Page 80 of Drop the Gloves
So she rearranged all her plans just for you?Fucking fantastic.
“Uh huh.”He grabbed the first available topic change he could think of.“Nice goal today.Season highlight for sure.”
Riley was proud that Evan blushed again, this time deeper than when they’d been talking about stupid Amy From the Billet Family (who was probably a lovely person, but Riley didn’t give a shit; he didn’t like sharing).
“It was all right.”
“Nope, it wasnotall right.It was fucking fantastic.Backhand bar down?Those ain’t easy.”He liked this part of being on a team.Hyping up his teammates, making sure they stopped to enjoy the little moments that made up a big season.Some guys put their nose to the grindstone, so to speak, and were too focused on the prize to enjoy the journey there.Yeah, Riley remembered when he won the Cup with vivid detail, but his fondest memories from his career were the mundane moments where he was hanging out with his bros.
You maybe lifted the Cup a couple of times, but you lived with your team every day for months, maybe years.
Evan, more than most, seemed like he needed those confidence-boosters.Not because he had his eyes set on the Cup, but more because he seemed...adrift.Letting hockey push him forward instead of getting steady on his own feet.
Riley could be his anchor.
“Yeah,” Evan said.He had that small smile that barely looked like a smile, but on him it was the equivalent of a grin.Riley hadn’t noticed that smile until they’d started their fighting practice.How pleased he’d get whenever he managed to punch Riley.His victory smile, private and contained unless you knew exactly what it looked like.“I guess it wasn’t bad.”
“It was great,” Riley agreed sincerely.“I’m jealous.Half of my goals this season have been garbage goals.”
“You’re really good with trash,” Evan joked.He had told exactly zero jokes when the season had started, so Riley delighted in them every time, even as they became more frequent.
“Dick,” he said far too fondly.Riley had stopped being able to ignore how much he liked Evan, but he hoped Evan wouldn’t spot it yet.He was hoping Evan might catch feelings for him too before then, though he wasn’t sure how likely that would be.
For the rest of the bus ride, Riley was determined not to let on how disappointed he was that Evan wouldn’t be his tonight.He could be nice and not ruin Evan’s night with his friend because of his foul mood.
And then when he went out with the team, Riley could get hammered enough that he wouldn’t care that he’d end the night alone.
33
Evan checkedhis phone to make sure he was at the right place and headed into the restaurant.Amy had texted him the address and time, most recently updating him she was seated at a table in the back and had ordered appetizers.
Rubbing his palms on his pants, he scanned the tables along the back wall until he saw her strawberry-blond ponytail.Amy Peters caught sight of him and waved him over enthusiastically, getting up to hug him when he was close enough, and Evan tried not to let his nerves show.He remembered all the talk about him seeing his ‘girlfriend,’ and the anxiety living in his head rent-free right now was like the queasiness of going on a date, but it had nothing to do with feelings for Amy.
The guys always gave him shit for Amy ever since they’d met her two years ago and determined they were a ‘cute couple’ and that she was ‘super smart’ since she knew about hockey, and it had always bothered him.Not because Amy wasn’t awesome, but because they made it sound like the only way a girl would go near Evan (or vice versa) was if they were dating.Like female relationships had to be sexual and couldn’t just...be.She was like a little sister, he supposed, though he wasn’t sure what having a sister was like.A good friend for sure, and that was what he needed.
It was also why he was scared shitless of this dinner.
“You scored!”Amy said when she let him out of her bear hug.“Mom and Dad’ll be so mad they missed it!”
They sat down and caught up.Evan relaxed into her stories as Amy told him everything that had been going on with the Peters family since he’d last checked in.Amy was a vet tech, and after a string of stories about weird pet incidents, Evan had regained some of his equilibrium.
“So what’s going on with you?”she asked.“Like, besides the hockey stuff.”
They didn’t talk much about hockey anymore, not since he’d gone pro.Like his mom, Amy watched as many of his games as she could and texted him encouragement throughout the season.She’d made it clear when they were teenagers that they were friends outside of his being a hockey player; she wanted to hear how he was doing with all the non-hockey stuff that didn’t make it into the news reports and media coverage.
“Uhm...”The answer was almost always ‘not much.’His life had been 99% hockey since he could remember.All the exciting things were hockey-related, whether good or bad.Evan had always struggled to pick out pieces of his life to offer her, often having to settle with times he got to play with a teammate’s dog or a particularly cool mini-golf course he’d found somewhere.
Today he had a very non-hockey thing he wanted to get off his chest.
“I uhm...I kinda started...seeing someone....”He made a face, both at how awkward he sounded and because he wasn’t sure if he could call what he and Riley were doing qualified as ‘seeing someone.’
But before he could backtrack or add qualifications to that, Amy clapped her hands together.“Oh my God!Evan, that’s so exciting!I’m so happy for you!What’s his name?”
“Well, he’s—“ He stopped short.He expected to have to do this whole thing about how it wasn’t a woman, but then what Amy said hit him.She hadn’t even gone gender-neutral.She’d straight up asked whathisname was.“How’d you know?”
Amy blushed, her shoulders rising to her ears.“Oops, sorry.I shouldn’t have assumed.That just slipped out.”A pause, then a quiet, “But I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Yeah...”Evan scratched at the stupid beard he’d finally get to cut this weekend now that it was December.No-Shave November and Playoffs were the bane of his existence.“I just...I dunno, I was expecting to have to explain that I might be gay—“ Amy made a sound; Evan narrowed his eyes.“What?I can’t be gay?”
