not bad. Still got a way to go before we are ready, but we will get there. How’s the pups?
S: Okay. They have been enjoying spending time in your place.
A: :) but I know they love our place.
That made Scott smile. It was the first time he’d heard her call his house theirs. It wasn’t just his anymore, and that was before her stuff was fully merged. She had barely been back at her place in weeks other than to grab odds and ends.
Alice
Alice made her way through the airport as quickly as she could. As she passed the last security marker reminding people that they couldn’t reenter, she saw Scotty waiting for her. He was in his pea jacket, tight fitting suit pants, and a beanie, which meant that he didn't have much time to hang out before the game.
He had a wide smile showing how much he’d missed her and immediately scooped her up into a bear hug as he kissed her forehead. “Hey, you. I didn’t see you come up. Your hat doesn’t stand out around here.”
Alice laughed. During the winter, she always wore one of her Flyers knit hats. Not a lot of people in Cleveland tended to rock a Flyers hat. It was something that Scotty liked to razz her about. She never wore a Sound hat, even though she wore a lot of Sound stuff lately. “It really wouldn’t. At least you are easy to spot. So, ready for tonight?”
“Yeah. Now that you are here.”
“Awww. God, I’ve missed you.”
“I have too. Unfortunately, I must go straight to the arena from here. I hope that’s okay.”
“Kinda figured. I’m just glad that you picked me up. I’ll probably head to the hotel to check in and get rid of the suitcase prior to meeting up with Jenna for pre-game drinks in Center City.”
As Scotty played with his phone, most likely to summon an Uber for them, he asked with a coy smile, “So, I have to ask, did you remember our deal?”
“Of course, I did.” Alice unbuttoned her jacket to reveal the wine and white jersey with a ‘C’ on the right shoulder. If it was possible, Scotty’s grin grew even wider. “I just make no promises that this will be on when we meet at Evil Genius. Are you still good for meeting us there?”
“Yup. I know it’s one of your favorite places, and I want to meet your friends. Come on, our Uber is here.”
Scott
Scotty cursed when the third period horn sounded announcing they would be going to overtime. He should have had the win. He wasn’t sure how he could trick the goalie. With most of the goalies in the league, he had an idea or three of how to take the shot. Thankfully, the Flyers elected to shoot first so he had a little bit of time to talk with the coaches.
Colbert, the special teams coach, said, “Just be shifty. Don’t try to freeze him. Make him blink first.”
Scotty nodded. That was the best thing to do. He just had to make sure he didn't get caught in his head. This was his time to shine. He thought through what his options should be.
He used his speed first and then shifted the puck around. He went from forehand to backhand to forehand a few times and shot off a wrister that caught the goalie off guard. It was a clean goal, and Scotty was happy. He heard the stick taps from the bench and knew his team liked that effort.
Then he had to wait and see what happened. He needed Crestie to seal the net and see if any of the other Sound shooters could get another goal.
The rest of the shootout was pretty uneventful. Although Scotty knew that if Lager annoyed him in the next couple games, Scotty could remind him how he’d lost the puck before even getting a shot off.
As soon as Crestor caught the last shot in his glove, it was official. The Sound had won the game. The whole bench went towards Crestor to celebrate the win since in many ways, he was the real hero of the night. Scotty got a few helmet taps.
He cursed that he would be required to do media tonight since he had the game-winning goal. It seemed like he always did something in the game that made the reporters want his insights when all he wanted to do was hang out with Alice. She was a good luck charm and a curse. While she was cool and understood the portions of the job like talking with the media, he still felt like an asshole for always doing that to her.
As they were getting ready, Lager, Corey, and Petey all found out that Scotty planned on going to Evil Genius Brewing to meet up with Alice and wanted to join. He let them come along since it was going to be a group meet-up and Alice always seemed to have a ‘the more, the merrier’ attitude. Lager was in the mood to bust Scotty’s balls since he couldn’t believe that Scotty was going to a taproom. Thankfully, Corey and Petey were more interested in just going to a local craft brew place.
As Scotty walked up to the doors of Evil Genius flanked by Lager, Corey, and Petey, he heard Lager say, “I don’t care what you say; I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes. I still bet that Scotty will only drink a Yuengling or nothing at all. Just watch.” Scotty rolled his eyes an
d wondered why he was friends with Lager.
