 |
| Surprise! |
Hockey Is My Boyfriend, Part Two is now available for pre-sale here. It takes place two years after Part One, so here’s a little update for you.
When I passed my new book on to a beta reader, she sent me an electronic groan that said, “I’m not going remember all the characters from Part One.” I was shocked, since I’ve been obsessively rewriting about Kelly and the gang for months. But if you’re normal and unable to remember characters for weeks on end, then this post is for you.
Originally the first chapter of Hockey Is My Boyfriend, Part Two, was an update on all Kelly’s friends from high school—especially Phil Davidson. But most of Part Two actually takes place in new settings with new characters, so I decided to change the beginning. Thus, I deleted this chapter, which I am now presenting for your reading pleasure. It takes place nearly two years after we last saw Kelly speeding away from everything familiar, in Donna Crofton’s car. Kelly is back in Vancouver, the summer after her second year at McGill.
“I still
can’t believe you made me buy a bikini,” I told April as she drove us home from
Metrotown. I peeked into the bag at the two tiny scraps of brightly-printed
fabric. They barely looked big enough for a Hawaiian purse dog.
“I can’t
believe that you didn’t look at yourself in the mirror and decide to start
living in bikinis. You actually have abs of steel, whereas mine seem to be made
of Play-Doh. Seriously, Kelly, you’re in better shape every time I see you!”
“I had to
be in good shape to do the West Coast Trail,” I explained. Keeping in game
shape was easier if you set goals during the summer. So in early June, I had
hiked the Vancouver Island trail with three of my teammates from McGill. It
took us a week, the scenery was spectacular, the camping was insane, and we had
seen whales and a sea lion. We all had to be in top condition to take on the
trail with fully-loaded backpacks. The ladders alone were a challenge, but it
was tougher still with my competitive friends trying to outdo each other.
“I liked
meeting your friends from McGill,” April said. “And you know what was
weird? Seeing how proud you were of Vancouver while you showed everyone around.
I guess you have a different perspective since you left here, I take the city
for granted.”
“I love
Vancouver,” I declared. “I had to show those Easterners what real mountains
and big trees look like.”
“If you
like it so much, why are you leaving so soon?” April complained. I was
leaving in three days for a job at a hockey camp in New Brunswick.
“Don’t you
start. Between my friends and my parents, I feel like I’ve spent half the
summer defending why I’m not going to be here for the other half. Teaching at a
hockey camp will be a great experience for me.”
“Too bad
it’s not closer. Although I suspect you have ulterior motives for fleeing, like avoiding commitment.”
“This is
actually why I’m leaving Vancouver. I’m hoping to find a place where the
amateur psychologists don’t already know my flaws.”
“No wonder
you’re going to the Maritimes, Vancouver and Montréal are already out. I
noticed that Deirdre can read you like a book. She’s a hoot.”
Deirdre
Tough was my best friend on the McGill team. She was the one who got me the hockey camp job. It was hers originally, but
then she got a chance to join the national team training camp in Calgary so
she recommended me instead.
“Are we not
going to your house?” I wondered as April turned up my street.
“Oh, I’m
sorry. I forgot to mention that I have a late date,” April explained.
“Who’s the
lucky guy?” I wondered.
“Damien.
Remember, you met him at a couple of weeks ago? He’s doing a play, so we’re
getting together afterwards.”
April’s
acting career had gone up and down. She had a recurring role on a teen drama in L.A., but that had just been cancelled. So now she had nothing going on and was doing every possible audition. She pulled the car into my driveway and
yanked up the parking brake. “I still have half an hour, so I can stay for a
chat,” she declared.
“Okay. My
mom was baking up a storm today, so there’s probably something good to eat.”
“No way!”
April patted her stomach. “Abs of flab, remember?”
We walked
up to the front door. The house looked strangely dark since my whole family had
been there when I left.
“That’s
weird. Maybe they all went to a movie or something,” I said. But the door was
unlocked. I opened it, and suddenly all the lights came on.
“Surprise!”
To my
shock, there was a big crowd of people, with my mom and dad in front. My mouth
opened, but not one word came out. Everyone was watching my reaction and loving
the complete shock on my face.
My mom came
over and gave me a big hug. “It’s a surprise party, darling. For your birthday
and because you’re going away.”
“It’s not
my birthday,” was all I managed to say.
My mom
laughed. “I know, dear, I was there. But you won’t be here on the real day.”
Someone
turned on music. I managed to close my mouth and look around. All my good
friends from high school were here, as well as a few of my parent’s close
friends. There were even a couple of McGill friends who lived here.
Cameron
zipped over. “Hi, April. Can I get you a drink?” Without even turning my way,
he added, “Uh, you too, Kelly.”
“We’ll both
have Cosmopolitans,” April declared, and off he went.
