Page 40 of Game Changer
“Can we talk about something else?”
“He’s seeing your sister, Huff,” Bennett joked.
“You know I only have a brother,” Huff said, “and I don’t think Howie’s his type.”
They all laughed. Scott did too, though it was forced. It wasn’t untrue, what Huff said. Scott had met his brother before and, no, he was not Scott’s type. But that’s not why his friends were laughing. It wasn’t the idea of Scott dating Howie. It was of Scott datinganyman.
“Fuck all of you,” Scott said. Not in a serious tone. He loved these guys, really. They were just...guys.
They went back to playing poker and Scott’s love life wasn’t mentioned again.
Scott envied his teammates. He could only imagine what it would be like to not be burdened by his...otherness. He wished he could just magically be what people expected hockey players to be. But he considered the three men who were playing cards with him—NHL stars, all of them—and none of them quite fit the mold. Carter, most obviously, with his dark skin. Scott knew he had dealt with racist comments from players and fans his whole life. Huff was short. He was listed as five-eight, but Scott sometimes wondered if he had been measured while wearing skates. And Bennett seemed more like a kindergarten teacher than a superstar goaltender. He never drank or partied, and he had an English degree.
So maybe there was no “normal” way to be a hockey player. But that didn’t change the fact that the favored insults thrown around the ice were homophobic slurs. In the world of hockey, being gay was considered, at best, a joke, and at worst, disgusting.
As long as Scott was careful—and hewas—no one need ever know that he was different.
Scott went back to his own room before eleven. Evenings ended early when they had a game the next day. His roommate was in bed, reading.
Scott stretched out on his own bed and pulled out his phone. He sent Kip a message:
I miss you.
The reply was almost immediate.
Kip: Already? ;)
Scott grinned and blushed. Had it really only been that morning that he and Kip had woken up together in Scott’s apartment? The rest of the day had been a happy blur, as Scott had floated his way through a practice before boarding a plane to Philadelphia.
Scott: Already.
The next reply came a little slower.
Kip: Me too.
Scott rolled so his back was to his roommate. He knew the kid, a rookie named Gillis, wouldn’t have the nerve to ask what his captain was smiling stupidly about, but still...
Scott wrote back.Was thinking about Friday.
Kip: Friday?
Scott: It’s Valentine’s Day.
Kip: Oh!
Scott: Will you come over that night? I want to cook you dinner.
Kip: I’ll check my schedule.
Scott: Oh. Ok.
Kip: I’m free. I was kidding.
Scott rolled his eyes. He felt like an idiot.
Scott: Can I call you?
Kip: Yes.
