Page 140 of Hockey Bois
They shared a secret smile, then their eyes darted apart. Whatever it was they were doing, would it be public knowledge? Brady hadn’t said anything, but his actions showed he’d rather keep it behind closed doors. Made sense; Brady was private about way more mundane facts than hooking up with a teammate.
Not that Nick was even sure that was all this… whatever… between them was. Hooking up meant sex, which was definitely a thing now, but it wasn’t theonlything. Every dinner together felt like a stay-at-home date, and Brady taking care of him when he was too damn tired to do it himself felt like a relationship. Those didn’t feel like things people who were only hooking up did.
But until they actually hashed it out, it should stay a secret.
If he were smart, he’d bring it up.
Nick wasn’t smart, not about this, so he kept his mouth shut.
By silent agreement, they turned away from each other and settled into the routine of getting ready. Nick shook off his relationship jitters and reverted to pre-game ones; at leastthosewould disappear once he hit the ice and had a good shift under his belt.
“I bet I score tonight,” Brady declared once they were geared up.
The locker room had cleared out a bit (and yes, Nick had slowed down his own prep to wait for him), so Nick didn’t feel too shy about leaning in and whispering, “I bet you do.”
“That a promise?” Brady shot back.
“I got a few extra beers at my place, and we never did finish that movie the other night.”
“You’re right,” Brady said solemnly. “It’d be irresponsible to leave an unfinished movie in your queue.”
“’Course you could also maybe try to get a goal, too. May as well score twice, right?”
“Uh huh. You should try getting a goal or two yourself. You’re at a big zero points on the season so far.”
“I had work!”
“Tell it to the score sheet.”
He threw his tape at Brady and scowled. When Brady dodged out of the way, Nick noticed Gail across the locker room. She stood there in her sports bra and hockey pants, clearly filming them with her cell phone. When Nick glared at her, she didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.
Shedidput her phone away and get back to her gear bag, so that was something.
“You okay?”
It took effort to stop staring at Gail and turn his attention back to Brady. Okay, notthatmuch effort. Seeing Brady practically every day hadn’t lessened how drop-dead gorgeous Nick found him, and he’d stared at Brady with far less reasonable excuse. But itdidtake some effort to school his appearance into a smile.
“Just worried about the game, I guess,” he lied. He didn’t want to spook Brady, even if he was relatively confident Gail knowing wouldn’t bother him.
Much.
“Dude, it’s been a few weeks. You’re fine. I broke my ankle in high school and couldn’t play for nearly a year. I wasn’t in playing form for like three years after that. You’ll be fine.”
Nick’s brain did a record scratch. “Wait, what?” The ankle thing sounded the tiniest bit familiar, but he couldn’t place when or where he’d heard it before.
Brady ignored the question, hopping to his feet and knocking his hands together to get his gloves in place. “If you’re actually worried, you should get your ass on the ice to warm up.”
Option A: Press for more info on this broken ankle thing becausewhat!? Possible consequences: Get brushed off, have Brady shut down like he did in PA, make a bigger deal of it than necessary.
Option B: Follow advice and warm up, focus on the current problem, and maybe ease into the ankle thing later. Possible consequences: Actually not feel weird as shit about playing hockey again, maybe score a goal, put Brady at ease because he shared and can continue to share at his own pace.
Fuck, guess he’d go with Option B.
“Look at you, giving me a perfectly reasonable suggestion. It’s like you’re Alternate Captain or something.”
“Har har. Grab your stick. Let’s go.”
He’d practiced skating, stick-handling, and shooting—most of his usual warm-up routine—before he caught sight of Gail, alone at the far end of the bench by the penalty box. She was fiddling with her tape, and Nick figured it was as good an opportunity as any.
