Meant For You

eighteen.

I raise my hands in defense. "I'm on your side, buddy. Just give them time, alright? Talk to them about it a little more. We still have possibly six more months left in the season. That's plenty of time to convince the 'rents." I slap his arm lightly and a smirk tugs onto his lips. "What?" I question, smiling myself. "6 months? June? That's the Stanley Cup Final," he tells me like I don't already know.

He laughs as I roll my eyes. "I stand by my words," I say confidently. We're doing well enough to get there, why not speak it into existence? "Yeah, I agree with you. June sounds like a great month to propose in. Then she'll get her silver and I'll get mine as well."

***

When I get back from Tate's a couple of hours later, the kid sits in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal and watching hockey on his phone. "Hey, kid," I say, walking over to my fridge to grab a water bottle. He stays quiet, violently shoving Special K into his mouth as he watches a game.

His standoffish behavior is nothing new. I'd say it's puberty but he's 18 years old meaning he's already pushed through that. He has been acting strange ever since the new year though and I can't stand his little attitude for much longer. I push off the counter and walk over to sit in front of him, slamming my bottle down on the island. JT looks up at me shortly before returning to his mission.

Rolling my eyes, I pull out a chair and sit down. "What the fuck is up with you? I'm gonna call your mom and ask for a refund if you don't open your mouth and start talking," I snap. "I'll stay with Anderson," he retorts. I let out a fake laugh. "Drew's already got kids, he doesn't want you. Now tell me what's going on before you live on the street." I'm not serious, I just need to know what's going on with him before it adds another stress to my life. One I don't currently need.

He drops his spoon into his bowl and turns his phone off, sitting up on his chair. "Why are you questioning me? Every single guy on the team is like this. We're all stressed the fuck out," he snaps back. I scoff. "Kid, this isn't hockey stress. This is.." I wave a hand in front of him. "I don't fucking know until you tell me stress. So spill before I spill your milk and make you clean it."

JT furrows his brows, pushing his cereal bowl away from me. "Why are you being a prick?" he shoots back. "I'm always a prick. Don't change the subject," I say. I've already given my best friend advice today on stress in his life, might as well hand out more and not deal with my own. He stares at me deeply before releasing a breath through his nostrils. "It's a girl, Demps. A damned woman."

I almost laugh. There's no way I'm going to give advice to the kid when one of the current stresses of my life is also a woman. "What woman?" I ask curiously. Has there been a girl in his life recently? My attention has been solely on my own problems that I might have canceled out the kids. "Ember freaking Connelly," he snarls her name. My brows raise in surprise. "Nola's friend?"

He nods his mouth in a straight line. "I didn't know you guys still kept in contact. When I saw Nola at the bar on New Year's, I told Ember you were the-" I stop talking mid-sentence when realization dawns on me. JT went missing on New Year's and according to Nola, so did Ember. Did they leave together? "What?" JT says. "Keep talking, buddy," I say. He shakes his head. "No, no, no. What were you saying?"

Deciding there's no point in lying to him, I tell him what happened when I mentioned he was at the bar to Ember on New Year's Eve. I might have been drunk but I knew by her face that she was bothered at the fact that he was present. She was nice to me up until I brought him up. He chuckles bitterly, running a hand through his hair. "I don't understand woman. I really don't." You and I, buddy.

"What happened between you guys that night?" I ask since something obviously did happen. He shakes his head repeatedly letting out a frustrating groan. "I saw her dancing with Garrett and I may or may not have gone up to them and tried pulling them away from each other," he says more quietly. Garrett is one of our other rookies. "Why?" I question. He looks up at me, not saying anything but everything at the same time.