Darkroom: A Moo U Hockey Romance Kate Willoughby (read full novel .TXT) 📖

by falling onto the ice, and my mistake resulted in a goal that went unanswered into the third period.

Now, ice is obviously slippery and sometimes a skater just loses his edge or hits a weird spot in the ice, but this was my third fall of the season and I was known for my skating. It was as if I’d traded bodies with a high school varsity player with big dreams and substandard skating skills.

I managed to disgrace myself one more time that night by completely missing a pass from Bramley.

“I gave you a heads-up,” he accused when we were back on the bench after our shift.

“I didn’t hear you.”

“Then get your fucking hearing checked, for Christ’s sake.”

After the game, Doug Lyddane came to see me. My dad was on his heels, looking worried.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I said to them both. We’d lost the game, 3-1.

Lyddane shook my hand and clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t apologize. I’m not sorry at all. You’re a fine player, Forte. You just had a bad night.” He turned to my dad. “He’s a chip off the old block, Dom. You should be proud of him.”

“I am very proud,” my dad said with a fixed grin.

“And team captain, too,” Lyddane said. “I forgot to congratulate you on that, Hudson.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After Lyddane left, my dad said, “How about we grab some dinner and then I drive you home to school? We can catch up on the way.”

“Gee, Dad, that sounds great, but Indi is here with her parents and I’m having dinner with them and then Coach said it was okay if I drove back with her.”

His brows rose. “You’re meeting her parents?”

“I am.”

“You’re not getting serious about this girl, are you? Because judging from your performance today, you can’t afford any distractions. Don’t get me wrong. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and I would never try to tell you to deny yourself in the sex department, but in my experience, there’s a tipping point with women and once you get past that they start demanding more of your time and attention.” He touched my chest with his index finger. “You cannot afford that right now. Once you’ve made it into the NHL, fine. Get serious with whoever you want, but right now? You need to be focused one hundred percent on hockey.”

I knew from experience arguing wouldn’t do any good, so I just said, “Right, Dad. One hundred percent.”

I wasn’t sure if I could focus on hockey any more than I already was.

“All right. Good to see you, son. We’ll get together soon,” he said, giving me a backslapping hug.

I arranged for AJ to make sure my gear got home safely, told Bramley he was in charge and headed to Spinners, the restaurant where I was to meet Indi and her parents, Kevin and Bonnie.

After I kissed Indi hello, Bonnie gave me a hug. “So, you’re Hudson. We’ve heard so much about you.” She wore frosted pink lipstick and smelled like flowers.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Kevin said giving me a hearty handshake. “Your hockey loss, that is.” He was a big man with a ruddy complexion and the sort of body you’d expect from someone who owned a restaurant.

“You win some, you lose some,” I replied.

We sat down and opened the menus.

“How is it you’re not sick of pizza?” I asked Kevin because Spinners was a pizzeria.

“We’re always checking out the competition,” he replied then leaned forward. “You never know when you’re going to discover a new flavor combination you want to put on your menu.”

“Isn’t that…?”

“Pizza plagiarism? Not really.” Lifting his chin, her dad leaned back in his chair. “You ever seen barbecue chicken pizza on a menu?”

“Sure. All the time.”

“Well, listen to this. The barbecue chicken pizza was invented by a chef, name of Ed LaDou, for California Pizza Kitchen’s first menu. This was back in the late Eighties, before you were born. Now it’s everywhere. And just to prove my point…” He ran his finger down his menu and pointed. “There you go, barbecue Chicken.”

“I had no idea,” Hudson said.

“Happens all the time in the restaurant industry.”

“You see anything interesting here?” Hudson asked.

Kevin glanced at Indi. “What do you think, sweetheart? Indi has a knack for recognizing good flavor combinations. I keep trying to convince her to join the family business, but she has her heart set on being a doctor.”

“How about this one?” I suggested. “The Killer B. It’s genoa salami, tomato sauce and mozzarella and a local hot honey. If it’s good, I’m sure you’d have no problem finding artisanal honey in Vermont.”

“That’s a great idea,” Indi said. She jerked a thumb at me. “Hudson is majoring in Community Entrepreneurship.”

“I’ve never heard of that before,” Kevin said.

“It’s a business major with an emphasis on community development and the responsible use of natural resources,” I explained.

“Really?” Bonnie said. “Maybe you should join the family. Business. The family business.”

“Mom…” Indi said, blushing furiously.

“Freudian slip,” Bonnie said with a carefree laugh.

The Killer B ended up being pretty damned good. I’d never in a million years have thought about honey on a pizza, but it was delicious. The salami and the honey were a perfect salty sweet combo. Kevin and Bonnie were great—funny and smart, just like their daughter and I had a great time.

We were just boxing the leftovers when a young woman stopped by the table.

“Well if it isn’t Juicy Briscoe! And Mr. and Mrs. Briscoe! It’s me, Jessica Burnuzzi.”

Jessica was a sassy brunette with a big nose and tight sweater.

Kevin and Bonnie greeted her warmly but Indi remained seated with a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Kevin asked.

“I go to school here,” Jessica said. “At Boston College. I’m majoring in communications.”

“Isn’t that nice,” Bonnie said.

“Where did you end up, Juicy?” Jessica asked Indi.

“Burlington U.”

“Gotcha. And who’s this?”

“Hudson Forte,” I said with a big smile. “I’m Indi’s boyfriend.”

Under the table, I