Page 28 of The Trade Deadline
The whole team laughed like it was the greatest joke they’d ever heard. Lars didn’t know if the barb was meant for him or Ryan, but he didn’t appreciate it either way. Lars could take the chirping and have it wash right over him; he could see Ryan’s eyes dim and his smile falter and knew, for whatever reason, Ryan couldn’t forget it as easily.
“I’m biding my time,” Lars said loudly to draw the attention away from Ryan. “Lull all the goalies into a false sense of security, then get a five goal game and catch up.”
The rest of the guys laughed, a few throwing rolled up balls of tape at him. Lars playfully swatted them away. He caught Ryan’s eye and winked. Finally, the last of the tension disappeared and he relaxed.
“I think,” Vorny said, “we should go out to celebrate.”
“Late flight tomorrow,” Jake agreed. “Time for some good, old-fashioned team building.”
Lars added his enthusiastic agreement—he could really use a chance to blow off some steam. Everyone else he could’ve predicted, with the younger guys enthusiastically agreeing while some of the older ones bowed out, but he was a little surprised to see Ryan was on board. Ryan had put up such a fight when they’d gone to Rangoons in the preseason that he’d seemed like the type who avoided late nights out. People pleaser that he was, he seemed focused on taking care of himself a touch more.
They stopped by the hotel to change, then argued about bars versus nightclubs before deciding on a sports bar within walking distance to the hotel. The place was huge, with pool tables and dartboards and a few other games Lars didn’t recognize. The front area was a bar with long high top tables, and after standing around ordering beers, they were finally able to snag one.
He tried to talk to everyone a little. He was still getting a feel for the team, and he always found the informal settings were better. Often it helped him understand why his teammates were doing what they were doing on the ice, so he prioritized his linemates. That was probably why he couldn’t quite finish and score yet, since a lot of their opportunities got flubbed by miscommunication or bad timing. Lars was well into three beers and had worked his way through most of the team by the time he finally allowed himself to seek out Ryan.
Was it weird that Ryan was his favorite? Or that he had a favorite? He hadn’t on the Prowlers. There were of course people whose company he preferred, but at the end of the day, he didn’t have a best friend on the team. Not that Ryan was his best friend on the Crabs, he reminded himself. Or even his friend, really, since they never talked outside of work. He had Ryan’s number from the group chat, but he’d never figured out a reason to text him separate from everyone else. But the point was now was a great chance tomakeRyan his friend.
Lars was a friendly, chatty drunk. He knew that. He made really good impressions on people when he was buzzed, and he could use that to his advantage. Ryan seemed to be immune to Lars’s charm, probably because he was way more charming, so Lars should definitely find him and?—
Ryan was gone.
Lars made a few rounds of the bar to be sure. Their table was covered in half eaten appetizers but distinctly Ryan-less. He wasn’t playing pool with Johnny and the other young players. No one was at the dartboards, so that was an easy no. Another pass by the bathrooms—nothing—and he went back to the table.
“Where’s Ryan? RJ?” he asked as he tried to balance on an annoyingly high stool with not quite enough seat.
“He was chatting up a blond at the bar,” Jordy, one of the left wings, said without looking up from his phone. “Maybe they went back to the hotel?”
“Oh.” Disappointment curdled in his gut, which was expected; the jealousy that followed hit him even harder. The jealousy was so out of left field it left him raw in its wake. When hadthathappened? That was…it was…
Really inconvenient.
Maybe it was a completely platonic type of jealousy?—
“Was she hot?” he blurted out. So no, not platonic.
Jordy put down his phone and eyed him for a moment, the furrow between his brow making Lars freak out. Oh no, had he figured out that Lars maybe was into Ryan? Shit shitshit.
“It was a guy,” Jordy said with a mix of warning and forced calm.
A guy.
Ryan had gone back to the hotel with a guy.
I’m a guy!he thought unhelpfully.
Luckily he was sober enough to address Jordy’s concern (and noted that he had been willing to go to bat for Ryan if Lars had been a dick about it).
“I don’t care that RJ’s gay.” Well, that was becoming increasingly not true, but Jordy didn’t need the clarification.
Jordy must’ve believed him, because he instantly relaxed and smiled. “Good. And he’s not. He’s bi.”
Lars nodded. “Does he pick up people often on road trips?”
Jordy shrugged. “Every now and then. He’s one of the few single guys on the team, and he’s probably the nicest, so he does pretty well. Doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking.”
“Bet it doesn’t,” Lars agreed. If he were smart, he’d change the subject from anything other than Ryan. Unfortunately he’d had one beer too many beers to be smart about anything. “Hey, can I ask you something? About RJ?”
It looked like Jordy was bracing again. “Sure.”
