Hutch

"She's going to murder me."

"You didn't tell her?" Collin all but shouts as we head toward the front door of Daisy's house.

"I forgot. I was nervous and then we ran to get showered and see the medical team and...I forgot."

"She's going to beat you."

The noise hits us as soon as we open the door. Music is playing and the place is littered with the beginnings of a party. This isn't going to work.

"No party tonight!" I shout. "If you're on the team, you're welcome to stay, everyone else get out!"

Jenny and Daisy stare at me, confused.

I make a beeline for Daisy. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"The phone call? I panicked. He wanted to meet me and Collin tonight and the first thing out of my mouth was we were coming over here to eat and he said I like free food and I invited him over...and..."

She puts a finger to my lips to stop me. "It's fine."

"You're not mad?"

She smiles softly. "We're friends, yeah?"

I nod.

"Then I'm not mad. As your friend, I'll feed this person and make sure you have somewhere quiet to talk. Okay?"

"There's more," Collin says.

Daisy turns her eyes to him.

I elbow him in the gut. He doesn't need to tell her I may or may not have called her my girl. He'll do it for spice, but now is not the time.

"Carson's coming over too since he's part of the team. He did not get a call when they were looking at all three of us."

Thank God.

Well no, because I feel bad for Carson. It's shit. Thank God Collin kept his mouth shut about my slip up.

"Hailey, get the party goers out of the house!" Jenny shouts over the noise and turns off the stereo. They actually have a stereo system someone's boyfriend set up.

She is met by boos to which she glares. "Keep complaining and I'll never allow another party here for the rest of the year."

I follow Daisy into the kitchen where she has several large bowls of different ground up meats.

"What is all that?"

"Beef, chicken, and turkey. Just because it's your cheat day doesn't mean it's everyone else's."

"Did the guys pitch in and help with the cost of the groceries?" Collin asks as he comes over.

"Not yet." Jenny takes three large platters down and the parchment paper to set out in front of Daisy who starts shaping patties to transfer over. "They're all downstairs. Seems no one really wanted a party even though people were arriving."

Collin growls. "How much?"

"Two hundred, ten dollars and some change."

He turns and heads toward the door leading to both the basement and the attic, disappearing downstairs and yelling at the top of his lungs for money.

"Is he always that loud?" Daisy asks as she hands over a full platter of patties to Jenny who takes it and walks outside to the back porch.

"Yeah, but he's got a large extended family back in Mexico. He has loud relatives and an overly loud abeula." I'd met his grandmother when we all went to visit his family in Mexico last summer. She's a peach.

She shakes her head and finishes off the last of the patties before rinsing out the bowls and putting them in the dishwasher.

"Can you hand me that bag over by the door?"

"Sure." I pick it up and give it to her. "What's that?"

"Avocado oil. I'm going to use it to fry the fries in. Hopefully my spice mix will help to mask the flavor."

"Why not use regular oil?"

"This is healthier. It's a trick I learned from my ex's mom. His entire family did everything they could to help him get his dream of going to the NFL."

I watch as she fills two cast iron pans full of the oil and then turn the stove on. She takes a large bowl of fries out of the fridge.

"Why are they in water?"

"To keep them from turning brown."

She takes several handfuls and puts them down on paper towels and then dries them off before dumping them into the waiting pans.

"Have you ever had sweet potato fries before?"

"I've heard of them, but I've never had them."

"I'll make some for you once the season's over."

Which implies she'll still be around come the end of the season in April.

"My mom will probably know what they are since she's fond of sweet potatoes."

"She's from the south, isn't she?"

"Texas."

"Then yeah, she'll know what they are." She laughs and all my anxiety seems to melt away. Just being around her is calming.

"Your laugh eases my anxiety."

"Why are you anxious?"

"This talk...the Raptors...everything?" I throw my hands wide to accentuate it. "I'm terrified."

"You shouldn't be. I watched you out there. It took me a bit to figure out how to distinguish the players, but it was easy with you. Tonight, especially, since they seemed to be picking on you. Did that guy have a problem with you in particular?"

"No. It's his job to keep the top scorer away from the nets."

"But..." She frowns, not liking my answer. "It seemed excessive."

"It was excessive," Carson agrees, coming into the kitchen. "I don't remember these guys being this aggressive last year."

"They weren't. But they have a new head coach, so maybe he wants them to play dirtier or something."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"It's not, but some coaches believe in the old ways of hockey which is hurt them until they drop."

"It looked like he kept trying to hit you hard enough to bounce your helmet off."

I wish he hadn't of said that since Daisy's expression grows alarmed.

"He wanted to give you a concussion?"

"It would keep me out of the game for a while if he did," I say reluctantly, shooting a warning glare Carson's way. He has the good grace to look down at his shoes. Bro.

"When do you play them again?" Daisy asks, scooping fries out of the pan and into a waiting bowl where she sprinkles them with salt and some kind of seasoning before she shakes them like a professional chef. She seriously needs to reconsider her career choices.

"Not for a couple of weeks. We'll have time to watch the game and study their other games and form a defense against them. I'm not worried."

More fries go in the pans and I point downstairs. Thankfully, Carson gets the hint and leaves us alone.

"Do me a favor and start loading the baking sheets with buns."

"Why?"