“Unless my
parents have conjured up a bartender, I don’t know how he’s going to get a
complicated mixed drink in this house.”
April flipped her hair. “When a guy
wants to be your white knight, he wants a difficult task to perform. So until
there be dragons in the Cove, a Cosmopolitan will have to do.”
“I can’t
believe he still likes you, high school was two years ago!”
“It’s only
because he hasn’t actually dated me. Reality sucks,” April said.
Charmaine
came over, and she wasn’t alone. There was a tall, skinny dark-haired guy with
her. He was nerdy-cute.
“Kelly!
Happy early birthday.” She gave me a hug and then introduced us to her date. “April,
Kelly, this is Will.”
We both
smiled and greeted him politely. Even April was on her best behaviour because
Charmaine had been mentioning Will, each time with goofy grin that was quite
unlike her. Not only had she started dating at university, but now she wasn’t
even dating Chinese guys—much to her parent’s disapproval. But not only did
Will seem smart and nice, I liked the way he was looking at Charmaine with
puppy dog eyes. They were both smitten.
Cameron
returned with two red drinks in martini glasses. I didn’t even know we owned
martini glasses. Maybe he drove out to a real bar and bought them. He looked extremely proud.
“M’lady,”
he said, offering the drink to April with a flourish.
She sipped
it and gave him a slight nod. “Not bad.”
“Thank you
very much, Cameron,” I said and took a sip. It hardly tasted like alcohol,
which was a sure sign there was a lot of alcohol in it. I was not a big
drinker and looked around for a discreet place to leave my special drink. I noticed Phil was sitting on the couch and
watching me with a smirk. We both knew what happened when I had too much to
drink.
Poor
Cameron, as soon as he had stammered out his latest programming accomplishments
in his coop stint, April declared that we needed food and steered me to the
kitchen. I was
hungry. I grabbed one of my mom’s yummy cheese puffs and some carrots sticks.
Then I turned to April. “I can’t believe we were together all night and you
didn’t give me a hint that this was happening.”
“Never let it be said that I am not a wonderful actress.
Of course, anyone but you would have noticed I was way overdressed for
shopping.” She motioned to her glittery top and black mini-skirt. “And don’t
forget to thank me for making you change out of shorts and a tank top.”
“I wish she
was still wearing the shorts. Especially short-shorts,” said a voice behind me.
“Marcus!” I
gave him a hug, “Great to see you.”
I hadn’t
seen Marcus since Christmas. We started talking about his new job, he had finished a two year college degree, and now he had a job in construction
management.
“I’ve got
my own place now,” he bragged.
“A bachelor
pad?” April wondered.
“Definitely. Just give me time to get rid of my two roommates before you come over.”
We all
laughed, but Marcus was starting his real life already and that seemed pretty
grown up. The whole evening was like that, catching up with everyone and joking
around. I had a great time. Finally things wound down and people started to
drift away.
“Can I help
you clean up, Mom?” I asked. My mom was putting dishes away in a kitchen that
was already surprisingly neat. I hugged her from behind. “Thanks so much for
everything.”
“You’re
welcome, darling! You’ve been so busy, I thought this would be a nice send-off
for you.” She kissed me. “I’m fine in here. Why don’t you go out and keep your
friends company.”
“I think
almost everyone’s gone,” I said. I knew there was at least one person left, and
I wasn’t in a rush to see him.
“Not
everyone,” Phil said from the doorway. My mom beamed at him and he smiled back.
Ah, the Phil Davidson Fan Club was once again in session with Molly
O’Brien-Tanaka, President. My mom gave me an unsubtle shove and I went into the
living room with Phil. We sat down on the couch together.
“Finally, I
get to talk to the birthday girl. You’ve been ignoring me.”
“Not true.
I noticed you giving me your sex-ray look all night.” I spoke in a low voice, I
knew my mom couldn’t hear me but I still felt uncomfortable.
Phil
laughed. “My sex-ray look?”
“Yeah, like
you’re imagining us naked and having sex. You’re doing it right now!” He was
looking at me with his eyes half-closed. Well, I guess it wasn’t that big an accomplishment
since I already knew what Phil looked like naked, right down to the pale scar
that ran up his right thigh and ended at his—I shook my head to get that image
out of my head.
He was
watching me. “Gosh, Kelly, that’s just my normal expression. I think you’re
projecting your own fantasies. But is does it work?”
“Definitely.”
“Oh,
really?” Phil moved closer and slid his arm along the couch behind me.
“Not on me.
Allie Malcolm got caught in the crossfire as you were trying to zap me. I think
you melted her panties right off.”
“I don’t
think I even know who Allie Malcolm is,” Phil replied, puzzled.
“Well, I’m
sure you’ll be hearing from her soon.”
He shrugged
and leaned back. “Still doesn’t explain why you didn’t talk to me all night.”
