Page 22 of The Poster Boy
“You did good, kid.”
The exchange echoed the very first time Kelsey had come to one of my games. I remembered skating up to the boards after and yanking my helmet off. It was back before I knew I was gay. Back before Mom and Dad threw me out. It became our thing. Something we said after every game.
“So how are things back home?” The question was out before I remembered that her home wasn’t my home anymore. That, for the first time in years, we weren’t close in proximity. I still hadn’t fully settled into my new city, despite the fact that we were coming up on December now, and I’d been there for a month or more. But that was partly because I spent so much time on the road that my apartment in Vancouver felt less like a home and more like a really messy hotel room.
“They’re good. The job is… well, it’s work and it doesn’t suck entirely, and it lets me do things like be involved in community theater.”
“And the girlfriend?”
“We’re good.” Kelsey was still shy about the whole girlfriend thing. She seldom volunteered information or anything about her relationship. She’d always been a bit on the private side, which sucked for her when I was outed because it put the spotlight on me, and her by association.
“Hey, how are things now that I’m not there? Does the press bother you?” At first they’d hounded her outside of my games, but that had died off when I started talking to them on a regular basis. If they got news right from the source, they didn’t have to go bothering Kelsey about me.
“They’re fine, Marek. It’s been really quiet actually. There were some calls after you were traded, but Faye helped me put a statement together.” Kelsey almost whispered the next part. “She’s really good to me, Marek.”
“That’s great. You deserve it. You have better taste in women than you ever had in men.”
“Hey! That’s… okay, that’s true, but you don’t need to rub it in.” Kelsey laughed and turned the focus back on me. “And how are you? How’s the team? The city? Tell me everything.”
“The team is good.” Brookbank went from hating me to pretending I didn’t exist as often as he could get away with. The guy was hot, but kind of an asshole. “The city is… I have no idea honestly. But the fans are great. The team put me up in a condo across from the arena.”
“And how are you, Marek? I know change is hard on you.”
I was shit. My apartment was a disaster. My fridge looked like a series of failed science experiments. I kept meaning to clean and I’d get started, but then the phone would ring, or I’d get hung up on doing a different task. Without Kelsey to stop in and look out for me, I was failing to look after myself.
“Marek?”
“Sorry.” Shit. I hadn’t realized I’d panicked and spaced out on her.
“Marek, what’s going on?”
Shoving aside some dirty laundry, I sat on my rumpled bed and let out a sigh. “I’m not good at this, Kels.”
“At what?”
Running a hand through my hair, I let out a deep breath. “The only thing I’m good at is hockey. And Church’s luck finally turned around, so he’s been in the net more. And I’m just a glorified benchwarmer now.”
“You’re good at more than hockey. And you’re getting so much more ice time than you did on the last team.”
It was true. But I still didn’t fit in with the team. I had Andrew, and Griffin, and a couple of the other guys. Boone made sure no one was a dick to me, even his bestie Brookbank, but the media hounding hadn’t slowed down and sometimes it was very apparent that the attention from the press was something that was keeping me apart from myteammates. I tried to bear it all with a smile, but the cracks had started to form in other areas of my life.
“You’re right. I’m just being grumpy because I liked starting.”
“You’re such an asset to the team. Your old team was stupid for letting you go,” she said, like she didn’t want to say their name in case it was bad luck or something.
“You’re only saying that because you miss me. But it’s not long until Christmas. Did you want to fly up here, or I could go down there?”
Silence.
Dread swirled in my stomach.
“I can’t get time off to travel, Marek.”
“So I’ll come to you. I can fly in on Christmas Eve and fly out on Boxing Day. I’ll meet up with the team later. Easy peasy.”
“That’s a lot of travel. Are you sure?”
“Kels, I’m coming home for Christmas.” My phone beeped with an alarm, and I shot to my feet. “I’m going to be late for practice if I don’t get my ass up and get going.”
