You Had Me at Hockey (Bears Hockey #2) - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,72
feel hot all over. Why didn’t Josh mention this? “That was lucky.”
“It still affected him,” she says, her tone a little prickly. “His brother died, his dad died, so many friends died.”
“Oh no.” I touch my fingers to my mouth. “His dad and his brother were on the bus?”
“Yes. His dad helped coach the team and his brother played too.” She drops her eyes. “It was pretty traumatic for him. Plus, his mom didn’t deal well with it after.”
“I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.”
“That whole thing was such a tragedy for so many people.”
I nod. “Josh doesn’t even remember some of what happened right after. He had a head injury. Then they didn’t know if he’d ever be able to play again. He spent almost a whole year going through rehab.”
Lilly blinks. “Oh…I knew he’d been hurt, but I didn’t know that.”
I look around the restaurant, then back at her. “I don’t think either of these guys has totally opened up about what happened.”
After a short pause, Lilly says slowly, “Yeah…I think you’re right.”
Some things Josh has said run through my mind. His coach telling him to communicate better with the power play team…one of whom is Easton.
And my stomach clenches remembering him telling me about a friend who betrayed him and how he’s never talked to him about it.
Lilly and I talk a bit more about the evening we’re planning, then other things. She tells me more about her dog daycare that she’s just about ready to open. But all the while, thoughts about Josh and Easton are running through my mind.
“Hey,” I say, striving for a casual tone. “Do you know if Easton had a meeting with his coach yesterday?”
Lilly frowns. “Yeah…he did.”
I nod. “Did he say what it was about?”
“He was annoyed, but he wasn’t very specific.”
“I think I know what it was about. It all sort of just clicked together. I think Josh and Easton aren’t talking to each other and it’s affecting their game.”
Her forehead still furrowed, Lilly says, “Huh.”
“Coach told Josh he needs to communicate better. I didn’t connect it with Easton until now, when you said they used to be friends but don’t talk anymore.”
“When Easton heard Josh had been traded here, he wasn’t happy. I don’t really get it…”
“There’s stuff they’re not telling us.”
She meets my eyes. “I think you’re right.”
“We need to get them to talk.”
She bites her bottom lip. “Oh. I agree. But I don’t know if we should get involved.”
“People always tell me that.” I sigh. “They don’t seem to be doing it on their own.”
“Maybe they will, now that their coach has talked to them. Better he pisses them off than us.”
“You’re very reasonable.” I sigh again.
Lilly laughs. “I try. Let’s see what happens, okay? If they don’t sort things out themselves, maybe we can give them a little push.”
“Okay.”
I so want to fix Josh’s problems for him…this is obviously something that bothers him, a lot. Why does he feel Easton betrayed him? It can’t just be that Easton wasn’t injured and he was. Josh isn’t that small. Unless I’m totally off base and have put two and two together to make five hundred. But I’ll butt out for now. I just can’t stand to think of him hurting.
Chapter 23
Josh
Sara still has a key to my place, but she knocks on my door anyway. I go let her in and it’s kind of embarrassing how much I missed her. I grab her as soon as she walks in, slam the door closed, and push her back up against it to kiss the breath out of her.
“Wow,” She blinks up at me long moments later. “I missed you too.”
I smile. “You were busy melting your credit card on Rodeo Drive.”
The corners of her mouth tilt up. “Guilty as charged. But I bought something for you.”
“Well, okay then.”
I let her come in and take off her jacket and boots. She pulls a small package out of her messenger bag and hands it to me.
I open it to find a leather tubular…container. I don’t even know what it is. I look up at her.
She grins. “It’s a tie holder. For when you travel. You roll them up and put them in there, and they won’t get creased.”
I open it and find…a tie. A gorgeous silk tie in a bright print that’s a little wilder than I usually wear, but hey, lots of the guys dress in way crazier stuff than that.