She hands me a tub of spreadable butter and a butter knife. "You have to toast the buns so they don't get soggy."

Right. I know this. I worked one summer at a restaurant that did exactly this. I'm just tired. And sore. The ice bath didn't really help. Despite what I just said to Daisy, I am worried about the next time we go up against this team. They meant to hurt every one of us out there on the ice and it was all we could do to keep our heads above water. I plan on talking to Coach about it tomorrow.

We spend the next few minutes finishing up our individual tasks before I'm told to take the buns outside to where Dylan is grilling. He's humming to himself as he mans the grill.

"What's got you so happy?" I grump as I set down the trays of toasted buns.

"I got a call from a recruiter."

"Yeah?"

He nods. "Tennessee saw my highlight reel from last week's games. Called Coach and he told me about it tonight. I set up a call with the guy for tomorrow. Heard about your call too."

"Fuck." I rub my hand over my face.

"I'd love to play for the Raptors and stay close to Jenny, but I'm grateful to get any interest at all."

"Bro, I told you any team would be lucky to have you. You're a solid player and that wins more games than flashy players."

"Which is exactly why we are looking at you as well, Mr. Burnes."

We both startle at the unfamiliar voice and I turn to see a man in his late forties standing behind us. He has on jeans and a polo shirt with the Raptor's insignia. His dark hair is going gray at the temples, but his brown eyes are as sharp as that of teen's. This has to be Julian McClare. I've never seen him, but I know the name.

"Mr. McClare?"

He nods and holds out his hand to shake. "And you're Hutch. We've had our eye on you for a few years now, but we knew you wanted to finish school. Our owner puts a lot of stock in education. We've run into an issue. Did you see Wednesday's game?"

"No, sir. We've been busy practicing, but I know two of your players were injured."

"Career ending injuries for one and the other one will be out for the season at the very least. It's still unsure if he'll be able to play, but at least with his injury, there's a chance."

"Birdie?"

McClare shakes his head. "Spinal injury. There's hope he'll walk again, but it won't be for a good long while and he'll never play again."

"And that's why you're looking to replace two players after the season started," Dylan surmises.

McClare nods. "Yes, and the two positions available are the ones Hutch and Mendoza plays. And I said, I have my eyes on you and Wilson as well. I didn't even know you were interested in the NHL until your coach let us know. Hutch is right. You're a solid player. I just need to go back through some of your games and watch you play before we make any decisions."

"I promised my mother I'd graduate, Collin too."

"We're aware. We've had several talks with your coach and if you two decide to join the team, we'll do our best to work with the university to let you do remote work and you can schedule to do testing on the days you're in town. We'll do everything we can to help you fulfill that promise to your mother."

"So you do want us to join the team?" I whisper, but then clear my throat, and ask it again, only louder.

"Wouldn't be here if I didn't." He looks over at the grill. "This the free food I heard about?"

I shake myself loose of my stupor and nod. "Yeah. Daisy put everything together and Dylan's manning the grill. He got here before we did since I had to do an ice bath."

McClaire winces. "I saw that game on TV. They had it out for you in particular."

"Yeah, but we still got the win. It was hard, but we did it."

"I notice you do that a lot too."

"What?"

"Place credit where credit is due. A lot of the higher scoring players tend to take all the credit."

"I can't score without help from my team. It's that simple. They make it possible."

McClare grins.

"Uh, guys, can you help me bring the burgers inside?" Daisy's dainty voice interrupts us.

"Mr. McClare, this is Daisy. She's responsible for the food tonight."

He smiles. "We've already met. She pointed me out here. And thank you for feeding me. This one speaks highly of your cooking."

"I didn't cook. That's all Dylan."

Dylan scoffs. "Girl, please, you took the time to season everything and make sure there were healthy options for those not on a cheat day."

"Healthy options?"

Dylan points toward the turkey and chicken burgers. "Everything is lean meat and she even used avocado oil for the fries."

"Never tried them with avocado oil before."

"They're different, but still good."

Wait until he tastes my girl's cooking.

"If you guys can help me bring everything inside, I'll let you make your plates before I call up the horde from the basement."

"Sure thing." She helps us transfer the cooked patties to the buns and then we take it back inside to where she already has all the topping spread out on the island and large bowls of fries along the counter top. There's even chili. When did she cook chili?

"I had it simmering in the crock pot. I'd planned to use it for hot dogs, but I was told some of you were extremely fond of chili cheese fries." She nods to the large bowl of shredded cheddar cheese.

McClare goes over and sniffs. "Damn, this smells good."

"Wait until you taste it."

"I'll go get Collin. Load up and then go down the hall to the office. Jenny and I made sure it would be a quiet place for y'all to talk."

"Where's she from?" McClare asks.

"West Virginia."

"Deliverance country."

Dylan and I both groan. "No jokes about that or she won't feed you."

He looks horrified so horrified, I laugh, and it helps to dispel the shock I'm currently in. I need to get a grip and get a move on. This is everything I could have dreamed of. I'm glad I have someone to share it with, even if she only wants to be my friend.

We hear footsteps running up the stairs and that's my que to make my food so we can talk. There's a lightness that settles in my chest and it feels like I can breathe again. Everything is about to happen for me.

I did it.

I made it to the NHL.