The Hockey Lie

Chapter 17

TY

November 26

"I'll see you guys later tonight," I called to my parents as I left the house. We had no classes Thanksgiving and the following Friday, so I had decided to go home for the weekend.

"Hey," I breathed, climbing into Easton's car.

"Hey," he replied with a smile. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I blushed. "You look amazing, too."

"I'd rather be wearing sweats than these," Easton complained, referring to his khakis and gray Henley sweater.

"It wouldn't bother me if you dressed like this more often," I smirked, eyeing him over.

"Hey, you can check me out now, but no wandering eyes at my parents' house. I wouldn't want you to embarrass me," Easton teased.

"Embarrass you?" I scoffed. "You think I'd embarrass you?"

"Well..." Easton trailed off.

"You're a jerk," I cried, punching his arm.

"So I've been told," he replied with a smirk, rubbing his arm.

"You know, I can't believe you've waited almost a year to introduce me to your parents. It's almost embarrassing," I stated.

"Sorry, babe. I guess it kind-of slipped my mind. I don't go home very often," he admitted.

"Why not?" I asked. It confused me that he wouldn't visit his parents very often since he lives so close to his childhood home.

"My parents didn't really appreciate the type of person I was in high school. They hated my arrogance. It's a good thing I was as busy with hockey as I was or else my relationship with them would've been worse. It wasn't until about six months ago that I went and apologized to them for how terrible I was in high school," explained Easton, looking ashamed. "I was such an asshole in high school."

"At least you've gotten better," I said, trying to look at the bright side.

"Yeah, they asked me how I came to realize I was such a jerk. That's a direct quote there. I told them that Parise and Suter really changed me a lot during training camp, but I told them that you were the biggest reason I changed," he said, looking directly at me.

"You told them I changed you?" I asked, astonished.

"Well, it's the truth. If I hadn't met you, I'm sure I'd still be the same self-absorbed jerk I was a year ago. Either that or Koivu would've beaten my ass until I straightened out," joked Easton.

"I don't doubt that," I laughed.

"Even though my parents and I have healed our relationship, I can't say the same about my sister and I," Easton sighed.

"You don't talk about your sister much," I commented. "What happened?"

"Well, I was a jerk to her like I was to my parents. We never got along. When I was around the house during high school, we'd always fight like cats and dogs when we were around each other. Right before I left for college, we both said things we shouldn't have, and I guess we just haven't ever forgiven each other," Easton shrugged. "I feel bad about it, I really do."

"That's too bad," I frowned. "I wish you guys would make up."

"She probably has no intention of forgiving me," Easton scoffed. "If I was her, I definitely wouldn't forgive me."

"I'm sure you guys can find some way to patch things up," I argued. "There's always a way."

"I don't know, Ty. Jessica probably wants nothing to do with me," Easton sighed.

"You've changed, though. You want to make up with her. Maybe she does too," I suggested, placing my hand on Easton's arm.

"I hope you're right," Easton said with a half-hearted smile.

Easton and I didn't really talk for the rest of the short ride until he pulled into the driveway of a modest white house. The house was mid-sized and had blue shutters. It looked clean and homey.

"Well, this is it," Easton said.

"It looks nice," I commented.

"I'd like to think so," Easton smiled. "It's time for you to meet my family."

"I'm nervous," I admitted.

Easton walked around his Lexus and opened my door for me. He took my hand and helped me out of the car. "Don't be," he replied simply. "I'm sure they'll love you."

"Easton!" a woman shouted as she opened the front door. "It's wonderful to see you. Ooo, you've finally brought your girlfriend home. Took you long enough."

"Hey, Mom," Easton smiled, giving her a hug.

Easton's mom turned to me. "You must be Ty. It's so good to meet you," she said as she gave me a hug as well.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs. West," I replied.

"Mrs. West is my mother-in-law. Please, call me Erica," she said.

"All right, Erica," I laughed.

"Please, come inside. It's cold out there," Erica said quickly, ushering us inside.

"Hey, son, how are you doing?" Easton's father said, hugging him.

"I'm good, Dad, how've you been?" Easton asked in reply.

"I'm great, especially since you've finally decided to bring your girlfriend home," Easton's dad said, looking at me. "Hi, I'm Josiah."

