Darkroom: A Moo U Hockey Romance by Kate Willoughby (reading a book .txt) 📕

“I hope so.”

Mac gave a whoop. “I’ve never been anyone’s mentor before. Wait until I tell the guys.”

“I’m sorry, Mac. I meant to tell you before…I’d appreciate it if you could keep our conversation between us.”

“Oh, okay. I get it,” he said in a more serious tone. “You don’t want your dad finding out?”

“Among other people, yes.”

He paused.

“Well, I guess I’d better get out of the locker room and take you off speaker phone.”

I let out a fervent f-bomb.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You’re not on speaker,” Mac said, laughing. “I was just fucking with you. Someone should have warned you I’m the team prankster.”

I exhaled in relief. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Kid, you’re too young for a heart attack. I’m not really in the locker room. In fact, you said you play for Burlington University, right?”

“Yes.”

“I happen to be on my way to Burlington right now with the little woman.”

“Don’t call me that,” said a woman I assumed was his wife.

Mac laughed. “The team flew into Montreal last night and my beautiful wife, Janie, wanted to take a little day trip to Vermont to see the leaves and pick apples and shit. You want to meet up?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

We made a plan to meet in a few hours at Indi’s dorm. Because it had all been her idea in the first place, we were going to surprise her and then go grab lunch in town. Maybe even dim sum. I thought she’d get a kick out of meeting the man she’d picked out as a mentor for me. I also thought she might offer some valuable input to the conversation.

I met the MacDonalds outside Carter Hall. I recognized Mac right away, having checked out his Wikipedia beforehand. The top-notch goalie was a bear of a man, well over six feet tall, most of him solid muscle. His wife was a pretty brunette with intelligent eyes and a rounded body.

After introductions were made, I knocked on the door. I was so amped, I could barely stand still.

I heard music coming from inside and the sound of footsteps. This was going to be so great.

The door opened and Indi stood there. She had something purple on the left side her face so I thought I must have caught her in the middle of a home facial. Moments like this, I was glad to be a guy. The only thing I had to do to my face was shave it and make sure my nose hairs didn’t get out of control.

“Surprise!” I exclaimed. “This is—”

But before I could go any further, she slammed the door in my face.

“Ah, okay,” Mac said with a nervous laugh. “That was interesting.”

I knocked again. “Indi? What’s going on?”

“Hudson, I’m sorry,” she said through the door. It’s just that I’m really…sick. I’m contagious, really contagious, and I don’t want you to catch it.”

“Is there anything I can do? Want me to bring you some chicken soup?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I just need to get back in bed.”

“Okay. Feel better,” I said.

Even though I was worried about Indi, I had a good time at lunch. Mac and Jane were easygoing and easy to talk to. Mac regaled me with stories of his many pranks, like the time he’d convinced the Barracuda rookies he’d gotten hold of a package of “orgasm mushrooms.”

“‘It was discovered in the recent Hawaiian lava flows,’ I told them, ‘and it’s been proven to cause instantaneous orgasms in women just from the odor it gives off.’ Those boys were so eager to believe it, they didn’t bat an eyelash. I told them that it was going to take a while to get them to San Diego because of governmental red tape but because I believed in sharing the wealth, they’d each get their own. I tell you, I had them on the string for weeks. When I finally gave them the mushrooms, we were on a road trip and they couldn’t wait to hook up with some of the local puck bunnies so they could reap the benefits, if you know what I mean. The next morning, the disappointment on their faces was priceless.”

Jane clucked her tongue. “Serves them right for thinking they could cheat like that.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Mac said. “I wouldn’t mind not having to work so—ow!” Mac flinched as Jane thwacked him on the arm. “I’m kidding, honey. I love every second I spend taking care of you in bed.”

Sighing, Jane shook her head. “All right. I’ve had enough. I’m going to go shop on Church Street for a while. Booth, we’ll need to get back on the road by two thirty.”

“Yes, dear,” he said and laughed when she playfully boxed his ear.

“It was nice to meet you, Hudson. I’m sorry Indi couldn’t make it. I hope she feels better.”

“Yeah, me too.”

After Jane left, Mac started in on his fourth piece of pizza. “Do me a favor. Don’t tell the little woman I ate this,” he said.

“Mum’s the word,” I said. “And you probably don’t want to call her that.”

“Ha! You’re quick, Forte.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Why don’t you run through a typical game day for me?”

“Okay, but first I want to say again how grateful I am to you for taking time out of your day to meet with me.”

“Glad to do it, kid. You know, what goes around, comes around. Your dad and uncles were idols of mine when I was growing up.”

I once again described what I was going through, from the moment I got up from a shitty night’s rest to the mental agony I went through on the bench to the fuckups that felt like a guerrilla demon was sabotaging my game for kicks.

“So, let me say first, I feel for you, kid. I really do. Everything you just described brings me right back to when I was your age, but kudos to you for having the courage to speak up about it.