Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot (13 page)

“Sorry,” he said, as we rounded a corner. “It was more glare than I meant to give.”

“How’s the skating feel?” As we entered what would be our final warm up lap, we spun around to go backwards. We’d done this so much, we could do this warmup in our sleep.

“Good. Maybe I just needed to move. The throbbing’s a bit less.”

During the backwards lap, Alex even sped up a bit and I added speed to stay next to him. At the end of the lap, we did the usual hard stop. I stopped, but something went wrong for Alex. His legs seemed to tangle on each other and he hit the ice flat on his back.

“That was less than graceful,” he said, bouncing back to his feet before I could help. “Lost the edge completely there. I gotta sharpen these after practice.”

Was it the edge, or his legs? He got up fast, so I had to believe it was the edge. I was going to have to keep a close watch on him today for my own peace of mind. Coach blew the whistle to gather the team before I could ask Alex about it.

“You okay there, Miller? That was quite the spill.”

“Yeah. Just wanted to get my klutzy moment out of the way before we started.”

Several of the team laughed and coach sort of rolled his eyes.

“Okay, guys, we’re on a good streak right now with four wins in a row. We want to keep that going. I’ve been working with the defensive coach and we’ve got some new things we want to try so we’ve got some new moves. He’s going to work with you guys for the first half of practice and then we’ll try it in scrimmage. We may not make the changes for this week, but soon, to keep things fresh. Forwards, head over to do this week’s shootout and we’ll see who gets the gold stick. Can Trent make it a three week run?”

“Yes,” said Trent. “Yes, he can.”

“No way, not this week,” said Ivan.

Coach blew the whistle and everyone split up.

“You really okay after that fall?” I asked Alex. “The thud on the ice sounded painful.”

“I’m fine. Sounded worse than it was.”

“All right. Let’s go win the stick.”

“Be awesome if one of us did. We haven’t had it this season.”

“It’s time to fix that,” I said as we got up to our offensive coach to hear what this week’s challenge was.

Date nights didn’t come around often enough. We weren’t so good at scheduling time together so far this semester, with many of our interludes being spontaneous. We were okay with that being the norm. However, this was an empty Saturday night. We’d played in the afternoon. Rainbow High’s game was tomorrow. The community center didn’t have anything scheduled for youth. It’d been marked on our calendar for over a month now that this particular night was reserved just for us.

Several people tried to get us to do something, but we held firm. This was our night. We’d spent time in the past few weeks planning what to do. We’d been through everything from just dinner and a movie to getting take out and spending the night naked in bed. We decided, however, to dress up and do something fancy.

“You look awesome,” Alex said as he straightened my tie. I was in black dress slacks, a grey button-down, and a purple tie that had grey pinstripes. It was the dressiest thing I owned and it was worth pulling out the good stuff for date night. “You should dress up more often.”

“Um. Yuck.” I looked good dressing up. I just hated doing it. This was a special occasion though, and worth it. “Only for you, and only for something special. And, you know,” I said as I brushed some lint off his jacket, “you’re pretty handsome, too.”

Alex was also in black, except his shirt was a gorgeous blue that was set off by a dark red tie. I wanted to strip him down again, but that was counterproductive. We’d save that for later.

“We should go so we’re not late,” he said. I put my jacket on and we headed out.

“Damn,” said Trent as he approached us from the stairs. “You two are looking sharp. What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion really, other than the first night we’ve had to ourselves in a while.”

“Sweet,” he said. “Have fun.”

“Thanks,” we said in unison as we departed.

“I’m glad we took Mimi’s suggestion,” Alex said. “Leave it to her to find something awesome for us to do.”

“Yeah. I’d have never figured this one out myself.”

“Me either. She nailed it. Dinner, live music.”

“Maybe some dancing?”

“Maybe,” he said, giving me a smirk.

We didn’t have to drive far to get to Weber’s, an inn, restaurant, and lounge that was just northwest of campus. As close as it was, I’d never been by this place. The inn was strikingly modern, but the restaurant had a more rustic feel with exposed beams in the ceiling and a bright, comfortable seating area. We were having dinner in the restaurant and then going to the adjacent lounge for music. The concert featured Marcus Ruby, a music student, who sang a mix of pop songs, show tunes, and his own compositions, but all arranged to a jazz quartet. Mimi highly recommended him, and that was good enough for us.

