Butcher

Chapter 31

31

BUTCHER

The last few weeks had been hard. Levi and I tried to distract each other from thoughts of Kaylee, but deep down, I knew we were both thinking about her. How could we not? We’d both experienced our first break-up and our first heartbreak. Of course, I loved what Levi and I had together, but it was like we were missing a limb. Would we ever be able to fill the void Kaylee left? I had to hope we would as more time passed.

Levi and I took a rideshare to The Whispering Flask to meet Coop and Ford for dinner and drinks. Coop hadn’t mentioned it was the day Kaylee was getting on a plane, but Levi and I assumed it was because I knew Coop well and figured he had to make sure the two of us were okay. He was the one I had been the closest to before Levi and I started dating. Things were different since he and Ford were married and Levi and I were together, but I still knew my friend had my back, especially when he all but begged us to go on a double date on this particular night.

When we arrived at The Whispering Flask, we walked to the back where the hidden bar was tucked into the speakeasy-inspired restaurant. It used to be our go-to place and where Coop had come out to our little circle of friends, but because we had been spending most of our free time behind closed doors, we hadn’t been to the restaurant in some time.

“Hey!” Coop called as we walked into the room and waved us over to where they were sitting at a corner booth.

“Hey, guys,” I greeted them as Levi and I slid into our side of the booth.

“I was just telling Ford about that time in Toronto a few years back when I crashed the net and took out the goalie,” Coop explained.

“Oh, right,” I replied. “Didn’t they have to bring in their backup goalie?”

“Yeah, so, there I was, trying to make a last-minute play. I mean, I thought I had the perfect angle, but instead of scoring, I ended up crashing into Antonov. The entire team was laughing, but then Toronto was pissed and Butcher had to step in.”

“That, I did,” I agreed. “Dabrowski wanted to fight the entire game. You taking out Antonov just gave him more of a reason, but I was happy to be your knight in shining armor,” I teased my friend.

“This was before I joined the Bruins?” Levi asked.

I nodded. “The season before.”

Ford grinned and asked his husband, “Did you at least get a chance to redeem yourself?”

“Yeah,” Coop replied, chuckling. “Managed to set up a winning goal in the final seconds.”

“That’s my man.” Coop and Ford kissed briefly, and a waiter came over and took our drink orders.

As the evening progressed, our dinner was served and Ford kept glancing at his phone. I wondered if he was getting texts from Kaylee or just checking to see if she was already in the air. I didn’t ask.

“Hey, so,” I said, trying to keep the conversation light, “any big plans for our upcoming bye week?” Coop and I made the All-Stars draft and would be playing during the All-Star weekend, but we didn’t know if we’d be on the same team. After that, we had a few days off before the season started again.

Coop looked up, a smile playing on his lips. “Actually, Ford and I are thinking of going up north. Hayden told us about this house they rent on a lake. You two should come, the house is huge.”

Levi smiled. “Sounds fun. I’m in, if you are.”

I nodded, feeling as though we definitely needed time away, even if it was only for a few days. “Yeah, it does sound like fun.”

“Great. I’ll text you all the details,” Coop said.

The conversation moved on, but the more Ford kept looking at his phone, the harder it became for me not to question why.

“Have somewhere to be?” I asked him.

He glanced up from the screen. “What do you mean?”

“You keep looking at your phone.”

He swallowed and glanced at his husband.

Coop shrugged and then Ford said, “Before we met you guys here, we dropped Kaylee off at the airport. I’m just checking to see if her flight took off yet.”

Levi squeezed my thigh and responded, “We figured she was leaving today.”

“How was she?” I asked.

“She’s sad,” Ford replied. “But she was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Just sucks it’s in Paris. Anyway, her plane took off about ten minutes ago.”

The table was silent as we finished our dinner. Kaylee was gone and would soon be over three thousand miles away. The thought made my heart ache.

“Want to hit up Chrome?” Coop asked.

No, I didn’t want to go dancing. The only thing I wanted to do was get on a plane and chase Kaylee, but she didn’t want that.

“Not really,” Levi responded, twirling his fork in the cream sauce on his plate.

“I … I um …” Ford stuttered.

I looked at him when he didn’t continue to see he was staring at the doorway. Turning around in my seat, my heart fell out of my chest when I saw Kaylee walking toward us. I nudged Levi, and he turned.

“Oh, shit,” he gasped.

Kaylee stepped up to the table and gave us a small smile. “I couldn’t get on the plane.”