"I'm Ty," I replied with a smile.

"Easton's told us a lot about you even though he hardly comes home," Erica said.

"Mom," Easton said, starting to blush.

"Well, it's true! You only come home for important holidays!" Erica argued.

"Yes, but I'd be doing that exact same thing if I was still in college," Easton pointed out.

"Oh, I suppose. I'm sorry, Easton. I'm just trying to give you a bad time," Erica apologized.

"I know, I know," Easton sighed. "At least I'm here now."

"That's right," agreed Josiah.

"Bill and Cathy are coming, right?" Easton asked.

"Yes, and so are Penny and George. All your cousins will be here, too," replied Erica, and Easton made a face. "Easton, I know you and your uncle George don't get along, but please try to behave yourself today. It's Thanksgiving."

"I won't say anything, but if he starts something, I'm going to defend myself," Easton replied calmly. I shot Easton a look, but he offered up no explanation.

"So, Ty, you go to school at the U?" Josiah said, trying to ease the tension by changing the subject.

"Yeah, I'm majoring in Exercise Science," I replied.

"That sounds interesting," Erica said.

"Yeah, I want to become a physical therapist if hockey- " I started, but caught myself. "I mean, I want to be a physical therapist, hopefully for a hockey team."

"That sounds interesting. So you enjoy hockey like Easton?" Josiah asked.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I played in high school."

"She was an amazing player," Easton cut in. "She still is."

"Are you? I played hockey myself in high school. I had a few Division II offers, but I decided to just focus on law school," Easton's dad said.

"You went to Andover too I assume?" I questioned.

"Yup. Go Huskies!" Josiah cheered.

"Actually, it's go Bengals," I joked.

"Oh that's right, you're one of the enemies," teased Josiah.

"What can I say?" I shrugged.

"Well, son, despite your girlfriend being a Bengal, I think she's a keeper," Josiah said to Easton.

"Thanks, Dad," Easton said, obviously embarrassed. "If you'll excuse us, we're going to head down to the basement."

"All right, we'll send your cousins down when they get here," Erica called after us.

"Okay," Easton called back as we headed down the stairs. "I'm so sorry about that."

"It was a little awkward, but they seem like good people," I replied with a smile.

"They are good people. They're just trying to embarrass me," Easton explained.

"They're doing a pretty good job," I laughed, kissing Easton on the cheek. "So what are we going to do down here?"

"We could watch a movie," Easton suggested, gesturing at the brown leather couch and flat screen TV.

"Or you could show me around down here," I smirked, walking towards one of the doors.

"Uh, there's not much down here," Easton rushed.

"What, is your room down here and you don't want me to see it?" I asked with a laugh.

"No..." he tried to deny.

"Liar!" I cried and proceeded to open the door I was near.

"No!" Easton protested.

"Hmm, this must be your room," I speculated, turning on the light.

"I haven't been in here in years," Easton said, joining me in his old room.

"It looks like you," I commented. The walls of the room were a medium shade of blue, and the carpet was light gray. There were posters of different professional athletes hung up all over the room, including Joe Mauer, Kevin Garnett, and Wayne Gretzky.

"Yeah, I suppose it does," Easton replied.

"Why didn't you want me to come in here so badly?" I asked.

"I don't know, I couldn't remember if I had taken down all the pictures of girls in bikinis," Easton smirked. I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

"You're joking, right?" I asked seriously.

"Yes, I'm joking, Ty. I'm not like that," Easton said.

"Good, because I'm already dating a jerk. I don't need to be dating a sexist jerk," I teased.

"Ha, ha, ha," Easton fake laughed, slightly amused. "I may be a terrible person at times, but I'm not that bad."

"Good," I smiled, leaning up to kiss him. "So what's up with you and your uncle George or whatever?"

"Oh. That," Easton said unenthusiastically. "He's married to my mom's sister. George is... really judgmental. Let's just say he doesn't really approve of professional athletes. He thinks they're all aggressive idiots with no self-control. Obviously he doesn't know very many professional athletes."

"Sounds like a lovely guy," I said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah."

"Easton, where are you!" I heard a chorus of children call.

