Page 27 of The Waiting Game

And he was pretty damn sure he was never going to outgrow any of them.

CHAPTER SIX

After Jonah got his pregame fill of plants, they went in search of lunch.

By now, they had favorite Korean restaurants in all of the major cities and today was no exception to that part of their pregame ritual. The botanical garden tours were definitely for Jonah, but the Korean food was all for Felix.

He smiled the moment he stepped inside the restaurant.

“We recently got a liquor license,” the waitress said, smiling back at them after they sat down. “Would either of you like to see the Soju cocktail menu?”

Jonah shook his head. “No thank you. Iced tea for me.”

“Just water,” Felix said, not even looking at the menu. “Oh, and we’re ready to order.”

“Sure.” She got out her little pad of paper.

They ordered seafood pancakes to share and giant steaming bowls of soup.

Felix liked the soft tofu soup with spicy broth. He loved the way it cleared his sinuses before games. Jonah went for the chicken stew with potatoes, onion, scallion, and green chilies.

“And could you bring out two orders of kimchi fried rice after we’re done with the soup?” Felix asked handing the menus to the waitress. “Fried egg on both, thanks.”

Her eyes widened, but she nodded. “Of course. I’ll be out with the seafood pancakes and soup shortly.”

He stifled a grin. She’d probably never seen hockey players order before. He tended to forget how much they put away compared to the average person.

When she was gone, Jonah leaned forward. “I never realized how many places fucking push alcohol on you.”

Felix shrugged. He was well aware of that now. It was fucking everywhere.

It was such an ingrained part of hockey culture too.

His team had been more than accommodating about avoiding it lately, but while Felix might miss the temporary oblivion liquor could provide, he didn’t really miss the taste that much.

Some people in rehab did—they’d gone on and on about it—but all Felix had missed was the mental quiet it gave him.

The freedom to not be so tightly wound.

“It’s fine,” Felix said with a shrug. “It doesn’t bug me.”

Jonah reached out a hand, gently touching his knuckles where his hand lay on the table. “Good.”

As they waited for their food, they talked a little about what they were expecting from the game tonight. St. Louis was a decent team, but they’d already locked in a playoff spot so they wouldn’t be battling for their lives tonight.

That wasn’t to say St. Louis would take it easy on them, but they wouldn’t be pushing quite as hard as they would have otherwise.

When the food arrived, it was searing hot and Felix bent his head over the bowl, inhaling the fragrant steam.

One time, shortly after Felix had returned to Toronto, Jonah had told him he didn’t need to eat Korean food before games, just for his sake.

But it wasn’t for Jonah’s sake. Felix was the one who had always found it comforting because it reminded him of home and family. The home and family he’d found with Grandma Ji-min, Grandpa Cho, and Jonah.

Felix’s own family had no interest in hockey.

They’d willingly paid for his lessons, cheered at his big games, but they were never the ones there for practices and immersed in the life and routine of a hockey player the way Grandpa Cho and Grandma Ji-min had been for both Jonah and Felix.

It was Grandpa Cho and Grandma Ji-min’s table Felix had eaten at more often than not. At least one meal a day every day for as long as he could remember.

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