Page 88 of Drop the Gloves
Instead of agonizing over what Riley’s seat choice might be on the plane to New Mexico, Evan was proactive.He got on board and found a spot among the other younger players like Dalton, Winchester, and Pope.It did get him stuck playing Connect Four, but hey, he needed something to take his mind off of the cute right wing a few rows behind him laughing loudly with their goalie Farrell.
Back in August, that laugh had grated on his nerves every time he heard it.Now he wanted to pocket the sound and save it for later.
When they arrived at the hotel, the team braced for their usual warning about a curfew.Coach Jack looked about to say it, but Lawson stepped forward and said, “Hey, Coach.Think we could have a late curfew tonight?Let the boys unwind and enjoy the warm weather.”
Like a good captain, he wouldn’t let anyone else get chewed out if Coach Jack got pissy about the request.
Coach Jack narrowed his eyes.“Warm weather?It’s 50 degrees.”
“And back home it’s 30.It’s practically shorts weather.”
“Hockey players,” he grumbled before mulling it over.Coach Jack crossed his arms over his chest and made eye contact with each of them in turn.“If I’m happy with practice, you can have a free evening.As long as you don’t play like shit tomorrow night, I can let you boys have your fun.Don’t cause trouble, and you won’t find yourselves in any.”
This was met with quiet enthusiasm as they rushed off to their hotel rooms before Coach could change his mind.
“So what was the Portland incident that caused this curfew thing?”Riley asked once a bunch of them were safely in an elevator.
“You never been on teams with a curfew before?”Vassiliev asked.
“Oh, I have.Nothing as strict as when I was in Juniors, but I’ve had coaches lay down the law.Sometimes it’s a Barczyk-only curfew, but I earned that restriction.So what’d youse do to earn yours?”
The four of them shared a look, because none of them wanted to admit it.The silence drew out long enough that they reached the third floor and two guys escaped.When the doors slid shut again with just him, Riley, and Vassiliev left, Evan sighed and figured he should get it over with.
“There was an incident with indecent exposure,” he said.“There was a very drunken strip poker game going on in a hotel lobby.”
“It wasn’t the main lobby,” Vassiliev said.“It was relatively secluded.And it was very late at night.”
“Vassy, were you one of the indecent ones?”Barczyk teased.He looked delighted by the prospect.
Vassiliev looked offended.“I am good at poker,” he said.“I still had my shirt, socks, and boxers.I was very presentable.”
Riley burst out laughing as the elevator dropped him and Evan off on the fourth floor.Vassiliev waved good-bye as he disappeared behind the metal doors, and it was, as usual, Evan and Riley alone.
“I’m guessing you weren’t at the poker game,” Riley said, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes.“Fuck, that must’ve been fun until it wasn’t.”
“I was asleep in my room several floors away.Dalty and I stayed away from that kind of stuff.We weren’t old enough to drink when that went down, so we would’ve gotten it a lot worse than the other guys did.”
“How much trouble they get into?”
“A lot,” Evan said.Coach Jack had decided that if they had energy to be up at 3 a.m.playing poker and drinking, then his practices weren’t hard enough.So aside from their individual punishments, the entire team suffered from excruciating drills for the next month.Coach Jack didn’t let up until the end of February, only because he wanted them to save their energy for playoffs.They’d learned their lesson, though.
Hopefully.
“So assuming we don’t fuck up at practice,” Riley said as he stopped outside a door, “you wanna grab dinner?I know a place.”
“Sure,” Evan said.He was tired of hotel restaurant food.“What kind of place?”
“A food place,” Riley said.He laughed when Evan rolled his eyes.“A nice one.Great Yelp reviews and everything.”
“A nice one,” Evan repeated, a record scratch in the back of his head.“Where we should wear nice clothes.”
“Yeah, that’s how it works.”
“Just the two of us?”Evan asked uneasily.Riley huffed, a hint of whatever had happened on the ice in Quebec peeking through, so Evan quickly said, “Sounds good.A nice food place for dinner.Perfect.”
Mollified, Riley went into his room.Evan turned away before he could be disappointed not to be welcomed in.And then he walked mechanically down the hall with his hands shoved in his pocket.He was so busy stressing out over it, that he reached a dead end and had to double back to find his room...two whole doors down from Barczyk’s.
“I’m an idiot,” he grumbled.His hotel room didn’t disagree.