"Let's get out of here. I don't really want my little cousins tearing this place up," Easton said. I walked out of his room, and he shut the door behind us. "Hey, guys!" We headed back to the main area of the basement to find three kids standing there: two boys and one girl.

"Easton, is this your girlfriend?" the little girl giggled.

"Yes, Maddie, this is my girlfriend," Easton replied with a smile. "Her name is Ty."

"Isn't that a boy's name?" asked one of the boys.

"Yes, it is a boy's name, but I like to be unique," I replied.

"That's cool!" the boy exclaimed.

"Ty, these are my cousins Maddie, Troy, and Gavin. Maddie is in kindergarten, Troy is in second grade, and Gavin is in fourth grade. They're Bill and Cathy's kids," Easton introduced.

"You look pretty," Maddie said shyly.

"Thank you! You look pretty, too," I smiled. "I love your purple tutu."

"Thank you," Maddie said.

"Easton, let's play ninjas!" suggested Troy.

"Yeah!" agreed Gavin.

"What's ninjas?" I asked.

"It's a game where we basically just wrestle with each other. No ninja-like skills are involved," Easton explained. "Boys, how about we play a game that Maddie will like too."

"Aww man," pouted the boys.

"Let's play hide-and-go-seek!" Maddie squealed.

"But that's a baby game," complained Gavin.

"Is not!" argued Maddie.

"How about we play hide-and-go-seek tag?" I suggested. "It's like hide-and-go-seek, but if the seeker finds you, you can try run away back to the safe zone. The first one to get tagged or the last one back to the safe zone has to become the seeker."

"That sounds like a fun game," said Troy.

"Yeah, let's play that game," agreed Maddie.

"Where's the safe zone?" asked Gavin.

"How about the couch?" I suggested.

"Sounds good to me," agreed Easton. "The boundaries are going to be limited to the basement. You can go anywhere."

"Okay," the kids said.

"All right, it's settled. Now who's going to be the seeker?" asked Easton.

"Nose goes!" I yelled and put a finger on my nose. All the kids quickly followed suit, and Easton ended up being the last one.

"Dang it," he pouted.

"Poor Easton," I said with fake sympathy. "You're never going to catch me."

"Don't bet on it, babe," he smirked.

"Close your eyes and count to a hundred," I ordered.

He rolled his eyes but finally shut them. "1... 2... 3..."

The kids and I took off running in different directions. I didn't know the basement very well, so I had to explore quickly. I went in the direction opposite of Easton's room and found the creepy room that everyone has in their basement with the hot water heater. I went further into the room and found a small bathroom. Despite the creepiness of the rest of the room, the bathroom was surprisingly neat and tidy. There was a sink, toilet, and bathtub with a shower curtain. I quickly jumped into the bathtub and laid down. I pulled the shower curtain shut and hoped that Easton wouldn't find me.

About fifteen minutes passed before I heard someone walking around in the hot water heater room. I assumed it was Easton. He crept around the room a while, and then I heard him open the door to the bathroom. I was trapped.

"Aha!" Easton shouted as he pulled open the shower curtain.

"Agh!" I screamed and tried to run around him.

I definitely failed, and Easton wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a bear hug. "I got you," he whispered in my ear.

"Did you find everyone else?" I asked.

"Yeah, they're all on the couch. I think Gavin turned on the TV so they won't be worried about us for a while," Easton replied with a smirk.

"Oh really?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

Easton replied by placing his lips on mine. He put a hand at the back of my neck and tugged at my hair. His tongue explored my mouth as I ran my hands down his chest. I slid my hands under his shirt as he began to place kisses down my neck.

"Your hands are cold," Easton shivered as my hands roamed his abs.

"I was sitting in a bathtub in the middle of a cement basement. What do you expect?" I replied pointedly, moving my hands to his neck.

Easton jumped back at my cold touch. "Seriously, girl, do you have bad circulation or something?"

"No, I'm just on the ice so much that my blood has turned to it," I joked.

"Kids! Time for dinner!" we heard Erica yell from upstairs.

"Well, I guess it's time to eat," Easton said. I straightened out his sweater as he fixed my hair.

"How do I look?" I asked.

"Gorgeous, as always," he said softly.

