Page 56 of Goaltender Interference

“Is it okay?” Matt asked.

“Well, it’s mostly just family right now. And friends. Just heard from a few guys from my juniors team I haven’t spoken to in years.” Aiden looked down at his phone, like he couldn’t entirely believe it. “Almost all of that’s been...really nice. And my social media’s been mostly fine, but there’s a lot of ‘why can’t they just play hockey’ sort of shit starting to pop up.”

“Ignore it.”

“Honestly, if that’s the worst it gets, I’ll be satisfied.”

Eventually, Matt had to get out the door and start the drive to Brossard if he wanted to hit the ice for practice in time. Aiden hovered in the living room as Matt was packing his bag, and Matt looked up at him. He wanted to say something that would accurately convey the tightness in his chest, but he couldn’t. “I still can’t believe you actually did it.”

“You can’t? Because Idid.”

“I know, it’s just...we spent so much time arguing about what this would look like the first time around. It’s just weird as fuck, you know?”

“Yeah,” Aiden said, dry as anything. “Fucking tell me about it.”

“Sorry,” Matt said, softening. He stood, and Aiden bent down to grab his bag, follow him to the door. “Are you okay, Aidy?”

“I’m fine. I think. It just feels weird.”

“Itisweird.”

“It’s not as weird as it would’ve been if I did it while I was still playing, I think.”

“Probably not. You don’t mind that I’m not saying anything official yet?”

“No,” Aiden said, so quickly that it actually startled him. “I don’t want things to be worse for you than they’re probably already going to be. I’m sure people will speculate anyway. You don’t...there’s no reason to stick your neck out forme.”

He looked at Aiden again, trying to gauge how he was feeling, what was going on. But Aiden looked the same as ever, in his oversize hoodie and worn-out leggings, the arms of the sweater hanging over his hands. It looked a little bit like he was trying to retreat into his clothes, and Matt couldn’t entirely blame him, even if it wouldn’t have protected him from what would probably be a shitstorm of both supportive and unpleasant comments. Aiden had always been like that: when things got too much, he just sort of...shut down.

Aiden looked back at him, brown eyes unreadable, and finally said, “Hey, you’re going to be late if you don’t get out of the door soon. I’ll have shit ready for you when you come back.”

“Okay,” Matt said. “Thanks.”

He wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, heading into camp. He was fairly sure that his teammates would put two and two together, even the ones who hadn’t been in on the secret thefirst time around. Whether or not they’d have the balls to bring it up to him was another story altogether.

In the end, Fourns was the one to do it, cornered Matt in the locker room as they were all pulling on the last bits of their gear. “Cap? Got a pretty interesting notification from theTimesthis morning.”

Matt exhaled. “Yeah.”

“So it didn’t say it exactly, but I can read between the lines. This guy’s living with you?”

“For now.”

Fourns’ eyes crinkled at the corners in the way they often did when he was making a joke. “Man, anAmerican? I thought you had better taste than that.”

“He’s from Winnipeg,” Matt said mildly.

“Yeah, but he played in America for years. He’s got a house there. It’s basically like being American. Also the amount of times we’ve met them in the playoffs...esti de câlisse de tabarnak.”

“Is it going to be a problem with the guys, Fourns?”

The goalie shrugged. “Doubt the younger ones have figured it out. I’m not even sure if Jammer figured it out, or whether he’s just letting you tell him on your own time. I just had some thoughts and I wanted confirmation. Is it gonna be a distraction this year?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“Then we’re good.”

Matt thought about telling him that the knee was probably going to be a worse distraction than Aiden could ever be, but he didn’t want to freak anyone out. He just had to take it slow, stretch before the games and not push himself too hard at practice. Maybe he’d be able to get through the season unscathed.

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