“This is nice,” Alex said as we entered. “I’m glad we dressed up.”

The crowd was diverse for dinner, a few students, some people who could’ve been our parents’ age as well as couples with kids of their own. Plus, if my gaydar was working right, there was a mix of gay and straight.

“I love you,” I said once we were seated. “Happy date night.”

Alex gave me a warm smile that washed over me. He picked up the menu and started looking, but stopped when he noticed that I was still looking at him.

“Are you going to be mushy all night?”

“Maybe. Aren’t I allowed? I mean it’s not every day we’re out like this.”

“True. We’re out a lot with other people, about the only time we’re alone is in the room.” He paused and his brow furrowed for a moment as he looked past me. “Oh, man,” he said, looking behind me. “Not so much alone anymore.” I raised an eyebrow at him, hoping he’d tell me so I didn’t have to turn around.

“Simon, Alex. Good to see you guys.” It was Danny. He and Sara stood at our table as the hostess stopped just ahead of them.

“Danny, hey,” I said. “Sara, you’re looking gorgeous tonight.” She was in a little black dress that had just a bit of sparkle in it.

“Thank you,” she said, beaming. “You two are very handsome. Maybe you could teach this one how to dress sometime. I can’t get him out of the jeans.”

Danny, indeed was wearing dark blue jeans, but he looked good with a stylish sport coat over a neatly pressed dark shirt. He shook his head, but smiled nonetheless.

“We’ll leave you guys,” Danny said as our waiter arrived. “Maybe have a drink together before the end of the night?”

I looked to Alex and gave a slight nod and so did he. “Absolutely,” he said. “We’ll be here through the show.”

“Us, too,” Sara said. “I know Marcus, so I told him we’d come by and see his set. He’s really good. I saw him in a talent showcase last year. We’ll see you two later.”

The hostess took them to their table while the waiter stepped up to ours.

“Hi, I’m Joe, I’ll be your server tonight.” He went on to discuss the specials and take our order for drinks and an appetizer of fried calamari.

“That was all very adult,” I circled back to Danny and Sara’s visit a moment ago. “No fist bump greeting. No asking to join the other, but a polite invite to have a drink later. Danny and Sara must be craving a night on their own like we are.”

Our drinks arrived. We splurged on a glass of wine each. We already didn’t drink much, but with no Wolverines game or practice tomorrow we could have wine and not regret it later.

“Cheers,” Alex said. We clinked glasses over the table.

“Cheers.” I struggled to not stare at him. The candlelight danced in his eyes and I really wanted to fall into them. “Every now and then I feel like I regress to our first date, like I can’t believe I’m out with you.”

The slightest bit of red crossed his cheeks. “Well you are. ‘Fraid you’re stuck with me.” I nodded enthusiastically. “Since we’re on a date night, I thought we might plan the next one. Work has a block of tickets for a Red Wings/Blackhawks game coming at the end of the month. It’s a Thursday night and unless our schedule changes, we don’t have practice that Friday. We could stay over in Detroit, come back in time for class Friday morning, and get a free Wings game.”

“Hell yeah,” I said. “You don’t even need to ask. Just let me know the date and I’ll schedule it. Shouldn’t be a problem if I put in for it early enough.”

“Cool! Small road trip, plus hockey!”

The waiter arrived with the calamari and took our dinner order. After Joe left, I waited for Alex to pick out all the tentacles before I served myself. I can’t stand the tentacles. They’re gross. Luckily he loved them. I appreciated that he got them off the plate first. Meanwhile, I claimed the cocktail sauce and he took the tartar sauce. We knew exactly how to demolish this appetizer in no time.

The game would be cool. We hadn’t made it to an NHL game this season, and it was good to have one on the horizon. I liked his colleagues, too. If they talked about work, I didn’t always get what they were saying, but they were cool about breaking it down for me without making me feel inadequate. I could certainly outtalk them on psych things, and actually I’d had a great discussion at the last Christmas party with a psychologist who consulted there.

