Page 36 of Drop the Gloves
Evan tried to shake off the lingering thoughts about Barczyk as he went about his morning routine.He’d accepted his attraction to another man, but what did that mean?It didn’t have to mean anything if he didn’t act on it.What he’d done this morning when he woke up, that didn’t count as acting on it.If he never said anything to Barczyk, never did anything more than be friends and teammates, then this could just be a bizarre blip where Evan had gotten his wires crossed.
There was no reason to make things weird.Barczyk had been more than generous after the…incident…and Evan didn’t want to disrupt things.And aside from unwanted fantasies, Evan didn’t plan on doing anything about them.It was the idea of Barczyk that turned Evan on (for reasons he couldn’t fathom—if he was going to be attracted to men, why the most obnoxious one he’d ever met?), not the prospect of engaging in any actual physical acts with the man himself.
Satisfied he’d figured out his situation, Evan left his condo for practice, optimistic that he could face Barczyk and the rest of the team without embarrassing himself.
* * *
“Abernathy.”
Evan jumped and tried not to look panicked when he saw Coach Mel walking towards him.They had two rinks at the team practice facility, though they usually only used one of them.Today, half the team was scheduled for special teams practice, and the rest (aka Evan, the rookies, and everyone else deemed a liability on the Power Play) were due for work with the skating coaches.Evan was looking forward to a day of edgework, crossovers, sprints, and generally just hating his life.
The last thing he expected was to see any of the main coaching staff approach him, and certainly not Coach Mel.
“Uh,” was his super smart response.
“Change of plans.You’re with my group today.”
Evan stared blankly at her.“What do you mean?”
“Special teams, Abernathy,” she said with an astounding amount of patience.Evan appreciated it because his brain was not keeping up.“You’re with me today for work on the PK unit.We’ve liked what we’ve been seeing from you lately, and we want to try you on the second Penalty Kill line.Don’t get too excited,” she said when Evan lit up.“This is a trial to see how you do.If you impress us today, we’ll keep pulling you into practices and maybe get you some looks during a game.”
“I understand.That’s still—Ireally—” He took a deep breath and tried again.“Thank you for the opportunity.”
“Don’t blow it,” she warned as she headed out towards the rink.
“I won’t!”Evan called after her.This was awesome!He’d wanted more responsibility on the team, more chances to prove himself and maybe work his way into the top six.Granted, the pressure of being on the PK was terrifying, but still!
“You all right there, Abs?”Barczyk asked.He had his newly-sharpened skates in hand, otherwise dressed for practice.He sat down in his stall to put them on.“Never seen someone look so excited for skating practice.Like,why?I’ve been skating longer than I’ve been doing anything except, like, eating and breathing.I don’t need practice.”
“Everyone needs practice,” Evan said.He’d never been the absolute best at anything, but his ability to practice and work on improving that had gotten him to the NHL over former teammates who had hoped natural talent would carry them all the way.Just because they’d ‘arrived’ didn’t mean the work stopped.“And Coach Mel said I’m working with the PK unit today.”
“Hell yeah, Abs!”Barczyk abandoned his half-tied skate to offer his fist.Evan dutifully bumped it, knowing Barczyk wouldn’t finish lacing up until he did.“You’d be great at penalty killing.Kinda jealous you don’t have to do suicides with us peasants, though.”
The last time they’d ended a practice with suicides, Barczyk had dramatically flopped to the ground and wouldn’t budge, as if the drill had indeed killed him.It was probably because Coach Jack hadn’t been running that practice: even Barczyk had a healthy respect for their head coach, and he saved the theatrics for the skating coaches.
“You ever get PK time?”Evan suddenly felt bad, like he was abandoning Barczyk.And Vassiliev,he added belatedly.You’re leaving your linemates, not just one person.
“No sirree bob.”Barczyk moved on to his other skate.“It’s too much fun to try to score a shorty.I haven’t had a coach risk me on a PK since I was in Squirts and scored a hat trick just from shorthanded goals.”He finished tying his skate and looked up at Evan with a proud smile.“In aplayoffgame.”
Evan laughed.He had no idea if Barczyk’s story was true, but it was easy to picture a 9- or 10-year-old Barczyk ignoring his frustrated coaches and heading down the ice not once, not twice, but three times while shorthanded.Knowing Barczyk, Evan didn’t doubt he’d try for a repeat performance.
Barczyk bounced to his feet.“Knock ‘em dead.Gotta represent Line Three for me and Vassy.Just don’t block too many shots.It’s a practice, and Lawsy’s got a mean slapper.”
When they parted ways, Barczyk going left out of the locker rooms and Evan right, he was surprised to realize he’dmisshaving Barczyk around during practice.What a turn his life had taken in the past month: he’d almost rather give up PK time to skate himself dizzy with Barczyk.
Almost.
* * *
“And where were you?”Vassiliev asked accusingly a couple of hours later.He was freshly showered and leaning forward against his knees, like he couldn’t sit up under his own power if he had to.“How did you get out of skating with us?”
“I was working with special teams,” Evan said with just a hint of pride as he took off his helmet.“Coach Mel had me with the PK unit.”
“Penalty Kill?”Vassiliev looked impressed.“You will do a good job, I think.Easy to block shots when you are so big.”
“Thanks.I think I did pretty well today,” Evan said, so excited he couldn’t keep it in.“My group only got scored on twice, and we went through a dozen rounds.”
“Hells yeah, Abs.”Barczyk strutted in from the showers, pulling a too-big shirt on over his glistening skin.Evan caught sight of a gold chain before it disappeared under yellow cotton.“Star in the making, right here,” he said and sat on the other side of Vassiliev.Then he winked at Evan.
