Page 5 of The Goalie
We were both breathless as we picked up our clothes and helped each other get dressed. Besides a couple of amused grins, no words passed between us, which was probably for the better.
We stumbled out of the locker room and headed back to where we met, only to encounter Lucy. I opened my mouth to explain, but her eyes were focused on my stranger.
“There you are,” she said, grabbing his wrist. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. We want to sing ‘Happy Birthday’.”
3
Dan
I wantedto kill my sister. Clearly, she could see I was with a beautiful woman. Not that Lucy cared by any measure. Everything had to be her way or she refused to do it. It was my parents’ fault for spoiling her the way that they did.
Not that I was bitter about it or anything.
Lucy pulled me towards the middle of the room where everyone was waiting. I hated the eyes on me. I glanced back, trying to meet the eyes of the beautiful stranger. She was looking at me, but I couldn’t decipher the look on her face. The damn mask prevented me from reading her the way I wanted to. Which meant she probably couldn’t read me the way I wanted her to. I wanted to tell her to wait there, that after this nonsense about singing for birthdays, I wanted to see her again. Not because I wanted to have sex again—which I wouldn’t turn down—but because I wanted to get to know her.
I wanted toseeher.
“You know,” I said, keeping in step with my sister, “I was in the middle of something.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. We dodged gym equipment and scattered guests, who all murmured happy birthday and other well-wishes. I forced myself to nod my head to acknowledge them, even if I didn’t necessarily want to converse with them. Besides my teammates, these people were strangers to me.
“Stop lying to me, Dan,” she said.
“What makes you think I’m lying?” I asked.
We reached the table with the cake. How cute. A frosted hockey puck. The sweet scent of buttermilk frosting made my lips twitch. At least Lucy did one thing right: she ordered my favorite cake.
“Oh, come on,” she said as she had me stand behind the table. People started gathering around us and I couldn’t help but feel my claustrophobia kick in. “The only thing you and Samantha do is fight. The last thing I need is for the two of you to go at it when I’m trying to construct the perfect birthday. She didn’t even want to come. I had to bribe her with cake. Did you know her favorite type of cake is carrot as well? No, of course not! Because you’re not going to talk to her, are you? You’re going to say something stupid. She’s going to react. We already know the drill. Anyway.” She grabbed a lighter and proceeded to light all thirty-two candles. “Smile! At least pretend you’re happy. There’s no need to be miserable all the time, you know.”
“Did anyone ever tell you—”
Before I could even finish the sentence, Lucy began to clap her hands together.
“Everyone, everyone!”
It astounded me how much she emulated Mom in that gesture. Every time Mom wanted attention, whether it was because me and my sister fought over the last pizza slice or she was at a large dinner party my father hosted, she would clap her hands together and address the room. And just like with my mother, the room silenced for Lucy and more people began to gather around the table.
“We are here to celebrate the thirty-second birthday of my big brother, Dan Holmes,” she began. “I love Dan’s birthday. It’s a good reminder that while I’m getting older as well, I’m still not as old as he is. Four years might not be much to most people, but it’s incredibly significant to me.”
People started laughing. I refrained from rolling my eyes. Lucy was…what was another word for dramatic?
Regardless, I loved her. I appreciated that she was trying to give me a moment I could have for myself without needing to share it with anyone else. Being on a professional hockey team meant I shared the spotlight—unless we lost by a huge goal differential, and then it tended to be my fault, depending on when our coach decided to pulled me—and she worried I wasn’t getting the recognition she felt I deserved.
The truth of the matter was I had no interest in being the center of attention. Lucy loved it. It was one of the reasons we got along. We never really fought for attention.
A burst of laughter from the group cut my thoughts off. I wouldn’t be surprised if she told a rather embarrassing story about our childhood. I didn’t particularly care, but I didn’t like feeling everyone’s eyes on me. I didn’t like that she was keeping me up here for longer than was necessary.
“I think we’re ready to sing ‘Happy Birthday’,” Lucy said, wrapping things up. “Well, Dan, here’s to you and your health. How you haven’t broken a bone or screwed up your teeth after playing twelve years in the National Hockey League, I’ll never know.”
I turned my lips up, acknowledging the sentimentality of the moment. I ignored when everyone began singing, instead counting down the seconds of when this would be over with and I could disappear.
Applause filled the gym and Lucy began to slice the cake. A couple of Lucy’s friends stepped in and began to help with paper plates and plastic forks. One of them thrust a plate my way before I could reject it. I took a small bite of the food, my eyes scanning the crowd.
Where did she go?
I continued to eat. The benefit of having Lucy organize this for me was the fact that she knew me better than anyone else, which meant she knew my favorite type of cake. Not only that, she knewwhereto get the cake. Not all carrot cake was created equally. There was a small bakery on Seventh Street called French’s and they had the best. It was more expensive, but God, was it worth it.
“Who are you looking for?”