Page 54 of Puck Your Feelings
Becker taking accountability is refreshing. More athletes should do this.
#HockeyDadsAreTheWorst but Kane handled it really well.
And then:
These two have great chemistry. Not gonna lie, I'm shipping it.
"Shipping it?" I ask.
"Don't worry about it." He scrolls faster, his ears going red. "Internet weirdness. Occupational hazard."
My phone buzzes again. ESPN notification: "Wolves Players Address Family Drama with Maturity and Humor."
"We made ESPN," I say, slightly dazed.
"We made—" Becker pulls up his own phone, reading the article.
The view count hits one hundred thousand.
"I need to sit down," Becker says.
"You're already sitting."
"I need to sit down more." But he's grinning, this huge, uncontrolled grin that transforms his entire face. "We did it. We actually did it."
"We did."
He looks up at me, and there's something…unusual in his expression. "You did it. You stood up to your father. Publicly."
"We'll see if it actually changes anything."
"It will." He says it with such certainty that I almost believe him.
The view count hits two hundred thousand.
My phone won't stop buzzing.
***
Becker
THE ENERGY DURING dinner is completely different from the last night. People are actually smiling. Laughing. Not walking on eggshells around Kane and me like we're unexploded ordnance.
We grab food—some kind of chicken situation that's probably healthy but tastes like cardboard, plus vegetables that I'm legally required to eat as a professional athlete—and head for a table where Wall, Petrov, and Ace are already sitting.
"The heroes return," Wall says as we sit down. "How's it feel to be internet famous?"
"Terrifying," Kane says. "My mentions are a nightmare."
"Is because you sneezed like dying moose," Petrov offers helpfully. "Very memorable."
Kane puts his head in his hands. "I'm never sneezing again."
"Good luck with that," Ace says. "Devon showed me the memes. There are at least forty variations already."
"Forty," Kane repeats, his voice muffled by his palms.
"My personal favorite is the one where they edited it into the 'Jurassic Park' T-Rex roar scene," Wall adds. "Really captures the raw power."
