Page 103 of Two for Holding
“They’re great.I can’t believe your dad roots against you.”
“Oh.”Jax rolled his eyes.“I think he’s kidding about that?Mostly?It’s hard to tell.I don’t think he actually cares how my team does.”
Tom hummed.
“What?”
“No, it’s just…I never realized how different it could be.He loves you no matter whether you succeed.”
Jax bit the inside of his cheek.He ran a policy of not commenting on all the horrifying things Tom said about his parents, letting Tom uncover the layers of misery on his own, one by one.Like the long walks, it was good for him, therapeutic or something.Jax could listen and maybe go a few rounds with a punching bag later.
“You ready for skating or should we stop for coffee first?”Jax asked.
“Nah, I’m ready.Remind me to stop in with the physio after though.”
“Hip?”
“Yeah, only a little, but I figure…”
“Good call.”Perhaps this was Jax’s proudest moment in his ongoing mission to let Tom have nice things: All of his own accord, midway through January, Tom had gone to the team physical therapist in San Francisco and let her examine his hip.He’d even missed a game for the first time in three years, and by his own account, it was now much better.“Any thoughts on the other project?”
“Nope,” Tom said cheerfully.“Still no clue who I am without hockey.I’ll get there.”
“I know you will.”
“You can stop sending me links to random stuff you want to do though.”
“I don’t—”
“You do.”
“Fine, fine.There’s always the shelter.”
“Yeah, but that’s your thing.”
“You still like it there.”
Tom had been right when he said he wasn’t much of a coach, but he was still a good captain, and the kids reacted well to him during games.When some of them, especially the quieter ones, came up to talk to him afterward, he always made time for them.Whenever Jax scheduled himself for the same time slots as Tom, he lost long minutes watching his boyfriend interact with the teenagers, listening to them with the same seriousness he brought to game tape analysis.After the third time Jax got distracted, Mara snapped her fingers in his face to make him pay attention.
“Anyway, you’ll be playing for years once I’m retired,” Tom said.“I need to find something you don’t want to do.”
Jax tried not to grin too hard at the thought they’d still be together years from now.He failed.Chancing a glance over at Tom, he saw Tom smiling, too, so it was a win-win.Still, it had been a big couple of days, and there was only so much emotional conversation either of them could take, especially on game days.Time to change the subject.
“So, what do you think we’ll get today?Trout trouble or Morris mayhem?”
Tom shook his head.“I never should have let Luca teach you about alliteration.”
“Seriously, though, what do you think’s going on?I swear Morris has missed more games than he’s coached this month.”
“It’s only the twelfth.And Morris flew out with us.He won’t just vanish.Besides, Phil came along for this one.He can usually make the best of it.”
That didn’t calm Jax’s nerves about the whole situation.
Tom placed a comforting hand on his thigh.“If it’s still this bad when we get home, I’ll try calling the GM.”
Jax smiled at him, aware the promise was a lot for someone as unwilling to rock the boat as Tom.It needed doing though.The coaching situation had only gotten odder as the season progressed, with Phil all but taking over the reins from Morris and Trout trying his level best to enforce his draconian methods as soon as they turned their backs.Phil remained on LTIR, so he should have been in California rehabbing his knee instead of flying halfway across the country.At least he’d stopped needing his crutches.He’d been allowed some light skating in a no-contact jersey at the start of February ten days ago, and now he joined them on the ice for most practices, correcting form and giving tips because the actual coaches were too busy one-upping one another to work with the team.
The season had taken a positive turn for the Sea Lions, but with practices such a drag, morale had started to flounder again after the high of a solid win streak following Tom’s hat trick against Seattle.
