Page 47 of Hockey Bois
As much as he wanted to keep the conversation going, there wasn’t a whole lot he could say.What other players do you think are hot?might help paint a better picture of Brady’s sexuality, but they’d already gotten into a muddled mess of talking about each other as much as the players.
Inspiration hit, a safer approach that kept things going.
Nick (8:45 .p.m)
what about jagr? he hot?
Almost immediately he got a response so definitive he laughed out loud.
Jensie from Hockey (8:45 p.m.)
abso fucking lutely he is
Jagr is like a fine wine
that mullet wasn’t great but it was the early 90s gotta make some allowances
and he looks baller with the beard
you see him dangling around those scrubs in the Czech league? also hot af
also I have been informed by my sister that Tom Wilson is in fact hot
Nick (8:49 p.m.)
and i assume you’ve disowned her
Jensie from Hockey (8:49 p.m.)
obviously.
it’s gonna make the rest of Thanksgiving super awkward
Nick snuck back into the basement where his cousins were arguing over the merits of watching Avatar—thematically on point for Thanksgiving—versus Aliens—which also arguably went along with the invaders from another place killing indiscriminately for their own benefit. Okay with either choice, he plopped down on the couch next to Jenna.
She nudged him with her elbow and whispered, “What’s the verdict?”
“He went on about how Jaromir Jagr is hot and off the top of his head knows Tyler Seguin’s got a six pack so… probably not 100% straight? Do straight boys do that?”
Jenna snorted. “Jock straight boys? Not in high school they didn’t, but maybe the grown-up versions do. Yeah, I’d say that’s in your favor. Maybe ramp up the flirting?” She held up her hands, pointer finger and thumb almost touching. “Just a smidge? Or are you still on the ‘It’ll Ruin My Life’ train?”
Nick stared at his phone and couldn’t contain a grin. “I am, but I think I might try anyway.”
Chapter Five: December
The days slipped by. Work, hockey, family, running, over and over in an endless cycle. There was a brief interlude for Nick’s birthday, a small event that was just him and his cousins closing out a local brewery, and then it was back to the grind.
It was exhausting, and the impending holidays didn’t help. The end of the year meant tons of work closing out finances, even though he personally only had a small part to play. Christmas also meant tons of family stuff eating away at his free time. Luckily, hockey games were slowing down for the holidays, but the trade-off was the stick-and-pucks were filling up with kids home from college.
Basically, he was stressed just thinking about the next few weeks, never mind actually living through them.
A busy social schedule was theonly reasonhe found himself in his current dilemma: he had to use one of the questionable showers at the rink.
Nick tried to scrub the gross feeling off his skin, the itch of invisible mildew. His towel was too soft for the job, but he couldn’t resist trying.
Ugh, he was totally going to need to shower again when he got home.
“If I die from some strange fungus,” he said as he escaped back into the locker room, “please lie to my parents and say I died from something way cooler.”
