Page 58 of The Stud

There’s no stopping me from leaning to the side of the camera and delivering a sarcastic stare.

“I am absolutely serious.” A green pen is whipped out next. “At home it’s simple. I put on my suit. I hydrate. And I dabble on it until time to leave. On the road…I have to sit next to a window,” his open palm ushers itself towards the one beside him, “use my team color pen,” the object is wiggled in front of the lens along with his face, “and complete it the next morning whether that’s at breakfast or on the return home or in route to our next destination. However, I alwaysstarta new puzzle pregame every night.”

Amusement and disbelief fuse in my expression. “Very…intellectual of you.”

“Hockey players are not alljustpuckheads.” Tanner flips open to a blank puzzle as he calls out, “WonderWahl.”

The large d-man in front of us pops his head over the seat yet again. “Yeah?”

“What’s an eleven-letter word for an impractical theorist?”

Confusion doesn’t hesitate to crawl across his complexion. “I don’t even think thereareeleven letter words, Snowman.”

“Although, some of them are.” Tanner winks into the camera. “Aye, Cap!”

“What?”

“Do you know a word for an impractical theorist?”

I can’t stop my attention or camera instinct from cutting over to the oversized Russian who is much smarter than most people want to give him credit for. “How many letters?”

“Eleven,” the three of us retort.

“Words don’t have that many letters,” mutters Potato from somewhere towards the front.

“First letter?” Cap cautiously inquires in return.

“Open.”

“Try doctrinaire.”

“Let’s try doctrinaire,” Tanner states in tandem with pen tapping the camera.

Curiosity has me leaning over to see if his top cheddar word choice actually fits.

“Correct amount of letters…” hums the man that won’t stop surprising me, “but does it fit with the clue that crosses it?” He uses the edge of the still capped pen to follow along with the next description. “Heavy metal band of ‘Down with the Sickness’.”

“Disturbed!” exclaims Wahl, scrambling back over the seat. “It’s Disturbed!”

“Fits,” our pen wielding crossword prince informs while popping the top off. “Which means Cap’s word is correct as well.”

“Yo, Cap, you got it right!” Wahl loudly announces during his slink back down.

“How the fuck did you know that?” questions one of the other boys.

“How about I get some credit too for getting one right?” Wahl whines, joining that conversation, leaving us to our own.

“See,” Tanner smugly smirks for the fans once more. “We’re much more than just puckheads.”

Ending the recording allows me to giggle openly.

Freely.

“Godilovethatsound,” is mindlessly muttered at the same time he fills in the letters. “Wanna hop on the assist?” His stare swings up to mine. “Show me what it is, I already know about you.”

“Which is?”

“You meanasidefrom you being impossibly stubborn?”

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