Page 38 of Two for Holding
Jax would probably say something flippant and funny, and then he would feel bad about it and say something else earnest and heartfelt, and Tom would feel so much better afterward.
But Tom couldn’t put all his feelings on Jax.Even if Jax didn’t mind carrying the load, it was definitely too much to unravel in the locker room.So, Tom said, “I’m worried about Phil.”
Jax nudged their shoulders together.“Hey, want to get lunch and talk about the PK?”
It was almost as good.
eight
Kayleigh [off-screen]: Best things about the NHL so far—go.
Howie: Wow, I mean, everything!Playing hockey on the big stage, my family seeing me out there—especially my dad.He’s a hockey coach; it means a lot, you know?
Mooney: [snorts] See, Howie made the team straight off his first training camp.He doesn’t know suffering.
Howie: Hey, I was in Juniors too!
Mooney: Okay, so I got drafted two years ago, but I went back to my Juniors team for a year, and then I was on the Pups—the Sea Lion’s AHL team—last year.And we went everywhere by bus.Everywhere.That’s twenty-plus sweaty dudes trapped in a bus for up to ten hours.Last year, one guy got food poisoning on our trip home from an away game.Worst five hours of my life.Then this year, I get here, I’m psyched already, right?And then we go on our first away game, and I get on the team bus, and it’s, like, comfortable?How?What magic do they put into the NHL buses?I love it.
Kayleigh: So what would you tell all the guys out there trying to make it?
Howie: Um, keep doing your best?
Mooney: What he said.And shout-out to the San Diego Pups.I miss you guys!
Top comments:
s_d_pups_official: Aww, we miss you too, Diego!Cuckoo says he’s sorry for throwing up in the bus
seelionssaylions: Great to see these new guys rounding out the offense!Keep your heads up, boys!
[comment deleted]
Sea_Lions_Official: This comment has been deleted.We take personal attacks on our players for their race, religion, or personal lives very seriously.Keep your heads in the game.
(From “Meet this Year’s Sea Lion Rookies,” posted to YouTube on 11/10/2024)
When the trade to San Francisco went through, Jax spent the following weeks mourning the loss of the good thing he’d had going in Philadelphia.He missed his house, his friends, his booty calls, all of it.But by the next road trip in mid-November, two weeks after the East Coast swing, Jax realized what he’d missed most of all was the comforting reliability of a set routine and the steady hum of other people, present and familiar in his life.
Becoming friends with Tom gave him exactly what he needed.They went to practice, they had lunch together, and they played the game.Jax took the spinning bike next to Tom’s in the cooldown room more often than not.Mooney even asked Tom for advice sometimes, especially with Jax there to make him less austere and threatening.
It was only natural to continue spending time together on the road.
After the game in Ottawa, they sat pressed up against each other all evening, shoulder to shoulder on Jax’s hotel bed, watching video and pointing things out on the small screen.In Calgary, it was Tom’s bed.
When Coach Trout got another half hour to unleash his not particularly well-hidden sadism on the D-core, they took Luca and Breezy out for lunch while Hayesie and the other vets chilled, literally, in ice baths so they could be something approaching fighting fit for the game in the evening.
“What is wrong with that man?”Luca groused over his kale and salmon salad.
“He’s probably very sad.”Breezy licked dressing off his knife.“You know, like, on the inside.”A drop of dressing ran down the side of his chin.
Luca studied him.“It is a miracle you survived to adulthood.In Italy, we would have put you out in the hills for the wolves to find.”
Breezy shoved a massive forkful of Cobb salad into his mouth before retorting, “In Montreal, you might have been hugged as a child, then you wouldn’t be this way.”
With every word, Jax watched, mesmerized, as bits of egg and bacon and chicken breast were compacted with lettuce.
“What way?”