“I don’t
know, because everyone was waiting for it.”
“When have
you ever cared what people think?”
“It’s not
what they think so much as doing what people expect. Don’t you ever feel like
rebelling a little?”
“I do what
I want. It’s not a big deal to me.” He had magically moved right next to me.
“I’m really going to miss you.”
I told Phil straight up that I
didn’t think it was worth getting all involved when I was only in town for a few
weeks. Of course, he’d seen it as a few weeks where we could be reuniting our
heads off. After first year, we’d gotten back together in the summer.
“I don’t
understand why you’re going to this hockey camp in New Brunswick. The flight
alone will cost you more than you’re going to make.”
“Not quite.
But it’s mainly to get coaching experience.”
“Why can’t
you do that around here?”
“It’s not
easy to get hockey jobs, everyone wants them. And this is a good camp run by an
ex-NHL player. They wouldn’t have even interviewed me without Deirdre’s
recommendation.” Phil didn’t look convinced, so I tried to explain how I felt.
“Plus, I wanted to do something different this summer. I felt like a change.
I’m tired of being old predictable Kelly.”
“Hey. I
like Kelly—in all her forms.”
“Seriously,
Phil, don’t you ever feel like doing what you want instead of what everyone
expects.”
“I already
do what I like, so it’s not a big deal. Are you becoming a teen rebel just
before your 20th birthday?”
“You know
me, always the late bloomer.” I was late to date and now a late adolescent.
“You
weren’t late for everything,” Phil said, his voice loaded with innuendo. Yeah,
because once I did start dating, I did it with a bang. Ha ha. I looked over and
he was giving me that sex-ray look again. Damn. Maybe it wasn’t deliberate, but
I was still getting an urge to shed all my clothing.
“Well, good
night, you two.” My mom appeared in the doorway, on her way upstairs. Startled,
I tried to move away from Phil but I was already at the end of the couch. Phil
didn’t even twitch.
“You’re so
calm,” I chided him. “When we’re here on the couch, it reminds me of high
school. I feel like my parents are going to come down and get mad at us for
staying up too late.” And for fooling around, I thought, but I didn’t say that
part.
“We’re
adults now. I’m sure your parents understand that you have a sex life.”
“Please.
Don’t use 'my parents’ and 'sex’ in the same sentence.”
Naturally, even saying
the word “sex” made me blush, but even more so when Phil was so close that I
could feel his breath on my shoulder.
Phil inched
even closer, so our thighs were touching. “How come we haven’t had any time alone all
summer?”
“It’s just happened that way,” I lied. “I’ve been busy. We did our road trip from
Montréal, then Deirdre was here, and we got ready for our big hike.”
“Okay, if
that’s how you want to play it, the fact that this is the first time we’ve been
alone is a complete fluke.” I knew exactly how skeptical his expression would be, which
saved me from having to look at him. “But being back together last summer was
great. So, why didn’t you want to go out again this summer?”
We did have
a lot of fun last summer. It didn’t take Phil long to work his way right back
into my life, and there was an easiness about the two of us together.
“I don’t
know, a few reasons. The fact we knew we were going to break up didn’t make it
any easier.” It had been surprisingly wrenching, for me anyway. Phil had seemed
to roll with it, and I got the feeling he was looking forward to going back to
Calgary.
“And what
else?” Phil’s arm was now curled around my shoulder.
“I don’t
want to do the expected thing,” I said, for the second time tonight. It
bothered me a lot that Phil took for granted that when we were both in the same
place, we’d get back together. I knew he had this idea in his mind that we
would get back for real once university was over. But I couldn’t keep doing
this over and over. “And really, Phil, the whole point of breaking up was
supposed to be having new experiences.”
His body
moved slightly away from me. “You seem quite able to have new experiences. What
about that goalie?” Phil had not been too happy to find out that I had finally
dated someone else in the winter. I’d met J.P. Denis at the rink and we had fun until
he left to play hockey in Europe.
“That
wasn’t a serious thing. I can’t be like you—compartmentalizing everything,” I
replied.
“What are
you talking about?”
“You seem
to be able to pick up where we left off and then go back to Calgary and party
like nothing happened. Meanwhile, I take ages to get over breaking up, and then
I see you all over again—at Christmas, at reading week, in the summer. It’s
like this emotional seesaw.”
I couldn’t get into a new relationship as long as
Phil was constantly on my mind. Ever since I left for McGill, I’d found that there were lots of
other amazing things to do and see out there. I wanted to have new
experiences, and that included dating too. Not dating with my ex hovering in
the background like some chaperoning spirit.
Phil
grinned. “So, you’re fleeing across the country because you find me
irresistible?”
I frowned.
“I wouldn’t put it exactly like that.”
But maybe he was right.
