by Kat Obie
“And you aren’t worried that you’re too old for me?” he asked, almost begging.
“I haven’t been worried about that since we moved in together. Why is it such a big deal?’
He ducked his head and started to push up his beanie back. He looked ashamed. “Um…Alice said you were worried about the age difference and to keep the beard.”
“What? When?” She was surprised. Alice wasn’t wrong; she was worried about the age gap and under normal circumstances, yes, she would want Corey to keep the beard. But these weren’t normal circumstances.
“Um. Before I moved out to Philly. It was after one of her court dates.”
Well that explained it. That was ages ago and before they moved in together. So she needed him to know the truth. She wasn’t worried about things anymore or going to be frightened away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes. “Okay. Get this straight. While yes, I love the beard, it doesn’t matter if you have it or not. I haven’t been worried about our age difference in literally months. The only thing I’ve been worried about is your health. I love you and I hate that you have been dealing with this shit. I would so much rather you be playing hockey and us worried about the mundane things like if you should get a pet.”
Corey pinned her against the wall. He ravished her in kisses. Almost as if his kisses were the only way to tell her that he loved her and her words. He wrapped one hand into her hair and one hand around her waist. Then the torrent of emotion started to recede. She opened up her eyes to realize while his eyes were still so full of passion, his face was a grayish green. It didn’t take a genius to realize that he was about to throw up. He said, “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”
She kissed him one more time and patted his arm. “Go do what you need to do.”
He shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, beautiful. I am such a buzzkill. I’ll be back.” He then hurried to the bathroom.
She got dinner ready. She made a bowl of bisque for both of them. She also started to pull out his evening medicine and his CBD oil toothpicks since they seemed to be helping his stomach big-time. The last thing she did was grab a bottle of beer for herself and then a bottle of water for Corey.
If he took much longer, she would have gone to the bathroom to check in on Corey. But he showed up back in the kitchen and smiled when he saw she had everything set up. He was still coughing some but it seemed like he was doing better. “Thanks, beautiful.”
“You okay?” she asked, knowing full well that he probably wasn’t, but she couldn’t just carry on as if nothing happened. He sat down at his dinner spot.
He shrugged. At least he didn’t just disregard the question and put on a good show. He sat down. He put the hydration tablet into his water bottle and started to sip. He took the meds but didn’t really eat much of the soup. Not that she could blame him.
“So how happy are you that your mom is gone?”
“Won’t lie, it’s nice being just us again. It’s weird, it was only when we were both together where she acted like herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you were in Philly, she was obsessing over every cough and didn’t want me to do anything. She was never that way growing up. She was so chill. You saw her over the summer. Always joking and a straight shooter but not controlling. The sad thing is I wasn’t even doing anything crazy. I wanted to sit up and play on my guitar. It’s a miracle I was able to hang out with Scotty and Petey. I can’t believe she called Berman.”
Jenna laughed. “I tried to stop her. I told her that you were at Scotty’s place but she needed to hear it for herself.”
“I still don’t understand how she has his number.”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t have Berman’s number.”
Corey
This latest round had kicked his ass. He slept most of the day for the last few days and felt so damn stiff. On top of everything, he knew he had more than just a simple cough and he kicked himself over not getting the script that was offered. It got worse and worse. The one good thing was Jenna. She seemed to have mastered that perfect balance of checking in on him and not smothering him.
At the end of the day, like per usual, she came into the bedroom and sat on the bed. She dropped a kiss on his forehead presuming he was sleeping and asked, “What are you thinking about dinner tonight?”
He shook his head. He looked apologetically at her and said, “Sorry, beautiful. I don’t think I can keep it down.”
“That’s okay. How about you get up for a little bit?”
He coughed some and really didn’t want to get up, but he knew she was right. Just getting up and active would be good. He just hoped it wasn’t anything too strenuous. He couldn’t even imagine what Jenna had in mind. He just hoped it wouldn’t be guests. “What do you want to do?”
“Netflix and chill?”
He chuckled at that. He was almost always up for that, although tonight was probably more actually watching Netflix. He kissed her. “That sounds perfect.”
Jenna helped him out of the bed. He hated that he needed help, but he was so stiff all over. But getting up actually felt good.
When they got downstairs, he patted her ass and said, “Get yourself some food. I’ll be right back.” She looked at him confused but since he’d been out of commission for a few days, he had to check out the rink.
As soon as he opened the door for the basement, Jenna smiled and said, “Missing the rink?”
“More checking in on it but I might shoot a few pucks.”
Once he got downstairs, he was starting to get a little bit of energy back. He did the maintenance check first. Fortunately, everything was in good shape. He then looked at his stick longingly. He decided to shoot a little bit, but he didn’t put on his skates. Instead, he put a little mat out on the ice so he wouldn’t fall on his ass. He shot a few goals but his cough and the stiffness made it hard for him to have fun so he picked it up.
He went back upstairs. Jenna was at the island eating. He nibbled her ear. “Did you have some fun down there?”
“Not really feeling it but I needed to do that.”
