“Little over a year ago, he was in a plane crash. He was piloting, and there was a mechanical issue. The plane crashed, and his fiancée was killed. He was injured and missed the rest of last year’s hockey season. Didn’t get protection in the expansion draft by the Mustangs, and the Vengeance picked him up. He’s been having a wonderful season so far this year. Seems to be playing at his peak.”
Dax’s eyebrows rise, and he smiles in appreciation of my knowledge. “Not bad but also not that surprising. You do love this game.”
“Lance gave me that.”
“Yeah,” he agrees softly as he swirls amber liquid in his glass. He raises it to his mouth, takes a large swallow, and empties it. Shifting to lean on the edge of the couch, he pours another glass from the decanter I’d left opened on the coffee table. “What you don’t know is Tacker hasn’t been doing well emotionally. He’s been shut off from the rest of the team. He’s hard to engage off the ice. He’ll show moments where you think—okay, this guy is going to be okay—then he pulls away again.”
“Sounds like he’s depressed,” I offer.
Dax nods. “I’m sure of it. And you saw that fight he got in at the end of November?”
“Against the L.A. Demons. Kneed Lars Nilsson in the head. He got suspended for—I can’t remember how many games.”
“Ten,” Dax says, then takes another long swallow of the liquor. I take a larger sip to match him, enjoying the burn and the way he’s talking to me. Like I’m a confidant he needs to unload on. If drinking bourbon is the way to do it, so be it. It gives me back a little of what I lost with my brother.
“At any rate, it’s like he’s been a ticking time bomb,” Dax murmurs, choosing to stay perched on the edge of the couch. “I’ve been afraid something bad was going to happen. I pulled into the player’s lot tonight just a few minutes after he drove his truck into the barrier.”
“How badly was he hurt?” I ask.
“He was conscious with a few cuts and scrapes to his head. I think his arm or wrist was hurt, but past that… we just don’t know. His refusing to see us wasn’t all that surprising. He’s such a loner.”
We’re silent for a moment. To fill the void, I kick my glass back and finish my drink. Dax doesn’t say a word as I scoot to the edge of the couch to pour another.
“So is he… suicidal?” I ask hesitantly, then angle my body to face Dax. Between the last two drinks we poured for ourselves, we’d managed to both move closer to the center of the couch, but there’s still a good foot separating us. I’d think nothing of it normally because Dax is like my brother.
Except a lot of the time, my feelings about him aren’t sisterly.
“I don’t know,” Dax admits before taking another long pull. I take a sip as well. “I mean… yeah, he drove his truck into that barricade, but I’ve just never gotten that vibe from him. I mean… maybe. Fuck… I don’t know.”
And with that, he finishes his second drink. I tip my glass back. While I had not poured as much into my second, it still takes me two swallows to down it.
Dax lifts the bottle, giving me a questioning look. With a nod, I hold my glass out.
When we both have fresh drinks, Dax settles into the couch and I do the same, tucking my legs under me. I change the subject because Tacker’s not going anywhere. Besides, there are no answers to the million questions right now.
“How are you liking the rest of the team? It seems you’re all gelling really well on the ice.”
Dax smiles, his eyes lighting up. And then he starts to talk.
I get to hear about his closest buddies here. Bishop became recently engaged to Brooke—who is Coach Perron’s daughter—after pulling off a fake engagement because Coach had caught them in a compromising position. Playboy Erik falling for a woman named Blue he’d had an “encounter” with five years prior but didn’t remember. Now that he’s fallen hard for Blue, Dax predicts that even though they aren’t engaged, they’ll get married before Bishop and Brooke.
Most interesting is what’s been going on with the Vengeance star goalie, Legend Bay. Apparently, he came home about six weeks ago and found a newborn baby on his front porch, along with a note from the baby’s mother. I actually know Legend as he played one season with the Vipers, and I’m having a tough time seeing him as a father. According to Dax, though, he’s taken to fatherhood and is over the moon about his new baby daughter Charlie.
We have another drink while he tells me all about Legend’s crazy story.