“While we’re planning things,” I said, “let’s talk Christmas for a moment. This is the last Christmas we’re likely to be around some of our best friends. I was thinking somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas we could throw a party for Danny, Sara, and some of our closest friends. I’m thinking no more than a dozen people.”

“What about the rest of the team?”

“Coach will throw his usual party, so this one can be more about our friends both on and off the team.”

“I like it. We’d have to figure out where to do it because our room isn’t big enough.”

“We’ve got time, we’ll figure out the logistics.”

“Nice,” Alex said. “You’re getting more like me, trying to stage surprises.”

Another sign this was an adult-type date was that there were no hamburgers. I went with a Tuscan chicken linguine that had some andouille sausage in it. Alex selected a charbroiled salmon. Mine was delicious and given the pace that Alex was eating, there was little doubt his was as well.

Joe arrived at our table as the dishes were cleared away. “I see you gentlemen are headed for the show. You need to start making your way to the lounge. You’ve got reserved seating, so just check in with the hostess there. If I can swipe a credit card, you’ll be able to settle your final bill there as well.”

I handed over my card. “Thanks, Joe.”

“My pleasure, especially for Wolverines.” He smiled and departed before either of us could respond.

“See you over there,” Danny said as they passed us on their way to the lounge.

In the lounge, our table was next to the stage and Danny and Sara were a few tables away. Marcus’ first set was incredible. The jazzy arrangements reminded me of the collaboration between Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. The arrangement of “Bang, Bang” from pop into jazz was unbelievable. Marcus also sang classic songs like “There Will Never Ever Be Another You” which I knew because Mimi used it once in a program. I planned to download his music as soon as we got back to the dorm. It’d be a good addition to my already eclectic playlists.

“He’s great,” Alex said as the singer took a break.

A dessert tray arrived at our table and since it’d been a while since we’d finished dinner I was ready to move on to something sweet.

“Is that chocolate cake as rich as it looks?” Alex asked. I was eyeing it, too. It was between that and the crème brûlée for me.

“Yes. It’s quite rich,” the server said. “I recommend coffee with it and either splitting it or be prepared to take some of it home.”

“Split it,” we said together in the ridiculous way we had.

“Good choice. Coffee as well?”

“Yes,” I said right away, never one to turn down coffee.

“Sure, why not,” Alex agreed.

“I’ll be back with that shortly.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you can’t fall asleep I’ll help you pass the time.”

“Really?” he said, lowering the tone of his voice. “Maybe I should have her bring a pot of coffee.”

“Maybe you should.” I rubbed my thumb over the hairs on the back of his hand.

He made a contented sigh and looked more relaxed than I’d seen him in weeks. I felt the same. While neither of us got stressed out per se, we were always focused on whatever we were doing. While we’d planned things over dinner, neither of us was talking about school, the teams, leg issues, work, or anything else. A lot of the time was spent in comfortable silence enjoying the music and each other’s company.

The cake arrived and the slice looked larger than what was on the sample tray.

“Enjoy,” she said. “I recommend savoring it. The next set’s forty-five minutes, so make the cake last if you want. I can keep the coffee fresh as you go.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I took my first bite. It was the perfect mix of cake, frosting, and filling, all chocolate, and it was exquisite. Easily one of the best slices of chocolate cake I’d ever had. After taking a bite, Alex grinned broadly, seeming to agree.

“Incredible,” Alex said, taking a sip of coffee. “And this,” he raised the cup, “is the perfect chaser.”

The singer came back to the stage and settled in to a round of applause. Some couples got up to dance, including Danny and Sara. When the singer did an actual Lady Gaga song, it was time to dance.

“Shall we?” I asked.

He knew this song had meaning from our high school winter formal. It was one of the many songs we’d danced to that night. The singer wasn’t even past the first verse and I was loving his take on it. We found a corner of the dance floor to call our own and we swayed to the music.

“It’s always so perfect dancing with you,” I said.

“Being this close to you is my favorite, regardless of what we’re doing.” He kissed me and I happily returned it. I really wanted to give him a twirl and a dip, but he’d freak if I did that in a place like this.

As Marcus introduced his guest vocalist, we sat down again. They sang two love songs and I was floored at how gorgeous it was.