Page 35 of Drop the Gloves
Instead of being intimidated by the casual display of competence, Evan took it as a challenge.If Barczyk, known more for his ability to trash talk and throw punches, could make crisp passes, then Evan had no excuses.
When it came to game time, Evan felt more centered than he had in a while.All the extra garbage that had been hanging out in his head, he finally locked it away and just played.Be-more-physical what?Learn-to-fight who?Random-boners where?
On their first shift in the third period, Barczyk sent him a beautiful saucer pass for a breakaway.Evan normally freaked out on breakaways.Sure, he was fast, but he’d never had a talent for faking out goalies.Should he deke?Go for the wide open five hole?Drag the goalie to the right side of the net and then try to go backhand into the left?Panic and shoot it wide and look like an idiot?
Before he could choose between any of these options, he got barreled into from behind.Evan didn’t know who’d caught up to him, but they were pushing him off course and away from the puck.He nudged the puck into the slot before he lost it altogether.Whoever was on him was dragging him down to the ice, so Evan jerked his arm loose as he tried to turn back around.Someone crashed down at his feet, but Evan ignored the defender.
The puck was sitting in the high slot where Evan had put it.Barczyk was coming in at speed, picked it up, and shot it right above the goalie’s blocker.
It was a great shot, way better than whatever Evan might’ve done if he’d had the chance, and he skated over to congratulate Barczyk on the goal.
“Nice—”
“Fuck yeah, Abs!”Barczyk was jumping up and down, both hands clutching Evan’s jersey.“That was a beaut!You did fucking great!”
“Me?”Evan looked around, trying to remember if he’d done anything reasonable in that play.“When I let that guy catch up to me?”
“Wha—?No, when you threw him to the ice like a rag doll and embarrassed the fuck out of him so I could score.”Barczyk reached up to sling an arm around Evan’s neck and pull him down for a noogie.“Look at you, you fucking goon.Be-u-tee-full.”
Evan couldn’t help but preen at the praise.His dick enjoyed it too, since it decided this was definitely the moment to remind Evan that, hey, his sudden horniness was almost certainly Barczyk-related.He’d mostly gotten himself pulled together by the time they’d finished skating down the bench and fistbumping everyone.
“Great goal, Barczyk,” Coach Jack said.“Nice work on that breakaway, Abernathy.Would’ve liked to see you get a shot off, but you handled it perfectly.Way to use your body to make the smart play.”
“Really?”Evan croaked.
“That’s exactly what I wanted from you this season.That physicality.I don’t need you smashing people into the boards.You just gotta stand your ground and mean it.Fantastic, kid.Keep it up.”He knocked Evan on the back with his rolled-up game notes.
Evan got onto the bench and sat numbly between Barczyk and Vassiliev.
“You put the puck in the perfect spot for Barzy,” Vassiliev said with a definite note of approval.
“Thanks.”
Barczyk bumped his thigh into Evan’s.“Fucking be-u-tee-full,” he mumbled, chewing his mouthguard and watching the face-off at center ice.
Evan looked at Barczyk, hazel eyes bright and a brown curl poking out the side of his helmet, and couldn’t help but agree.
17
Evan’s dickhad behaved itself since the training mat incident.The Riveters were halfway through a five-game homestand—a decent chunk of time where they got to stay in the greater Pittsburgh area and Evan got used to his own bed again—without any issues during practices or games.It helped that he worked himself hard at the training facility (on the ice and the treadmills; he avoided the mats) that he’d pass out before his head hit the pillow.
He was kind of in the best shape of his life.
But while his head and body were under control while he was awake, he had zero control over his dreams.And like it or not, Riley Barczyk featured prominently in all of them.
“I think,” Evan mumbled to himself one morning, “I have a thing for Barczyk.”
He was still in bed, panting slightly.Once again, he’d woken up hard and aching, so he’d taken himself in hand and…maybe let his dreams solidify more than usual.As he jerked himself off hard and fast, it was definitely while picturing Barczyk.
Come soaking his hand, he lay there in the uncomfortable admission.
Am I gay?he wondered as he got out of bed to clean up.Didn’t seem like he was very straight.But he’d never had any sexual feelings toward a man before.He barely had any sexual feelings ever, which made it harder to sort through whatever was going through his system.Maybe…maybe Barczyk was just an exception.A really random exception, but maybe that meant it would go away as quickly as it’d appeared.
After he’d showered, Evan looked at himself in the mirror.He didn’tlookany different.He didn’tfeelany different.Shouldn’t he, like,knowif he were a different person than he thought he was?
“Because you’re not different,” he assured his reflection.
His reflection didn’t seem to buy it.