"Thanks," I replied, smiling. "Hey, I still haven't seen your sister yet. Where is she?"

"She was probably in her room upstairs," Easton guessed.

We made it upstairs and headed into Easton's dining room. In the center of the room, there was a huge mahogany table covered in a white tablecloth. There were two candles in the center of the table. The candles were surrounded by tons and tons of food. There was everything you could hope for in a Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, stuffing, biscuits, and everything else you could imagine.

"Here, kids," Erica said to Easton and me. "You two can sit here." We were seated on the left side of the table. Easton was at my left and a woman that wasn't familiar was to my right.

"Hi, I'm Penny," the woman introduced herself.

"I'm Ty," I replied with a smile.

"Erica told us you were coming. So you're in college?" Penny asked.

"Yup, I go to the U," I replied.

"That's nice. Easton went to college there, and I think he had a good time there," Penny commented.

"Yeah. He had a really nice year of hockey there, too," I said.

"Yes, that's right. He is a very good hockey player. My husband doesn't really approve of his profession, though," Penny sighed. "Those two really don't see eye-to-eye."

"Easton told me about that. Hopefully he'll behave himself today," I said, elbowing my boyfriend in the arm.

"Hmm?" Easton asked.

"Behave yourself," I said.

"Don't I always?" he said with a cheesy grin.

Easton's dad stood up at the head of the table and said, "All right, I just want to thank you all for coming today. Before we eat, I think we should all say one thing we are thankful for. Let's start with the kids' table."

There were five kids at the kids' table. These kids included Gavin, Troy, and Maddie along with a boy and a girl I didn't recognize. I assumed the other two were Penny and George's kids.

"I'll start," said Maddie. "I'm thankful for my teacher at school. She taught me how to spell 'purple', my favorite color."

"I'm thankful for my brother since he's easy to wrestle," said Gavin.

"I'm thankful for our dog, Buck," said Troy.

"Chelsie, it's your turn," encouraged Penny.

Chelsie looked to be about Gavin's age. "I'm thankful for all this food," she said with a big smile. "Your turn, Matt."

The boy, Matt, looked even older, maybe seventh or eighth grade. "I'm thankful for my buddies at school," he said.

"All right, Jessica, do you want to go?" asked Josiah.

That's when I finally noticed Easton's sister. She was sitting diagonally across from me at the table. She looked like she was just a few years younger than me. She and Easton shared a few features, but they definitely didn't have the same eyes. While Easton had his father's bright blue eyes, Jessica had her mother's deep brown ones.

"I'm thankful that Easton finally found someone to care about other than himself," she stated, words full of venom.

"Jessica," Erica scolded. "This is not the time and place for that."

"Well, it's true!" Jessica protested.

"Mom, it's fine," Easton assured. "She's right. I know it's not my turn, but I'm going to go anyway. I'm thankful that just over a year ago, I met the love of my life. She changed me. Before I met Ty, I know I had a serious attitude problem. I was cocky and completely self-centered. I didn't care about anyone but myself all throughout high school and my one year of college. That started to change once I went to NHL training camp. Parise and Suter taught me that I wasn't the most important person there. They taught me more about the concept of a team than I had ever learned before. That's when I started to realize that there was more to life than myself. Then I met Ty. At first, she hated me. She wanted nothing to do with me. Eventually, she gave me a chance, and I'll forever be grateful for that. She also never took any of my narcissism. She made me realize how long I'd been all along. I love you, Ty."

"I love you, too, Easton," I smiled, taking his hand in mine.

All the women at the table found Easton's speech adorable, and all of the men except for uncle George thought it was sweet, too. We continued going around the table saying what we were thankful for. Then it was finally time to eat. All the food was delicious. Easton's mom was an amazing cook.

"Everything tastes so good, Erica," I complimented.

"Thank you, dear," Erica replied happily.

"So, Ty, you played hockey in high school like Easton?" George asked.

"Yes, I did," I replied.

"She was so good they put her on the boys' team," Easton added.

"Really?" asked George, surprised.

"Yeah. I guess I was pretty good," I smiled.

"And you're at the University of Minnesota?" George continued to interrogate me.

"Yeah. I really like it there. I've met a lot of new friends," I said.

"Do you go watch hockey there often?" George asked.