Scott looked around the bar and realized immediately that it wasn’t what he’d expected. The place was bright and open. There was a wooden table set up along the wall and in the back, but he noticed that his girl was surrounded by a small group of friends spread out between two sofas in the front of the place. All her friends look small in comparison to him and his buddies from the Sound.
Alice was engrossed in conversation. He noticed how happy and carefree she seemed. She caught sight of him and the group and came over to greet everyone. She hugged and kissed him. “Nice shootout goal.”
Scotty smiled widely and kissed her. She didn’t know the other guys were coming so she gave them the quick intro. “Order at the bar; they only bring food to you. When you come back, I can introduce everyone.”
Scotty knew about that ahead of time and since he was still very picky when it came to craft beer, Alice offered to share her flight with him. So he headed over to the couch with her. Everyone else went to go get some drinks.
He sat next to Alice, and she whispered, “try E.” Scott nodded and went to grab a glass from the wheel in front of them that held five tasters. He only glanced at the wheel and nearly grabbed the wrong glass. Alice shook her head and kissed his ear before saying, “E, not C. You would hate C.” He grabbed the right beer that was darker and seemed to be more in his wheelhouse.
“Thanks for the tickets tonight,” said a woman who sat next to Alice. Scott knew that had to be Jenna. He was glad to meet her since he could finally put a face to the name.
“Sure thing. It was good to know that Alice had someone to go to the game with,” Scott said as he took a sip from the small taster glass.
Almost immediately he heard Corey say, “Dude, pay up.” Scott turned around and saw the three guys approach the sofas. Both Corey and Petey had flights, while Lager had a hazy beer.
Lager tried to get out of the bet by saying, “He didn’t buy it. It doesn’t count.”
Scott was amazed when Petey said, “No, you said ‘drink.’ Pay him.” Petey didn’t often disagree with Lager since he was usually his ride and they lived together.
Lager pulled out a $20 bill and handed it over to Corey as he said, “Fine. It’s still weird.”
Alice and Scotty just laughed at the whole interaction. Scotty was about to say something to his teammates but decided he didn’t want to appear to be a jackass to Alice’s friends. So instead he turned back to Alice and went, “Okay, I liked that one. What is it?”
“Nobody Expects a Spanish Inquisition,” Alice responded a little too quickly. Scotty blinked, surprised, since Alice was a little flirtier than normal and was potentially tipsy, but he hadn’t expected her to go straight to sass.
He was about ready to ask a question when one of Alice’s male friends said, “Look at #12 on the board behind you.”
Scott turned and realized that was the name of the drink. He let out a chuckle and read some of the other names on the list. He should have expected the crazy names since this was a brewery Alice liked. He should have realized she would want to have some fun with the name.
He turned to Alice and asked if she wanted anything else to drink while he ordered his. She said with a sly smile, “A taster of the What Are You Wearing, Jake From State Farm.” She tried to defend herself by saying, “Hey, I’ve been wanting to try it and it didn’t fit on my first flight.”
Scott laughed, knowing that Alice told him the truth. She had been waiting to come back to Evil Genius and had looked up all the beers they had. He couldn’t remember how many she was hoping to try, but there were a few and that one was on the list since he’d teased her about the name.
He was curious about why Petey and Lager were on either side of the group and Corey sat next to Jenna. He wondered if Alice split them up. Alice finally did the introductions for everyone.
He was a little bit amazed how varied their connections were to Alice. Alice knew Jenna from college, she met Nick at a diner though a mutual friend, Chris was from Star Trek roleplaying, and Macy was from the game nights that Alice used to host. He was amazed at how witty and funny the whole group was and how they were super welcoming to everyone.
The only time things got competitive was when they started to play Jenga. Scotty knew they would have been just as intense if the Sound guys weren’t there egging them on. They all had that look of concentration and ragged on each other as the tower toppled over.
They all drank a little more than they probably should have that night. Nobody was out of control, but they were all tipsy. Scotty’s favorite thing about the night was that for the first time in weeks, he saw Alice be completely relaxed. She was lively. She was being extra flirty.
