Page 11 of Role Model

“It’s my job!”

“Sort of.” She went back to clicking and squinting. “He’s pretty,” she said casually.

Harris folded his arms protectively across his chest. “He’s not ugly,” he agreed.

Gen’s lips curved up, though she didn’t look away from her computer screen. “Didn’t you tell me last season that you thought he was the hottest player in the league?”

Harris had definitely said that. “I don’t remember.”

“We were playing Marry, Fuck, Kill and you said ‘fuck Troy Barrett’ three times.”

Oh. Right. “I may have had a few beers in me.”

“Mm.”

“His looks have nothing to do with anything, though. I don’t know if he’s just a jerk, or if he’s being a jerk as, like, a defense mechanism or something. Maybe he just needs people to be nice to him.”

Gen snorted. “NHL stars have it so rough. If only someone would adore them.”

“Have you seen any of the replies on our posts? The fans are vicious to him.”

“No. Looking at replies is your job. All I care about is that you use my good photos and not your shitty iPhone ones.”

“The photo of him on the ice during the anthem before his first game here,” Harris continued, ignoring her. “On both Twitter and Instagram there are about a billion nasty replies.”

“Pro or anti–Dallas Kent?”

“Both. But definitely anti–Troy Barrett. This one says ‘Barrett is jealous that Kent won’t fuck him.’ And then they use some slurs that I won’t repeat.”

“Hockey fans are idiots. What else is new?”

Harris didn’t bother defending hockey fans, and instead asked, “I don’t know why Barrett isn’t a hero right now.”

“Yes you do.”

“But he did the right—”

“Men never believe women. Women don’t believe women. Come on, Harris. You know this. What were you expecting to happen? The whole league rallies behind Barrett, and Kent gets kicked out of hockey?”

“That’s what should have happened.”

“No fucking shit. But instead, Barrett probably regrets saying anything. I’ll bet he didn’t even mean to say it! He didn’t have much to say when I mentioned it to him.”

Harris nearly dropped his phone. “You mentioned it to him? When?”

“When I was taking his official photo. I told him it was good, calling Kent out.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that it was complicated, which doesn’t actually mean anything.” She sighed. “I hate that word. It’s not complicated; Kent is a rapist and Barrett called him a rapist.”

A heavy silence filled the room. Gen was always blunt, but she was also usually right.

“Do you think,” Harris asked, “that Troy, like, knew for sure?” It was the question that had been on his mind for days.

“You mean do I think he witnessed his best friend assaulting women and didn’t say anything until now?” Gen shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. I hope not.”

“I hope not too.”

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