"I suppose you could say that," I shrugged. "I know a lot of the men's hockey players. They're some of my best friends."

"I really enjoy watching college hockey, especially the U. College sports are real sports, you know," George stated.

"Pro hockey is way more real than college hockey," Easton argued.

"No way. The pros are all rigged. None of you actually try, you all just show up so you get your unnecessarily high paychecks," scoffed George.

"You're not a professional hockey player. You have no idea what it's like," Easton said through gritted teeth. "Professional hockey is every bit as real as college hockey. There's just more talent in the NHL, so the pace of play is faster and better."

"Not really," countered George. "The University of Minnesota plays as good of hockey as the Wild."

"The U's team isn't nearly as good as the Wild. Sure, we've got talent, but we aren't half as good as the Wild, or any NHL team for that matter," I said, jumping into the argument.

"What was your last name again?" George asked.

"Brady..." I replied unsurely.

"Brady. Ty Brady. You play hockey at the U, don't you? I thought you looked familiar," George said, squinting his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I said, suddenly getting nervous.

"Your name is Ty Brady, and there's someone on the U's hockey team named Ty Brady. There's no way that's a coincidence," George speculated.

"My full name's Tyra, not Ty, not to mention that I'm a girl and the Ty Brady you're talking about plays men's hockey," I said.

"You aren't fooling me. I want to know how you ended up playing men's collegiate hockey," George said, not backing down.

"Leave her alone, George! You have no right to interrogate her. Pick on me all you want, but leave Ty out of this," Easton shouted. The whole room went silent.

"I'm not interrogating her, I'm merely getting to know her. Calm down. This just goes to show that all professional athletes are short-tempered and have no ability to control themselves," George scoffed.

Easton slammed his hands on the table and was about to stand up, but I whispered to him, "Easton, he's just trying to get a rise out of you. Don't let them win."

Easton took a deep breath. "Thanks, babe. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"George, Easton's right. Leave Ty alone. She's our guest," Josiah said uncomfortably.

"She's lying! She plays hockey for the U! I'll prove it," George argued, pulling out his phone. A few seconds later, he found what he was looking for. "See? This is the Ty Brady that plays hockey. He, or should I say she, has the same colored hair as you. Oh look, she has the same face as you, too." He held up his phone to show everyone the picture of me.

"Wow, good for you. You exposed my secret," I said sarcastically. "Yes, I do play men's hockey at the U, but why does it matter to you?"

"It doesn't, I guess," George shrugged.

"Then leave her alone!" cried Easton. "You always have to get all up in everyone else's business, and it's freaking annoying! Get your own life!"

"Easton..." Erica pleaded.

"No, Mom. He doesn't have the right to torment my girlfriend. It's Thanksgiving and my adult uncle is acting like a seventh grader. I'm not going to let that happen." Easton turned to face George. "And if you tell anyone about Ty and expose her to the NCAA, I swear I'll..."

"Easton, don't. He's not going to tell anybody," I said, trying to calm him down. I stared George down. "If you tell anyone about me, it'll ruin my hockey career. I'll be banned from playing college hockey, and the university will get in trouble. You don't want that, do you?"

"No," George said quietly.

"Good," I said, concluding the conversation.

Thankfully, the rest of the meal and day went smoothly. I got to know Easton's sister, and it turned out that she and I were a lot alike. She seemed to accept the fact that Easton had changed. It appeared that Jessica hadn't totally forgiven Easton, but she was beginning to.

"Hey, Ty," Jessica said to me.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Want to look at Easton's baby pictures?" she said deviously.

"No!" Easton protested.

"Oh yes," Jessica said. She ran off and returned with a picture album. We flipped through the album together in the living room, much to Easton's dismay.

"Guys, can you put that away please?" Easton begged.

"No," Jessica and I replied together.

"Oh my gosh, look at this one!" I exclaimed, pointing to a picture that featured Easton in a bathtub with more bubbles than water.

"This one's my favorite," Jessica said, pointing to a picture where Easton had gotten flour all over himself and the kitchen floor.

"I hate you both," Easton muttered.

"You love me, don't deny it," I cooed, patting him on the cheek. Easton just rolled his eyes and didn't reply.

