Hating the Rookie: Laketown Hockey Series

by A. J. Wynter

  “I’m going to stay at the Cabins tonight anyway. I want to get an early start tomorrow.” I headed down the stairs to the front door ahead of her. “No sense wasting all that gas for two trips.”

  “My dad would agree with that,” Brianna smiled.” She followed me down the stairs. “Bye, Mona,” she shouted.

  “Is Mom in bed already?” I asked.

  “Of course, it’s almost dusk.” Brianna laughed.

  That’s when the two of us slipped into a version of our old selves when laughing together felt normal – and right.

  BRIANNA LEANED HER knees away from me and stared out the window as we drove through town. The sound of the tires humming grew too loud between us, so I clicked on the radio and John Mayer’s voice helped to drown out the awkward silence.

  Turning onto Casper Cove Road, Brianna was the one to break the silence. “Thanks for the ride,” she said.

  “No problem.” I flicked on the high beams as we entered the forest.

  “Brodie. You are a good role model for your sister.” Brianna folded her hands in her lap. “You work hard, you treat your mom with respect, you’re a talented athlete, from what I hear... What else does she need to see?”

  “Is Brianna Corbett giving me a compliment?”

  I caught her smile before she could erase it from her face. “I’m just saying, don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  “I could say the same thing. You’re either working on the Cabins or hunched over those schoolbooks.”

  “I have to keep my scholarship. There’s no way my parents can afford to pay for school, and if I had to get a real summer job, you know, one that pays money, I wouldn’t be able to help out at the cabins. I’m pretty sure there’s only enough money in the budget for one on the books employee.”

  She was wrong. There wasn’t even enough in the budget for that.

  The headlights shone on the windows of Brianna’s cabin and I put the SUV in neutral. “Thanks for the ride.” Brianna hopped out without looking at me. For the first time since she’d been home, I wanted to meet her eyes with mine. I wanted to tell her that I missed her. But she didn’t look, and I didn’t tell her.

  I didn’t even bother to turn the Jeep around. I put it into reverse and slowly backed up to Cabin Three. I turned off the engine and sat in the quiet of the cab and watched as Brianna headed inside.

  Maybe she’d changed. Maybe I’d changed. Suddenly, it didn’t matter what she did all those years ago. I saw what she did today, who she was, and that’s when I knew I was in trouble.

  I never stopped loving Brianna Corbett.

  Chapter 11 – Brianna

  STEAM FROM THE KETTLE fogged up the single pane window of Cabin One, but I kept staring out of it anyway. I changed into a white cotton sundress, the coolest piece of clothing I owned. As dusk slipped into darkness, the view of the lake disappeared, and it was me I saw in the condensation. Holding onto the paper tab, I bobbed the tea bag up and down thinking about Brodie.

  If I had met him now, I would think that he was a sweet and caring guy... who happens to have an eight pack and broader shoulders than any of the guys on the rowing team. But he wasn’t new to me. I knew exactly what he was capable of doing. In the twelfth grade, he was a sweet guy, but he turned into an asshole in the blink of an eye.

  ‘Remember that,’ I whispered to my reflection. It only took one night for him to become a completely different person. How could a guy who said he loved me one night, call me horrible names the next? If he could do it then, he could do it now.

  I sighed, spooned a little bit of honey into my favorite mug, and stepped onto the porch. The temperature was still in the eighties and the spring peepers’ singing filled the night air. I tiptoed down the cedar mulch path in my bare feet to the end of the main dock. The first stars glowed brightly in the sky and I sighed in relief when I slipped my feet into the lake. The cool water felt like silk and I swirled my feet in circles as I watched the thumbnail of a moon appear above the horizon.

  The dock shimmied slightly with the rhythm of someone walking on its planks. I turned to see Brodie, also in bare feet, walking towards me, Buddy close at his heels.

  “Hi.” Brodie sat down beside me.

  “Hi.”

  He slipped his feet into the water beside mine, our feet glowing an ethereal white in the moonlight. Buddy laid down beside me and rested his head on his paws, smacking his lips together twice, before closing his eyes. I rested my hand on his shoulders, digging my fingers into his thick golden hair.

