Page 129 of The Long Game
They partied in the locker room after, then moved the party to Monk’s. This time, Ilya had gone too. He wouldn’t have missed it.
“You are so bad at pool,” he chirped at Bood while bending to take a shot. “How am I supposed to do this when there are so many of your balls in my way?”
“That’s my strategy,” Bood said with a grin.
Ilya huffed, took his shot, then watched in dismay as one of Bood’s balls went into a side pocket. Bood cracked up. “See? You do my work for me.”
“Like on the ice, you mean?”
Bood pointed his cue at him menacingly. “Okay. You can fuck off now.”
They both laughed. Ilya was in a great mood. Not only had the game been a blast, and he was having a great time drinking with his teammates, but he’d seen Troy leave the bar with Harris a few minutes ago. Plenty to celebrate.
Ilya went to pour himself another beer and found the pitcher empty. “Another?” he asked Bood.
“Nah. I have to get home. Cassie is about to have a baby any second.”
“Yes. Of course. Tell Cassie I say hello.”
Bood hugged him, then thumped him hard on the back. “Good game tonight.”
“You mean the hockey game, yes? Not the pool.”
“Not the pool,” Bood agreed. “Have a good night, Roz.”
Ilya wasn’t quite ready to go home yet. He was worried the good vibes would end as soon as he was alone. He went to thebar, ordered another beer, then carried it to a table where a bunch of guys were watching Luca Haas do...something.
“Did you know that Luca could draw like this?” Evan Dykstra asked when he saw Ilya. “This is amazing.”
“Let me see,” Ilya said, and leaned over the table. Luca was working on a pencil drawing of Spider-Man. It looked professional.
“Holy shit,” Ilya said. “Incredible. I cannot draw at all.”
“And he’s, like, half drunk,” Dykstra said proudly.
“It’s not that good,” mumbled Luca. “I messed the webs up on his shoulders.” He sighed and grabbed the eraser that was sitting on the table next to him.
“No!” Ilya protested. “Don’t erase it.”
“I’m just going to fix it,” Luca said with a little smile. “This is for Nick’s son. Do you want me to draw you a Spider-Man next, Ilya?”
Ilya kind of wanted to say yes. He sat in the only empty chair and watched with fascination as Luca fixed whatever had been bothering him about the drawing.
“Is this what you have in that backpack you always carry?” Ilya asked. “Drawing stuff?”
Luca pushed his glasses back up his nose with the end of his pencil. “Mostly, yes.” He finished the drawing, signed it, then shook his hand out. “I’m taking a break. My fingers are cramped.”
“Why are you not an artist for a job, Haas?” Ilya said.
Luca laughed. “I think hockey pays better.”
“You should design my next tattoo,” Ilya said. “Like, a cool animal.”
Luca stared at him. “Are you serious?”
Ilya shrugged. He hadn’t thought much about his next possible tattoo, but it would be nice to have one designed by a teammate. “Sure.”
“That is a lot of pressure,” Luca said.
