Page 71 of Drop the Gloves
“You all right?”Dalton asked as the table cleared out.“You barely ate.”
“I've just got a lot on my mind.”He forced a giant bite of eggs into his mouth, hoping Dalton would take a hint and not talk to him.Evan wasn’t in the mood.
Dalton did not take the hint.
“What’s up?Normally you only freak out about hockey stuff, and the season’s been going pretty well for you.Your line’s doing great.”
Evan chewed and grunted.
“And I know the coaches are happy with your play lately.You’ve stepped it up this season with the physicality.I know S’more’s got a couple seasons left on his contract, but JT’s out after this season.If he signs somewhere else, they’ll probably be ready to move you up to second-line center.The way you’ve been playing...”
Dalton continued to babble, and Evan let him.Hockey had always been the center of Evan’s world.Maybe it could ground him now before he drifted too far off course.
* * *
Evan didn’t see Barczyk until the plane ride back to Pittsburgh.He held his breath as Barczyk got on the plane.They made eye contact, and Barczyk headed toward him?—
“Barzy!You in for some Mario Kart?”
Barczyk kept his eyes locked on Evan a few heartbeats longer before turning away and smiling.“Sure, bro.But I only play as Princess Peach.”
With a Barczyk-free hour and a half ahead of him, Evan should’ve relaxed.Instead, his throat tightened uncomfortably, and his chest ached.
* * *
Abernathy
Minigolf ASAP.
Dalton
It’s fucking November bro it’s freezing out
Abernathy
The place in the strip is indoors
And they have milkshakes
Dalton
K but you’re buying
Abernathy
Deal
“This is like a record, right?”Dalton asked as Evan scored another hole in one.It was his third in a row.“You’re locked in.”
He was.He needed to be.He took way too long at each hole, breathing in mini-golf and breathing out everything else while he lined up his shots.It’d been working so far: he’d only thought of Barczyk fifty times instead of a thousand.
Fifty-one,he corrected.
“So what’s the issue, bro?”Dalton asked.“Mini-golf is for when you’re stressed.What are you stressed about?You’re having a good season.”
Evan bent over to collect his golf ball and buy time to think it through.He liked Dalton.They were nearly the same age and had gone through the same development on the Riveters, and Dalton had been a great roommate and friend.Maybe he could confide in him a little, just enough to take some of the pressure off.
“I’m uh...”He stood back up and fidgeted with the ball.How much exactly should he say?“I’ve been hooking up with someone lately,” he settled on, because it was true but didn’t reveal much.No genders, no names, no locations.