  I didn’t say anything. Brodie didn’t speak either. We swirled our feet in the lake water silently next to each other while constellations appeared in the sky above us.

  My feet were shriveled by the time one of us spoke. I said, “There aren’t any blueberries left on Hippo island. I went out to get some for my mom the other day and it’s been picked clean.”

  “They’re high in antioxidants,” he murmured.

  “Yes. They are...” I looked at Brodie, his chocolate brown eyes glowed amber in the moonlight, cloaked behind a curtain of jet-black lashes. “Since when do you care about antioxidants?”

  “No harm in being healthy,” he smiled meekly.

  “Says that guy who ate three ice cream sandwiches this afternoon.”

  “You saw that?”

  “No, but when I went to get one the box was empty.” I smacked his arm.

  “Come with me.” He stood and held out his hand.

  I didn’t ask any questions and I let him pull me to my feet. I didn’t pull my hand from his once I was standing. The two of us walked hand in hand and Brodie led me towards the shore. He squeezed my fingers before letting go to push one of the cedar strip canoes into the water.

  “Get in,” he gestured and handed me a paddle. I lifted the hem of my gauzy dress and slid the paddle along the gunwales until I reached the bow seat. Brodie pushed the boat into the water, and I steadied myself as he and Buddy hopped in. Buddy had ten years of canoe experience and settled into the middle of the boat, resting his head on the wooden gunwale. I didn’t ask Brodie where we were going. Talking with our mouths seemed to ruin things for us. Tonight, we spoke to each other with our eyes, our gestures, and our light touches.

  He steered us out into the main lake, the canoe surging forward with each of his powerful strokes. We slipped into Stellar Bay in the shadows of the trees and silently landed on the sand beach of Candlestick Island, a small, but tall island that was connected to land by a swampy section that was mostly underwater in the summer. It made the area mostly unnavigable to motorboats, but the canoe slipped over the grassy section, long blades tickling its belly as we silently slid over the top of them. We landed on a small sand beach. I hopped out and the hem of my dress clung to my wet calves as I pulled the canoe on shore.

  “What are we doing here?” I broke the silence.

  “Here,” Brodie handed me a plastic sand pail. Mine was pink; his was purple. My heart pounded against my ribs as Brodie slipped his thick fingers between mine. We stepped carefully through the brush at the edge of the beach. “There,” Brodie pointed. In the moonlight, there stood a ten by ten section of wild blueberry bushes, their branches heavy with berries.

  “My secret stash,” he whispered.

  There in the moonlight, Brodie Bishop and I sat beside each other, our arms brushing against each other’s as we plucked two sand pails worth of berries.

  “Bree...”

  It was the first time he hadn’t called me Brianna.

  “Yeah?” I whispered. I didn’t care what happened with us in the past. At that moment, I was ready for Brodie to ask to kiss me. Or not even ask, just wrap me in his strong arms and press his lips to mine. Goosebumps broke out across my chest even though at ten o’clock, it was still as hot as a warm summer day. I turned my body to face his, letting the hem of my dress slide from my knee to the top of my thigh. Already this had been the most romantic night of my life. Feeling the weight of my high school crush’s body o
n mine as he slid my dress up suddenly seemed like the most natural course of action.

  But he did the opposite. He held the hem of my dress in his fingertips and slid it back down over my knee. He rested his hand on my shoulder but didn’t lean in to kiss me. “I have to tell you something.” His eyes glanced away. This was hard for him, whatever it was.

  “Okay.” I sat up a little straighter and adjusted the damp skirt of my dress.

  “I don’t think I should be the one to tell you this, but I also don’t think that you should be kept in the dark.”

  Oh, God. This didn’t sound good. “What is it, B.B?” I used his nickname for the first time too – and it felt good.

  “She’s fine now. But your mom. She had cancer.”

  The stars began to swirl above me. “What?” This was NOT what I was expecting him to say.

  “It’s in remission now. That’s how I know about antioxidants.” He shook the pail lightly.

