Page 56 of Game Changer
“You want to talk about it?”
“No.” Then, “It’s just...” And he proceeded to rant about Frank Zullo for several minutes. Kip listened and absently stroked his fingertips along Scott’s shin.
“Geez,” he said when Scott was done.
“Sorry,” Scott said. “I’m kinda ruining the mood here.”
“Don’t apologize. If something is bothering you, I want to hear about it.”
Scott raised an eyebrow. “Even if we’re in a bathtub together on Valentine’s Day?”
“Definitely.” It was true. Kip had hooked up with lots of guys, but he hadn’t made a real connection like this before. It was frankly pretty sexy that Scott wanted to share his problems with him.
“So...” Kip said, “what did Rozanov say that made you punch him like that?”
Scott laughed, a little darkly. “Oh. Nothing really. I was taking out my frustrations on his face. He just yapped some dumb shit at me. Normal stuff.”
“You’re not gonna tell me?”
Scott sighed. “He told me he was disappointed because he’d heard I was, quote, ‘good at hockey again.’”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, well. He didn’t deserve a sucker punch like that.”
They stayed in the tub until the water got cool, talking about different things and learning about each other.
“If it wasn’t for hockey, what do you think you would have wanted to do with your life?”
Scott blew out a breath. “I can’t even imagine my life without hockey. But I guess maybe something like social work?”
“You like helping people.”
“I do. I’ve been lucky in a lot of ways. Maybe unlucky in others, but there are plenty of people who could have their whole lives changed with just a little help and support. I think I would have liked to have done something like that.”
“Youdodo that,” Kip pointed out. “You help people all the time. You give money to charity. You visit hospitals. You help your teammates.” He smiled. “I’ve read all about your good deeds, Scott Hunter.”
Scott shrugged. “My mom and I never had much when I was growing up, but she always did what she could to help people. She got the grocery store she worked in to start a holiday toy drive. And she was always giving her time, what little of it there was, to helping anyone who was having a hard time. She was really inspiring.”
“She sounds amazing.”
“She was. And she always made sure I could play hockey, even though it’s a sport that demands a lot of money and time. I owe her everything. And I know she’d be proud of me, but I think I could do more.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to maybe start a charity. I’ve been thinking about that. I wish...”
“What?”
Scott sighed. “Someday, maybe, I’d like to help gay kids. Or, um, you know, kids who aren’t...heterosexual?”
“Queer kids,” Kip said. “You can say that. It’s fine.”
“Oh. Yeah, well. I’m not really too knowledgeable about the whole...queer community thing.”
“I’ve noticed. You want to be?”
“I would. Someday I would like to do something to help...queer kids...who play team sports? It’s tough for them, you know?”