“I understand. Go ahead and get settled in. I’ll be right there.” She pecked his cheek. He made a protein shake so he could take his meds.
He went over to the living room and turned on Netflix. He sat down and shouted, “Beautiful, what do you want to watch?”
“Anything you want to watch, babe.”
He started to scroll their Netflix. They have been watching so much together lately, that it was getting increasingly more difficult to find new interesting programs. He realized there was some new Marvel stuff. The season usually made it so tricky to keep up on that stuff he went with that.
“What sounds better: Black Panther or Guardians of the Galaxy?”
He started coughing again. He knew that he needed to talk to a doctor and see what he needed to take to make it go away. He texted Dr. Curren to let him know that he was having a major cough.
Jenna sat down in his lap and held a bowl of popcorn in her hand. It was the start of the perfect date night in. Then again, he just liked having Jenna in his lap and at his disposal for the evening.
“I’m sorry but I didn’t hear what movie you preferred.”
“I know. Your coughing could wake the dead.”
“Hey. I’m not that bad.”
“Yeah, babe, you are. At least you seemed to have slept off the fever.”
“Is that so? I bet it was your magic lips that cured it,” he said with a goofy grin. He knew in all likelihood it was the fact he slept all day but he didn’t want to tell her that.
She swatted at him. “Don’t be silly.”
“I’m not, beautiful” he said with the straightest face possible for like a half of a second. Then the both of them started to crack up big-time. It was those moments he loved with Jenna.
“You still need to talk to a doctor about it. You’ve had this cough like a week now and a feve
r since Tuesday. That’s not good especially with everything else going on with your body.”
“I know, baby, which is why when you were popping the popcorn, I reached out to Doc to find out what he would recommend me to take.”
Relief etched her face. He spent long enough trying to fight it off and he really wasn’t improving the way he should. She’d been trying to get him to get meds for the cough for a few days.
His phone buzzed. He was surprised it was Petey and not Doc. “Hey, what’s up?” he said, and then cursed the coughing that followed. He was just over the cough already.
“Well, I see you still sound like death. I was hoping I could spend the night or a few nights with you.” It was hard to get a read on Petey’s mood. He almost never called, so it was weird to hear from him this late. He started off with a joke, so he didn’t think it would be that bad. Then he asked to stay at his place.
His instinct was to say sure thing, but he wasn’t living solo anymore. He had to make sure Jenna would be okay with it since it was her place as much as his. So he pulled the phone down and kissed her ear. “Hey, beautiful, is it okay if Petey crashes at our place for a few days?”
“Sure.” He was just so glad they had a good friend group. They could all hang out and the fact she easily said okay to Petey staying without any hesitation or even ask for how long was so nice.
He pulled the phone up to his ear. “Yeah, Petey. Come on over.”
“Great, see you in ten minutes.”
Jenna smiled and asked, “What do you think is going on with Petey?”
“No clue. But we will find out soon enough.” He snuggled into her some more. He loved having her on his lap. He didn’t even pay attention to the movie since he was all into Jenna. He might not have his full date night, but he was digging their casual night in while he still could.
It seemed like too soon when the doorbell rang. He patted her butt as she started to move off his lap. “I’ll be right back.”
He opened up the door and gave Petey the bro hug. Petey had both his travel suitcase, backpack and a larger suitcase with him. It was clear that Petey for sure was going to be staying with them for a little bit. So he asked the obvious question. “What the hell is going on?
“World War III at Lager’s place. I can’t do it. I’m meeting a realtor tomorrow. It’s time for my own place.”
“Here, let’s get you upstairs.” He grabbed the large suitcase. As they went upstairs, he had to ask. “What’s going on with those two? Last year things were great.”
“Bridge slept with Toli and Lager walked in on that this afternoon. It’s clear that there was also some cheating in the summer. But I can’t keep up with the accusations especially when they switch into their native tongue.”
“Oh, shit. No wonder you wanted to get out of there.” You can’t sleep with your husband’s teammate and not to expect there to be drama. Then walking in on that. Lager was likely to kill Toli right then and there, although Toli could be quick. The fact Petey didn’t say Toli was dead meant shit would be going down soon. He’s just glad not to be in the locker room tomorrow.
“Yeah. Thankfully the baby was at a sleepover tonight. But it’s bad.” Corey showed the way to the music room. Technically it was a guest bedroom that he stored his guitars in. As soon they entered the room, Petey noticed the guitars and said, “I didn’t know Jenna played.”
“She doesn’t. They’re mine.”
“Really? Why didn’t I know you could play?”
Corey shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not that good with the guitar, so I keep it pretty secret. “
“If your ability is anything like your singing, I’m sure you are fantastic. But thanks. I’m glad that you’re letting me get some peace and quiet.” This was where being buddies for a while was a good thing. Petey just let it roll off his back like it never happened.
“Yeah, I wish I could promise you quiet. Jenna started to sleep downstairs the past few days ’cause my cough has been so nasty when I lie down. But we aren’t trying to kill each other.”
