Page 55 of Twisted Minds

“Does Noah like him?” While I figure nothing much will come from this, Monty is softer than he looks.

“I think Noah likes many of your players.” He laughs. “Noah just wants some fun right now. He’s not looking for anything serious.” I look out at the city, feeling a warm calm wash over me. “Can we stop talking about my best friend?”

“Yes, of course. I insist.”

“Did you get hurt tonight?”

“Nothing bad. Still have all my teeth.”

“Glad to hear. Is it hard skating like that? Backwards, and stuff like that. I’d be so afraid to crash into the panels.”

I smile. “They’re called the boards.”

“Well, either way, I’d be afraid.”

“I’ve been doing it all my life. Honestly, it’s all second nature to me.” Playing hockey is as easy as going for a jog. I love it.

“Do you have a favorite team?”

“The Oregon Otters. They’ve had some queer players come out in the last few years, but I mean, I’ve always loved them. Their captain, Oliver Kulivov, is one of my favorites. Their goalie is also sick. I have some other teams I watch, but nothing compares to watching the Otters play. That’s the team Coach played on.”

“Why’d he stop?”

“He got injured, but I don’t really know the full story. A lot of it was kept from the public, and at that time there were other bigger news stories happening. He’s never really shared why he chose to go into coaching instead, but he was a fantastic player and almost beat some records. He’s a great coach too.”

“It must be amazing to play for him.” It is, but while I love talking about hockey, I really want to talk about Mark. He hasn’t opened up much about his personal life outside of college.

“It is. What things did you do in high school?” Mark is silent for a minute, and I look at my phone to make sure my signal didn’t drop out. Leaning forward, I see Monty well stroking his dick inside his sweats now.Gross. “Mark?”

“I didn’t do much, really.”

“What about your games?”

“We um, we moved around a lot. All over the US, and then sometimes to other countries. We lived in Germany for two years and then Japan for one. My father’s a lawyer, and he travels a lot for his clients. We moved to New York in my junior year and my mother asked if we could stay so I could finish out high school. I was always the new kid.”

“Wow, what was that like?”

“Horrible.” Mark admits. “I didn’t have many friends. I was . . . I was always the weird new kid. My mother thought that by staying in one place it would help me make friends, but by then it was a bit too late. I was picked on a lot.”

“Wow, I’m so sorry, babe.”

“It’s alright, really. I guess I was used to it. I had my games and my sketches—they helped in a way. I had a lot of alone time to plan my games. My grandfather, he—” I hear him take a breath. “My grandfather always loved hearing about the things I wanted to create. He lived in Sweden, so sometimes it was hard to call him, but we used to write letters.” Mark laughs. “Like we were pen pals. Every week I’d have something new from him. I’d send him sketches and then he’d reply back with his thoughts.”

“Do you still have them all?”

“In a box. I uh, brought them with me when I started college. I read them sometimes, when I have a bit of a creative block. He was so smart. I wish you could have met him.”

“Did he pass away?”

“My senior year of high school. He got sick. I mean, he was in his eighties, but it was the worst moment of my life.” I swallow, looking beyond me at the city. The lights bouncing off the black night make me smile. I’ve always loved the way cities look when the sun goes down.

“I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like you guys were very close.” I think about my own mother and how it left me so empty when she was gone. We used to do movie nights every Friday night, even when she was sick, and that first Friday after her death, I lost it. She’d died on the Monday, but it didn’t really sink in until then.

That Friday Jamie, Bri, Luci, and Xavi had planned a surprise movie night with my mother’s favorite movies. I cried so fucking much. It was then I knew who my people were, and even though my father’s betrayal hurt, I knew I’d be okay.

By the sounds of it, though, Mark doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have this core group of people who have his back, and I feel bad for him. I like the thought of being his person now, though I guess I have to share him with Noah too. “He was my favorite person,” he says softly.

“I bet he’d be really proud that you’ve stuck to your dreams. Even if your family disagrees with your career choice.”

---