"Don't mind him, he's always been a cranky pants," Jessica laughed.

"Have not!" argued Easton.

"Have too!" Jessica shot back. "Easton also used to have an extreme obsession with One Direction."

"You didn't!" I gasped, laughing.

"He definitely did. He probably still has the posters in his closet if you want to see," Jessica smirked.

"I did not have a One Direction obsession!" protested Easton.

"You did too, don't even try to deny it. I know where you have all the stuff hidden," Jessica said.

"It wasn't an obsession," Easton pouted. "Sure, I liked their music for a few years, but it wasn't an obsession."

"It was definitely an obsession," Jessica whispered.

Easton just skulked as Jessica and I laughed our heads off as we continued to look at the baby pictures. Every now and then, Jessica would share an embarrassing fact about Easton with me as Easton's face got redder and redder. By the end of the night, I'm sure he was ready to murder us both.

At about nine, I was about ready to head home. "Thanks for the great meals, Erica," I said gratefully.

"Anytime, Ty. You can come visit anytime you'd like. It was a pleasure to finally meet you," Erica said, glaring at Easton.

"I'm sorry! We've both been busy!" Easton said defensively.

"I'm sorry about George. He can be a pain in the butt sometimes," Erica sighed.

"It's all right. I can handle myself. I just hope he doesn't tell anyone about my hockey situation," I said nervously.

"He won't," Josiah assured me. "He may be rude, but he's not evil."

"Nope, he's definitely evil," muttered Easton, and Erica and Josiah gave him a disapproving look. "See you later, guys."

Josiah and Erica hugged Easton and me before we finally headed out of the house. We walked to Easton's car and went on our way.

A few minutes into the short trip, Easton said, "I'm really sorry about my uncle. He's the one with no self-control."

"It's all right, every family has someone like that. Remember Mark in my family?" I asked, reminding him of my insufferable cousin.

"Yeah, I remember Mark," Easton chuckled. "He seems a little... uptight."

"A little?" I said pointedly, and we both laughed.

A few minutes later, we reached my house. Easton leaned over and gave me a long, slow kiss. "I'll talk to you later tonight," he promised.

"Call me when you get home," I replied, climbing out of the car. "I love you."

"Love you, too," he replied, and I shut the door to the Lexus.

I headed inside of my house out of the cold almost-winter air. As soon as I hung my coat on the rack, my parents swarmed me.

"So how was the Thanksgiving event?" asked Dad.

"It was good. Easton's crazy uncle somehow figured out that I play college hockey, though. I don't think he'll tell anyone, but I don't know for sure," I sighed.

"What?" my parents said together, astonished.

"Yeah, so now Easton's whole family knows. I'm pretty sure that none of them will tell anybody. They seemed to like me, I guess," I shrugged. "Other than that one incident, it was pretty fun. Easton's parents are really nice. Easton's uncle George is kind of like the equivalent to Mark in our family."

"Hey, don't say mean things about your cousin," scolded my mother.

"Sorry," I said flatly, obviously not sorry. They both knew how Mark could be.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," said Dad.

"Me too. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some psychology homework that I need to get done," I groaned.

"The semester's almost over, Ty. You can make it," encouraged Mom.

"I hope so," I sighed before heading up to my room.

I had just opened my textbook when my phone started to ring. "Thank goodness you called," I said, answering my phone. "I was just about to start my psychology homework."

"I should probably hang up then," Easton laughed. "You should really get your homework done."

"You know how much I hate psychology," I groaned.

"Yes, but you still need to get your work done," Easton chided. "I can't talk long anyways. Charlie and Jason just showed up."

"On Thanksgiving?" I questioned.

"Yeah, those two are weird," Easton said. I could almost hear his eyes rolling. "I'll call you tomorrow. Then we'll be able to talk."

"Okay," I said.

"Bye, I love you," he said.

"Love you, too," I replied, and then we both hung up.

I stared at my phone for a while before sighing. I knew I shouldn't feel bad about Easton hanging out with Jason and Charlie over talking to me, but I did. I knew that Easton had other friends, but I somehow felt ignored despite the fact that we spent the whole day together. I decided that I needed to quit moping about Easton cutting our conversation short, so I opened my psychology book back up and started reading.