“No, you guys will just be trying to bang each other when you can.”
“True.” There was no way that he was going to deny that. He loved doing it with Jenna. “We will keep it down. But dude, I’m sorry you had to deal with the fallout over at Lager’s place. That had to be brutal. You said he caught her with Toli? Poor choice by everyone.”
“I know, seriously. Does he even know English?”
“You need to make sure Lager doesn’t kill Toli tomorrow. I don’t envy you and Scotty.”
“Scotty is already talking to Lager about it.”
“Good. Help yourself to anything, man. But it’s time for me to head down to my movie date with Jenna. Don’t worry, we are just going to aggressively cuddle. Don’t feel like you need to exile yourself up here.”
34
Jenna
She couldn’t believe the news from last night. Petey was pretty scarce, only coming down for a snack or two and then going back up to the music room. It was nice he was giving them space even if they were just cuddled up on the sofa watching a movie together.
That morning, it was just her and Petey for breakfast since Corey was wiped out again. She was glad that his doctor gave him a new medicine to get rid of the damn cough but she needed to pick it up for him. So before Petey was ready to go to practice, Jenna asked, “Do you want me to pick up anything for you while I’m at the drug store and the grocery store?”
“Nah. I’m just glad you guys have opened up your place to me. I’m pretty simple with my needs, as long as the place is clean.”
“Alright, text me if you want anything.”
She went over to the drug store for his medicine and then picked up a little bit of food for the household. Nothing crazy, just more meat, vegetables and another case of water. The staples.
When she got back to the house, she was glad to see Corey was up and about. Still hacking up a lung but he was eating something, which was refreshing. She immediately walked up to her love. “I got your medicine for you.”
“And food, I see.”
“Well, they always say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
He just laughed at her. He took his new medicine and said, “Oh, pul-lease. You know you had my heart much sooner. The moment we met, I thought you were an amazing person and I wanted to be with you. Then the moment we actually met, you proved me right. I just needed you to see my way of thinking.”
That got her giggling. It was good to see how Corey was getting into a good mood and it seemed like he was feeling better. He got out of bed on his own and was making himself something to eat. He might attend practice in a couple days.
“It’s a good thing that I did. You are pretty amazing.”
“I know.”
“And oh so humble,” she said. But she liked to see flashes of his confidence and spark. She just didn’t dare tell him how she liked his cockiness since it could get out of hand oh so quickly.
He hugged her from behind and said, “Just the way you like it.” She was hoping he would nibble her ear but instead he went into a coughing fit, which caused him to pull her in tighter.
She patted his cheek and said with a laugh, “So you say.” It was still weird to feel his smooth skin but it was so soft. She turned herself to face Corey. “What’s the plan for today?”
“Going to try to do a bag skate while you make the money.”
That made her giggle. He never mocked her or tried to distract while she worked. He was so supportive of her career. There were some days she almost thought that he was jealous that she had a career that wasn’t tied to sports. Since him getting sick, he’d been worried about getting back into hockey. But then again, with the cancer, there was still a huge question if he could return to the NHL.
She went upstairs to her office and started to work on the computer. She got into the flow of coding and the day passed by quickly. The house was quiet but that wasn’t too unus
ual. Once she was done with her work for the day, she powered down the computer and walked away. She noticed that the music room door was shut so she knew that Petey was back.
As was her usual routine, she walked toward their bedroom to wake Corey for his evening meds and to gauge how much dinner he wanted to have. She was surprised to see that Corey wasn’t there. All she saw was the bed linens going every which way since Corey didn’t make the bed when he got up earlier.
So she walked over toward the music room and knocked. Petey smiled when he opened the door and said, “Hey. What’s up?”
“Have you had any dinner yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Did you want to join us? I’m just going to make roasted potatoes and salmon with some vegetables.”
“Sounds perfect. Have you seen Corey?”
“Not since this morning. I hate to say it, he’s normally asleep when I’m working so I don’t get too nervous when I don’t see him during the day. But he’s not in bed so I thought he’d be downstairs watching TV.”
“Weird, he wasn’t there when I came home fifteen minutes ago.”
Jenna shrugged her shoulders but she was surprised. She didn’t know where he was. If he was going to do a skate in the morning, it was unlikely he’d work out in the evening as well. He either put it off later or was trying to get more cardio in, so maybe he was getting in a second workout. “Yeah. Well, I better start getting dinner ready. Come down in like forty-five minutes. We aren’t fancy.”
“’Kay.”
Jenna went downstairs. Sure enough Corey wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room. She checked out the bedroom that she’d been sleeping in some nights to see if he just crashed there after his skate, but he wasn’t there either.
So it was time to go down to the rink to see what was going on. As she walked down there, she heard music pumping but nothing else. He loved working out with music so that wasn’t weird, but she didn’t hear the weights setting down or the sounds of a puck. That was weird. Super weird.
She got all the way down and saw Corey leaned up against the boards with his skates still on. He wasn’t moving and there might have been vomit by his skates. She ran over to him while there was a litany of curses going through her head.