  “Oh. Oh no. Why didn’t she...” my voice trailed out.

  “Tell you?” he finished my question. “They didn’t want you to worry. That’s why everything at the cabins is behind schedule. They were busy going back and forth to treatment.”

  “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.” But I could. My mom was brave, and she was a fighter. It made total sense that she believed she was going to beat it and I would be none the wiser.

  “Oh, and I’m pretty sure your dad is losing his hearing,” Brodie laughed lightly. “Unless you haven’t noticed the unbearably loud Johnny Cash.” His attempt at lightening the mood worked.

  I rested my hand on his. “Thank you for telling me.”

  He nodded and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

  “And you’re sure she’s okay?”

  “Cross my heart.” He pulled his hand from underneath mine to make the motion. “We should get back.” He sprang to his feet and I followed suit, brushing the moss off the back of my dress. Buddy had followed us to the edge of the blueberry bushes and was waiting, his tail brushing in the sand as we approached, holding our buckets.

  My mind raced as we paddled back to Casper Cove in silence. The only sound was the water dripping from our paddles and the occasional loon call. We turned the canoe over together and set the buckets of berries on the dock.

  “I can’t believe how hot it is.” Brodie rubbed his hands on the front of his shirt, leaving behind sweat marks. My hair was plastered to the back of my neck. We had paddled efficiently, but aggressively.

  “You’re still wearing your running clothes,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah,” he looked down, and even in the muted light, I could see that his cheeks were flushed. “I think I’m going to go for a swim.”

  “Can I join you?” I asked. Before he could answer, I pulled my dress over my head.

  “Brianna Corbett, that’s not a bathing suit,” he kept his gaze trained on the lake behind me.

  “It’s close enough,” I shrugged. It was a simple white lace bra with a light pink bow between the cups that matched the bow on the cotton panties.

  He took off his shirt and tossed it onto the dock. We waded into the lake up to our waists, Brodie kept his gaze on the opposite shoreline. I glanced down and noticed the pink of my nipples was visible through the lace and it was the same color as the bow on my underwear.

  I wanted to touch him. I wondered if he wanted me to touch him. I felt as though I was fighting an invisible force, hell-bent on stopping me from reaching out and touching his arm. If he was just being kind, touching him would make our summer extremely awkward. Instead of caressing the line of his triceps, as I wanted, I smacked his arm with the back of my hand. “Come on,” I smiled and then dove into the darkness of the water. Under the water, I heard him dive in behind me. I took five strokes until I was well past the end of the dock and surfaced into the warmth of the night air. Brodie was right behind me. His eyelashes were clumped together, and I could feel his feet treading water in front of me.

  He leaned in so close I could feel the heat of his breath on my ear and feel his body working to keep himself afloat in front of me. “Please don’t tell your mom I told you.”

  “Cross my heart.” I mimicked his motion from earlier. His eyes followed my fingertips and he smiled, but back stroked away from me. He turned, climbed up the swim ladder, and sat on the end of the dock.

  I had totally misread the entire situation. My heart sank, he was just being kind. I was so thankful that I hadn’t tried to kiss him. I swam to the ladder. “Do you mind getting my dress for me?” I asked.

  If seeing my nipples had made Brodie uncomfortable, I wondered how he would feel about the triangle in my panties.

  Brodie returned from the shoreline, my dress in his hands, and held it in front of him. I climbed the ladder and slipped right into it. With modesty returned, Brodie was able to look at me again.

  “Thanks for the swim,” he smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes.

  “No. Thank you. For everything.” Brodie had been there for my parents when I should have been. He was the better child, and he wasn’t even theirs.

  “Bree.” He turned to face me. His lips parted as though he wanted to speak or...he slipped his hand to my waist and pulled me toward him. I angled my face up to his and shut my eyes.

  Instead of the warmth of our lips meeting, a flash of light shone brightly right at us. “Ow.” I covered my eyes.

  Brodie turned to face the shoreline. “Who is that?”

  A Volkswagen Golf had stopped in front of Cabin One. “Shit. Nora.” I hurried to meet my friend.

