Page 36 of Hockey Bois
Nick (3:16 p.m.)
oh
no
western hoco
Jensie from Hockey (3:17 p.m.)
what is a hoco
Nick (3:17 p.m.)
howard county
you would probably only know it from the columbia mall
Jensie from Hockey (3:18 p.m.)
I have heard of that mall true
Nick (3:18 p.m.)
i grew up like a half hour from there
okay i gotta go not all of us are fake sick today and i got a shit ton of work to do if i have any hope of getting out of here with enough time to eat dinner before the game
Jensie from Hockey (3:23 p.m.)
cool see you tonight
*
Brady lobbed a protein bar at Nick so hard his hand hurt a little after he caught it.
He raised an eyebrow, and Brady shrugged.
“In case you didn’t have time for dinner.”
That was sweet, actually. Minus chucking it at Nick’s head.
Don’t read too much into it…
“Thanks,” Nick said and pocketed the bar in his back pocket. “But I already ate.”
Granted, it’d been a rushed trip to a fast-food restaurant on the drive to the rink, and he’d scarfed down as much as he could in the car, but he had technically eaten.
“All right, boys,” Benns said, only half in gear, as he stepped to the center of the locker room. “And lady,” he said with a nod to Gail.
She gave a fake smile. Given how loud she was on the ice when other teams gave her shit, Nick was amazed at her restraint and patience with Benns.
“Could I have your attention for a moment before the game?”
Everyone paused in curiosity, their gear abandoned for the time being. Benns’s weekly lessons and motivational messages via chat were commonplace now (and secretly Nick enjoyed them,because they gave the team a real, measurable skill to work on and improve), but Benns had never tried it in person.
This might be a disaster.
“Just wanted to say thanks for coming out last week. It was a lot of fun, and I could really feel us bonding over those beers,” he joked. “And I’ve been meaning to thank you for indulging me when I send out skills and strategies. I know I’m the captain and not the coach, but I was happy to see how responsive everyone has been, and I think that’s translated to the scoreboard.”
