Best Of Both Worlds (Colorado Black Diamonds #4)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

NOAH

“ Y ou said the place would be ready this week.”

“We need another week, Mr. Fields. I promise, you’ll have keys in hand by the end of next week.”

I scrub a hand down my face. It’s the last thing I wanted to hear, but I don’t have a whole lot of options. “Thanks for the update.”

Ending the call, I chuck my phone into my bag and head back to my locker.

“Everything okay?” Marcus asks, dropping down to sit next to me. His dark hair is wet, fresh from the shower after practice.

“Just another delay on my condo.”

I was hoping to be moved in before the season started, but it got pushed back because of a delay. Something small that wouldn’t take long to fix, I was told. Had I known it would take this long, I would’ve found something else. But getting traded so close to the Knights’ season ending last year, I figured I’d be fine.

I was planning on going home to Denver anyway.

Now, I’m still in a less-than-stellar hotel trying to make things work.

“Shit, really?”

I nod, grabbing my water bottle and taking a swig. “Yup.”

“You’re more than welcome to come and stay in my spare room.”

I quirk a brow at him. “I’m surprised you could say that with a straight face.”

Marcus winces. “Just trying to do my captainly duties.”

“I appreciate it.” I clap him on the shoulder. “But the last thing you need is a teammate crashing with you and your kids. I’ll be okay.”

“You’ll tell me if you’re not?”

I nod. “Promise.”

“Good. Now, what do you say to a drink? My mom has the girls, so I don’t have to be home for another hour or two.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“How are you adjusting to Nashville?”

It’s hard to hear Marcus over the live music blasting throughout The Sin Bin. Even though we’re off the more popular Broadway, aspiring musicians will play any set they can find. The low drone of voices does little to cover up the woman singing about what I’m guessing is an ex.

A hockey bar is no exception.

The lights are low in here with old, tin beer signs slapped up haphazardly on the walls. Photos of past Knights teams hang next to them. Neon lights glow as people all dressed up pass by, ignoring this small haunt.

Just the way I like it.

At my age, I couldn’t care less about what’s popular. I’d rather be able to sit down and have a drink without being hit on.

Because it’s only a matter of time before someone spots me or Marcus in this grungy Nashville bar.

“It’s been an adjustment,” I tell him honestly. “I thought I’d have more time before the season ended, but then I was back home in Denver and?—”

“And now you’re here in a hotel that isn’t quite cutting it?”

“Got it in one.” I sip on my beer, only having one tonight. “I guess I assumed it’d be easier.”

“Nah. I’ve never been traded, but it can’t be easy. New team. New town. New home. I couldn’t do it. I think I’d retire if they tried to trade me.”

“Shit, really?” I ask. I try to hide the shock from my voice, but I can’t.

Marcus Evans is one of the greatest players to ever suit up for Nashville. Even though they’ve been a team at the bottom of the league for years now, it wasn’t because of Marcus.

“Too much upheaval. I’ve had enough of it to last a lifetime.” Marcus fidgets with his empty ring finger before leaning back in our booth that’s tucked away in the side of the bar. “I’d retire. Get some goats, maybe.”

“Goats?” I snort over the gulp I just took, nearly choking on it. “Can’t say that I picture you as a farmer.”

“What?” Marcus throws his arms wide. “You don’t think I could raise a pack of goats?”

“Are they called a pack of goats?” I ask him.

“Shit. I don’t know. I’m sure Sadie does.”

That gets a laugh out of me. “Is it bad your eight-year-old knows more than you?”

“Sadie is a genius. Just like her mom. She’ll be running circles around me before long.”

In the few months I was here last season, I learned as much as I could about my teammates. Marcus having two daughters is about as much as I know about him. The rest of his life is strictly off-limits.

“Maybe I should have retired. Stayed in Denver. No goats, but maybe a bunny.”

“A bunny?” Marcus asks, sipping on his drink. “That’s random.”

I laugh. “Nick and I had a bunny. Well, Nick did, but we lived together and so it was mine too. Oreo.”

“Fuck. Don’t ever say you have a bunny around the girls, or I will see to it that you never play hockey again. They’ll be asking for one as soon as they hear about it.”

“Bunnies are easy,” I point out.

Marcus shakes his head. “Don’t care. Don’t need something else to take care of.”

“And you were offering me your spare room?”

“You’re a grown man. I don’t have to take care of you.”

I sigh. “Maybe if I found a place earlier, it would have made the move easier.”

“You think?” Marcus asks.

“I don’t know. Might have helped to have someone help me find a place to live. My mom offered, but I don’t know. I wanted to find a place that was mine.”

When I was drafted by Colorado, my parents helped me find a place to live so I could focus on hockey. Getting traded to Nashville feels like the first time I’ve been away from everything I’ve ever known in life.

Even though I’ve lived away from my parents for the better part of my twenties, it felt like I was on my own for the first time. And I didn’t want to have to rely on others to make it here.

“Well, I’m here if you need anything.” Marcus glances at his watch. “Just don’t call me after nine on weeknights to bail you out of jail.”

“Who said anything about going to jail?”

That pulls a small smile from Marcus’s usually hard face. “I’m only saying that my captainly duties have their limits.”

“I’m not Bode.” I laugh.

Now I get a real smile. “Bode would be the one to get arrested.”

“Probably for public intoxication.”

“If we do what Coach says we’ll do,”—Marcus raps his knuckles on the wooden table between us—“Bode is definitely getting arrested.”

I burst out laughing, drawing the eyes of a few people around us. “Thank God I’m not the captain and have to keep him in check.”

“I’ll just assign him to you to keep an eye on then.”

“Okay, Marcus.” I hold my beer bottle out to him in a toast. “If we win it all in a few years, I will gladly keep Bode’s ass out of jail.”

“I’ll drink to that.” He downs the remainder of his drink before pulling out his wallet. “Now, I have to go pick up some tutus for school tomorrow.”

“Tutus?”

He nods. “Dance recital. I’ll see you at practice.”

I wave after him before finishing my own drink and heading out as well. Not wanting to go back to my dreary hotel room by myself, I stuff my hands in my pockets and walk around my new city.

This is one of those times it would be nice to have someone to go home to. Hell, not even a someone, but an anyone. At least in Denver, I had Nick.

Even the guy I was kind of with has someone new. That was strictly a friends-with-benefits situation, but after my injury, I saw him less and less until he started dating someone else.

If I was really desperate, I’d download a hookup app to find someone. But I’m not. I wander around Nashville, taking in all the people going in and out of the bars. Neon lights are bright even in the early evening.

The hotel where I’m staying is a few blocks from the arena. This close, posters of the team hang on the street poles.

It’s weird seeing my face up there in a red jersey. Just one of the many things I have to get used to.

That and playing with Graham Fisher. I don’t know when things soured between us, but it seems like he has it out for me.

All I want to do is play hockey. That’s it. I know I’m in the second half of my career. So sue me if I want to play hard and hopefully win another cup or two.

I only hope he can get on board. Because if not, it’s going to be a long season. One that I won’t be looking forward to.