Page 101 of Drop the Gloves
A wave of sadness hit him at the thought, so unexpected it made him want to cry.Evan didn’t know if he was capable of being a good boyfriend to Riley, if only because that side of himself was so new and raw.How could he build any sort of relationship when he hadn’t known he was attracted to men this time last year?
But he didn’t want to let Riley go.
I like Riley Barczyk.
His hand trembled as he wrote, but slowly he gained confidence.The scariest part was admitting it, after all; everything else wasn’t so bad.
Plan:
- give Riley space
- reach out to talk
- apologize
- try to get back together
- prove I’m worth a second chance
Carefully, he tore off the page along the perforated edge, then he hung it up on his fridge with the lone magnet.He had a plan, right there in black and white.He had no idea if it was agoodplan, but it was something.
* * *
Every day when Evan left his condo, he’d walk by the fridge and tap the paper as he passed.That little reminder of what he needed to do, like when he’d been a kid working on perfecting his edge work or his toe drags.
It didn’t make it any easier to have Riley ignore him during practice.He was good at subtly finding ways not to end up in the same group as Evan, or to put space between them during drills.When they had training in the team gym, he gave Evan a wide berth and never went near the area where they’d practiced fighting.During team meals, Riley surrounded himself so thoroughly that the closest Evan could’ve hoped to get was five seats away.
“I’m guessing,” Dalton said as he sat down next to Evan at one of those lunches, “that you tried to clear the air with Barzy, and he wasn’t thrilled.”
Evan tensed, a denial on his lips, but then he deflated.He didn’t see the point.“Yeah, kind of.”
Dalton scooped a big spoonful of pudding out of the plastic container, and Evan held his breath.He worried Dalton would accuse him of being a baby about the whole thing, or say that Riley was being childish to care.But all he said was, “Bummer.”
It was kind of nice, having one person be level-headed.
“Think it’ll be a problem at tonight’s game?”Dalton asked.“He’s pretending you’re invisible.Not a big deal in practice, but kind of a problem if your linemate’s ignoring you on the ice.”
“It’ll be fine,” Evan said.He was confident it would be, if only because Riley cared too much about winning and playing well to let something this petty get in the way.
Dalton shrugged.“Hope so.You two have been killing it together.Hate to see that get messed up over some drama.”
Dalton was the only one who seemed to notice anything was off.Even Vassiliev, stuck between them in the locker room, didn’t pick up on the tension that was so thick it felt like it was choking Evan.Or maybe he was too polite to comment.
During warm-ups, Evan was unsurprised that Riley ignored them.Their pre-game routine was over, and that more than anything told Evan how annoyed Riley still was.It’d been four days since their argument, and Evan had hoped he’d have softened by now.Riley never took things personally, not what players or the media or the fans said.If he got upset during a game, it never lasted longer than the game itself, like the final buzzer flipped a switch and he could move on.
For such a divisive player, he didn’t hold grudges.He remembered all the heavy hitters and the people likely to come after him, the weaknesses to exploit and how much each ref was likely to let him get away with, but it wasn’t like he was some villainous mastermind the way Evan had imagined.Riley was just good at reading the ice, and he did it objectively.
His ignoring Evan wasn’t objective.It wasn’t malicious either, but there was actual emotion behind it.
Which had to be a good sign.That meant he cared.If he’d really gotten over Evan, things would be like at the beginning of the season when Riley would actually talk to him or look in his direction.Evan still had a chance.
Right?
Their first shift was...fine.Not amazing, but not a total shitshow.It felt like he and Riley were rusty, and it was only Vassiliev holding their line together.They could turn it around.
On the bench during a game, there was nowhere else Riley could be except next to him, and Evan was determined to take advantage.
“Hey.”Evan nudged Riley with his knee.Riley’s head snapped around so hard, Evan’s neck hurt in sympathy.“Next face-off, I’m going to win it to you, ‘kay?”
