Page 128 of The Waiting Game

“Jack—Jackson,” the boy stuttered, shaking it.

He turned to Felix. “And you’re Felix Hale.”

“Yeah.” Felix smiled and shook. “Nice to meet you, Jackson.”

“Would—would you sign my jersey, man?” He turned, showing off the back.

Felix was surprised to see his name and number on the back.

He was making assumptions here but the kid was probably queer. Why hadn’t Jackson picked Dustin’s jersey? Or Nico’s? Or Jonah’s, for that matter? Why his?

“Yeah, of course,” Felix said, trying to cover up the awkward hesitation. “Do you have a marker?”

The team liked to chirp Nico for carrying a Sharpie wherever he went. Fans seeking autographs from Felix were so rare it never seemed worth it to him but Felix could maybe see the point now.

Jackson fished a marker out of his pocket and held it out. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah, perfect. Thanks.” Felix crouched and carefully scrawled his autograph, the pen rasping against the white stitched number.

When Felix was done, Jackson turned to face him. “Thanks!”

“No problem.”

Jackson turned to Jonah. “I guess you can sign too. If you want.”

Felix stifled a laugh. That was a role reversal for sure. Felix was usually the afterthought.

Jonah smiled. “I’d be happy to.”

When Jonah was done, Jackson turned big blue eyes on Felix. “This was really awesome. Thanks, guys.”

“Do you want to get a picture with us?” Felix asked.

Jackson’s face lit up. “Yeah!”

They posed for a few pictures and then Felix looked Jackson in the eye. “Can I ask you a question?”

“S—sure.”

“Was it a coincidence you ran into us here?”

Jackson shook his head, looking uneasy.

“How’d you know we’d be here today? It’s okay, I don’t mind that you found us,” he hastily tacked on when the kid looked freaked out, like he expected them to be mad and yell at him or something.

“I, um, follow you on social media and I saw your post about coming here a couple of days ago. I figured you’d probably be back because it’s like your pregame ritual, right? I’m a hockey player too so I get it.”

“That was some good detective work,” Felix said, impressed. He considered the time of day and wondered something else. “Did you skip school to be here?”

“Just part of it,” Jackson mumbled.

“Well, maybe don’t do that again,” Felix said gently. “School’s important.”

“But I wanna play hockey!” Jackson protested. “I’m not gonna need to know all the shit they want us to memorize.”

Felix hid a wince. “Well, that’s great that you want to play hockey,” he said. “And I bet if you work really hard, you’ll have a shot at it. But it’s good to have a backup plan, you know?”

“And just other things you’re into,” Jonah added. “Like, plants are my hobby. It’s good to not put all of your time and energy into hockey.”

---