Darkroom: A Moo U Hockey Romance

Francisco’s farm team, the Celestials, first, but now wasn’t the best time to point that out.
“Hey, settle down. Kurly’s entitled to his opinion, even if it’s wrong.” I lifted my chin at Kurlander. “Just for the record, I’m majoring in Community Entrepreneurship.”
“Entrepreneurship,” Kurlander said. “That’s a big word.”
“Yes, it is,” I said. “You know what it means?”
“Don’t be an idiot. Of course I know what it means. It means you want to go on Shark Tank.”
There was some laughter. I let it roll off my back. I had no desire to go on Shark Tank. I wasn’t planning to start a business. Not for a long time anyway, not until I retired from hockey.
“Just say the word,” AJ said under his breath. “Just say the word and I will wipe that wiseass smile right off his face.”
I gave him a small shake of the head and said to Kurlander, “Nah. If all goes well, I’ll be on TV playing hockey, not begging for money.”
“Yeah,” AJ said. “Forts won’t need money. He’ll be making millions himself.”
“Exactly my point,” Kurlander said. “His degree will be irrelevant.”
“You’re irrelevant!” someone shouted and laughter erupted as Kurlander tried to find out who’d said that and I signaled the waitress for another pitcher of beer.
“So,” AJ said to me later at the apartment, “I think you gained a few captain votes today with the clock stunt, but it’s safe to say Kurlander won’t be one of them.”
“AJ, stop.”
“I think he’s jealous of you. Right, Deke?” he said as he passed the hamster cage where Deke was running on his wheel.
“Silly me. I thought because you’re not taking a psychology class this semester, I’d be spared the psychobabble.” I slipped Deke the sprig of parsley I’d brought back from the Biscuit. He immediately left the wheel and gobbled it up.
AJ laughed. “Tell me you don’t agree with me.”
“I don’t have enough information to agree or disagree, but I do know I’m not his favorite person on the team. I’m glad we’re not on the same line.”
“See? Another reason he’s jealous. You get more ice time. Chubby Hubby or Cherry Garcia?” he asked from the kitchen.
“Cherry Garcia.”
AJ got a pint of ice cream out of the freezer and tossed it and a spoon at me, rapid fire. I caught both, but the spoon almost got away from me.
“Anyway, I heard he was badmouthing you the other day, saying how all you do is ride on your daddy’s coattails, expecting everything to be handed to you on a silver platter.”
“Fuck him. I don’t care what he says.”
“He was also trying to convince people that seniors deserve the captaincy because they’ve paid their dues, unlike some other entitled piece of shit. Those were his exact words. ‘Entitled piece of shit.’”
I held my hand up. “Not listening. Seriously.”
“Fine.” Propping his feet on the coffee table, he worked his spoon into the pint of ice cream and took a huge bite. “Let me ask you a non-team related question.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you think I have any kind of chance with Ruby? Because I keep picturing her in a grass skirt and no top, but with her hair all loose over her luscious…” He gestured at his chest with his spoon. “It’s making me fucking crazy.”
“You know, I can put your Ben and Jerry’s back in the freezer if you need to go tug the slug—hey!” I laughed as he kicked my feet off the coffee table.
“Shut up, jerk wad.”
“Hey, you’re the one who’s over-sharing.”
“I can’t help it. She’s so gorgeous, but she’s way out of my league.”
“Shut up. She is not. She liked your Princess Bride pickup line. Didn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“Then don’t wuss out. Go for it.”
“What about you and Indi? You guys meet yet for the photography project?”
“Not yet.” I dug up a big spoonful of ice cream and ate it. I loved those dark cherries and chocolate shards in the creamy cherry ice cream. “We’re meeting at the Green Bean on campus next Monday.”
“Nice. You going to make a move?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. She doesn’t seem to be the type of girl you just hook up with and I’m not looking for long-term. On the other hand, I really like her. She’s gorgeous and smart and funny…and we have stuff in common.”
AJ worked to free a pretzel bite buried in his ice cream. “What kind of stuff?”
“We both sometimes feel like we don’t have a right to complain about stuff. Me because of my family and the money and all that, and her having been adopted from China. I mean, who knows what kind of life she’d have had? She was at a government orphanage with no family, no one looking out for her welfare but the state. Here, she has a loving mom and dad, a solid childhood, a bright future…”
“Everyone has different challenges, Hudson,” AJ said. “Just because you have a lot of advantages doesn’t mean you can’t ever be angry about something or wish things were different. Just be grateful for what you have and live your life. If you spend all your time feeling bad about it, then what’s the point? If you have it, enjoy it, otherwise it’s a waste.”
“Shit, AJ. That’s pretty fucking philosophical.”
“Right?” He grinned. “Sometimes I amaze myself.”

10


Indi
The campus coffee joint, called Green Bean, was hopping with students grabbing a caffeine hit so they could face their afternoons. I loved the smell of coffee and was looking forward to treating myself with something sweet. They had a fairly decent variety of hot, iced and blended drinks.
“Right on time,” Hudson said as he came up to me near the entryway. “Let’s order. I already staked out a table for us.”
“Great.”
I ended up getting this crazy milkshake that was kind of pricey, a creamy blend of coconut, peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream and cold brewed iced coffee.
Hudson ordered the same thing and tried to pay, but I wouldn’t let him.
“This going directly to my hips,” I said after we sat