Page 22 of Full Body Hit: Part 2
And yet, hearing the word ‘control’ drip from Auston’s mouth, as thick and sweet as honey, made Chase’s whole body clench up.
He was forced to snap out of it as Auston returned the question. “I’m guessing it’s not a big priority for you?”
“Why would you assume that?” Chase huffed.
Auston glanced at him again, smile wider now. “I haven’t met a single rookie who’s put any energy into it, is all.”
“I enjoy it, actually.”
“Yeah? What about it?”
Chase let that question percolate through him. “Well…I like the process. I think it’s calming. It’s kind of similar to skating, honestly—you gotta be focused on something, on what your body is doing.”
Auston nodded slowly. He’d abandoned the pan completely now, staring at Chase with a steadiness the conversation didn’t merit.
“And I guess I like that it’s something I can do to…to not depend on anybody.” The words felt confessional.
His mom had always been the one to feed him. To decide what he did and didn’t eat, monitoring his weight, his muscle mass.
It wasn’t as if Chase had suddenly gone wild and started eating what his mother would deem ‘unhealthy’, but…hegot to decide what that was.
It was liberating.
“I didn’t know that about you,” Auston replied softly.
Chase laughed, the sound choppy. “Well…we haven’t talked much.”
Auston’s face did—something. It didn’t close off or become cold, but it tightened somehow, losing the softness around the eyes. “Yeah, of course.”
Chase tried to shake off the strange energy that had suddenly enveloped them, as if the air had been forced out, leaving them in a small, intimate vacuum.
He’d hoped to lighten the mood during the meal, but it was more of the same. They sat at an actual table, Auston staring at him more than the food on his plate, eyes barely wavering.
It felt…intimate. As if their history wasn’t one of co-workers. Of almost strangers.
Every attempt to talk about hockey was batted away.
“You good living alone? Rare for a rookie,” Auston asked even though Chase had been trying to dissect the power play.
“Yeah, it’s nice. I mean, obviously it’d be cool to live with Sammy and Noah or something, but…” Chase shrugged.
Auston frowned. “Noah didn’t offer anything when you got a place on the team? That’s—that’s not right. Even if it’s not with him, a captain should—”
“Oh, no. He did,” Chase cut in as Auston worked himself up. “But my mom…well, she kind of suggested I should live alone.”
Auston’s face went eerily blank. “Oh? Did she have a reason?”
“Uhm…just to grow up? Not get too soft, you know?” Chase laughed—it was a joke, kind of—but Auston wasn’t amused.
“There’s nothing wrong with soft.”
Chase snapped his mouth shut. He didn’t have a reply to that.
“Think about living with them next year,” Auston suggested. “Sammy would lose his mind.”
That cracked the tension. “I don’t know…third-wheeling those two, even at home?”
Auston laughed. “You’ve got a point there.”
