Page 63 of Hockey Bois
Brady punched his shoulder, not hard but not exactly gentle. “You’re such a little shit.”
“I try. Wanna grab some beer? I don’t know if I have my ID on me, so hopefully Benns isn’t carding people.”
“A beer soundsawesome.”
There was an honest-to-God line to get drinks, and all anyone could talk about was the gifts.
“Beautiful sweater!”
“This is a limited-edition beer!”
“Do you even bake? When are you going to use those cookie cutters?”
“I can’t believe you guys think my gear stinks!”
Nick and Brady took it all in, talking more about their own holiday outings with family and friends rather than the gifts. Their carefree attitude caught up with them moments later when they went back to the lounge and found every single reasonable spot already occupied by one, two, or, in some cases, three people.
“Floor?” Brady suggested after taking a swig of his beer.
“Guess so.”
They huddled together on the ground, elbows occasionally bumping, completely in each other’s space. During the game, it was all safe talk—great move from a player, awesome save, bad reffing that resulted in a make-up call, the usual general hockey BS that kept Nick focused on things other than Brady’s lips or how unruly his hair was getting even under his hat—but it still managed to make his insides gooey.
Could be the hot chocolate… or the beer…
Then Brady practically leapt into the air with GG and Lexi at an amazing breakaway goal from Mitch Marner. They enthusiastically high-fived each other, and it was adorable to see Brady happy about NHL hockey without annoying the people around him. He’d sometimes earned them weird looks at the bar when the Pens scored and he enthusiastically whistled or cheered.
Now it was happy Brady with nothing holding him back.
Nope. Not the drinks, then.
But Nick already knew that, didn’t he?
*
Moving forward with Brady seemed to be a game of inches. A gift here, his familiar presence within reach there, time alone in the parking lot after games, but never too much at once.
But every time he thought about asking for more, he’d chicken out. There were times when he felt they had something good going… and then Brady would clam up. On the bench during games, he’d pull away from the friendly hand to his shoulder. In the rink lobby, he’d turn down the offer to go to Krazy Dan’s. One time it was in the locker room, the two of them sharing a beer and laughing at some stupid meme on Nick’s phone. Donno had asked what was so funny, and Brady’s smile had disappeared, and he’d pretended it was nothing.
If it was the two of them, Brady didn’t seem to mind proximity. As soon as an audience appeared…
Brady was a private person, and the bobblehead was a little too public. It was just in front of the team, but Nick figured that was enough to warrant taking a step back. So despite how happy Brady had seemed about the gift, despite how well Nick thought things were going, Nick backed off after the Winter Classic.
He didn’t push to meet up for drinks or hockey, and he certainly didn’t text to ask where Brady had ended up putting his little Jagr. He let Brady be so he could readjust to his life away from Pittsburgh. If Brady needed a lifeline, he’d text to ask for one.
Besides, they had a game in a few days.
Not that he needed to wait that long, apparently.
Jensie from Hockey (2:17 p.m.)
our game tonight isn’t until midnight (lame)
wanna get dinner before the game? it’s Wheaton so we don’t have to rush or anything
Nick (2:39 p.m.)
yeah i could do dinner