  “Nora?” I heard Brodie ask quietly behind me.

  My friend had already opened the trunk of her car and pulled out a duffel bag. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?” I raised my arms and pulled her in for a hug.

  “Nope, your directions were perfect.”

  Brodie grabbed his t-shirt from the dock and he and Buddy walked by. “Brodie, this is my friend from school, Nora.”

  “Hey.” he waved his shirt.

  “Hi.” Nora raised her hand in a wave. As Brodie walked away Nora turned to me and pumped her eyebrows. “What was that?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” I said quietly.

  “That didn’t look like nothing,” Nora smiled. “That looked like I interrupted a whole lot of summer romance with a Sports Illustrated cover model.”

  “It’s complicated.” I smiled and shrugged.

  “Aren’t they all...” Nora mused.

  “Come on, you won’t believe what Nick did this time.” She crooked her arm around my neck. “I’ve got more pinot grigio in this suitcase than clothes.”

  I glanced one more time to Cabin Three. Buddy had gone inside with Brodie and the light was already off. I sighed and took a deep breath. Something told me that I needed to forget about what happened.

  “Too much history,” I whispered.

  Chapter 12 – Brodie

  EVEN AT EIGHT IN THE morning, the Otters’ dressing room smelled like sweat, beer, and too many kinds of men’s deodorant. To other people, it would stink, but I liked the smell of the rink.

  Pacey, the assistant coach, leaned his head in the door and waved us to get out on the ice. “Where’s Coach?” Dylan asked, as we filed out into the hallway.

  “He’s on his way,” Pacey said.

  Jake, one of the other rookies, jogged a couple of steps to walk alongside me. “What do you think is going on with Coach?”

  “I’m not sure. If it was our business, I’m sure he would tell us.” But it was the third practice in a row that he had missed. I wondered what was going on too. For someone who lectured us about respecting time and honoring our commitments, he sure wasn’t living up to his own standards.

  Halfway through the practice, Coach stepped onto the ice, but let Pacey continue running the drills.

  I skated hard, as always, but my mind kept drifting to the damn dress that Brianna had been wearing the night before. I hadn’t planned
for any of that to happen. The island, the blueberries, the canoe, the swim, any of it. I couldn’t have planned anything so perfect. Never had I felt so connected to another human being, let alone a hot woman.

  At the time, I was confused. I wanted to kiss her, but I wasn’t about to put myself out there and let myself get torn down again. It took forever to get over her the first time she hurt me. Hell, I still didn’t think I was over it.

  I took a slap shot and it sailed high over the net. ‘Get your head back in the game, man,’ I muttered to myself. I charged around the net, scooped the puck into the center of the blade of my stick, and circled back to the blue line, I gave the puck a little heel-toe action, blinked Brianna’s green eyes and pink nipples out of my mind, and took the shot. This one went wide.

  “Dammit.”

  Coach blew the whistle and we gathered around to run some plays. His lips were moving, but my mind was back on someone else’s lips. I should’ve kissed her. If it wasn’t for her damn friend showing up...

  “Bishop.” Coach’s voice was low and echoed through the empty stands.

  “Yeah, Coach,” I said as quickly as I could.

  “Got it?”

  Shit.

  “Yep,” I lied.

  It was obvious. Justin and Leo tic-tac-toed the puck back and forth before shooting it to the top of the hash marks – to empty ice.

  “Bishop.” Coach blew his whistle. “Your mind isn’t in the game today.” He jerked his thumb at the bench, and I smacked my stick on the ice.

  “Sorry, Coach,” I grumbled as I skated by him.

  I watched the rest of the practice from the bench. I focused as hard as I could and studied the plays, but the rest of the time, I thought about Brianna.

  And I realized something.

  I didn’t care what she did two years ago – and I was going to tell her that. Then I was going to kiss her and tell her that her white lace bra was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. I wouldn’t tell her that I’d gone home with a raging hard-on and had jerked off imagining slipping my palms between the lace fabric of her bra and the softness of her breasts while my other hand slipped between the cotton of her panties, my fingertips on her silky warmth.