One of the things that he wasn’t expecting was for Jenna and Corey to hit it off. Scotty rarely saw Corey be interested in anyone when they went out. He always kinda assumed that he was a confirmed bachelor in the making. He’d heard from Alice that Jenna didn’t date much either. The fact that Corey showed interest in Jenna and it seemed like she was having as much fun in return made him feel hopeful for the dude.
Before they knew it, it was time to get back to the hotel due to the curfew for the players. Scott hated the idea of them having to end the night since he had a ton of fun. Alice’s friends all walked as a group towards the Septa station or to the one guy’s place that was close by.
Scott almost offered to walk with them and get the Ubers there, but they were going to get in trouble. While the rest of the guys didn’t really care about the curfew, Scotty did. He was supposed to be setting the example for the younger guys like Petey.
They decided to get two Ubers since having four muscular guys who ranged from 5’11 to 6’4 was a little claustrophobic, especially when they added Alice in the mix.
Scott wondered if there was something up since Corey opted to ride with Alice and Scotty instead of Lager and Petey. Although it could have been that their car would be quieter and he’d been sent by Lager to play chaperone to the lovebirds.
As they were riding back, Corey just let out a dejected, “Damnit, I didn’t get her number.”
Scotty nudged Alice to see if she could help Corey. She gave him a serious face. “Jenna is one of my best friends, and I know you are a great guy, but I can’t just give it to you. I’ll text her, and if she says I should share it, I will.”
Alice quickly moved her fingers over the keyboard of her phone to send a message as Scott kissed her forehead.
It seemed like it was only a few seconds later when Alice smiled and handed over her phone to Corey. He took a photo of her phone to capture all the relevant details. “I owe you one,” he said.
“More like a few if you count the fact that she is the reason you are on the first power play unit and suddenly the star everyone is talking about this month.”
Scotty could feel that Alice tried to burrow into him and hide the fact that she was blushing. She hated attention like that. He always believed in giving credit where credit was due. Besides, there was something so cute about seeing her blush and get all shy.
The car was silent for the last ten minutes of the ride as Corey texted on his phone, presumably to Jenna since he was smiling so hard. Scott was comfy next to Alice and looking forward to the evening ahead with just the two of them. He was trying to keep his hands off her.
Scotty knew that Alice was still going to have a lot of bad days ahead of her, especially as the court cases approached. As much as her dad hinted at how a trip to Philly would be good for her, he would never have guessed how much just going to a hockey game and hanging out with her friends had helped. After meeting the friends, he could understand why she enjoyed hanging out with them.
15
Scott
It seemed like the entire stretch of games when he was apart from Alice were just tough games. He knew that she had nothing to with how tough games were, even if he missed her immensely.
He hated the fact that she wasn’t watching
the game. It was the first game in two months that she wasn’t going to be watching, but she’d promised to follow the game.
It seemed like the Wild were playing with a chip on their shoulders the whole game. At least the Sound had solid puck possession throughout the night, but the hits were starting to add up.
It was late into the second period. Scott was in for the offensive zone faceoff. He liked taking faceoffs, but he was struggling. After losing what felt like the 12th time that night, he immediately took hard strides backwards to defend the zone, hopefully causing a neutral zone turnover.
Fortunately, there was a quick steal by Lager. Both of them headed back to the net, hoping to make it cleanly onsides. Lager got hounded by Suther, so he launched the puck towards Scotty since he was more open.
Scotty saw that a Wild player came towards him, so he deked the puck to protect it. He tried to throw his body to the right so he could avoid the hit altogether as he threw the puck to Dykstman. He knew he didn’t get his whole body out of the way for the incoming hit. The next thing he knew, it was a knee-on-knee hit.
Scotty was pissed since the Wild player didn’t even try to prevent the hit. He flipped up into the air and landed on the ice hard. He cursed even harder since he could just tell he’d seriously fucked up his left knee. The pain seared through his body to the point that he couldn’t even pay attention to the kerfuffle going on beside him.
Scotty wanted to get up, but he couldn’t. He just clutched the knee in pain and waited for the trainers. It took forever for the doc to come onto the ice, but he knew that was more likely due to the fact that he was in serious pain. Finally, he heard Lager come over to him with Doc Curren in tow.
Doc Curren leaned down and asked, “Can you get up on your own? I won’t be able to see how serious it is until we get back for repairs.”