Page 15 of Role Model

Well. That was...unexpected. Scott Hunter was certainly one of the best players in the league, but he was also an openly gay man, and an activist. In short, Harris was impressed with Troy’s choice. “He’s pretty awesome.”

“I’m also a big Ilya Rozanov fan,” Troy added. “It’s exciting to have the opportunity to play with him.”

“Jesus. Don’t tell him,” Harris joked. “That guy doesn’t need his ego any bigger than it already is.”

Troy’s lips twitched, just barely. “I won’t.”

Harris felt this was a good point to transition into personal preference questions. “Are you a dog person or a cat person?”

“Uh...dog, I think. I’ve never had a pet.”

“Wow. Never?”

“Nope.”

“Jeez, that’s sad. I love dogs. I don’t have one now, but I want a house in the country someday and, like, five dogs. Big ones.”

“That’s a lot.”

“It’s exactly the right amount of dogs.”

Troy shook his head and made a noise that was almost a snort of laughter.

“Do you have any hobbies?”

Oddly, this seemed to be a difficult question for Troy. After a moment of racking his brain to reveal literally anything he liked to do besides play hockey, he finally said, “I play tennis sometimes.”

Well, at least it wasn’t golf or video games, which were the answers that Harris got ninety percent of the time. “Never played it,” he admitted. “I like watching it, though.” He didn’t add that he mostly watched because tennis players were hot. He would bet that Troy looked really good playing tennis. “What’s your favorite ice cream?”

“Um. Shit. It’s been a while. Chocolate, I guess.”

“Wait.” Harris changed his tone to mimic a reporter asking a very serious question. “When was the last time you had ice cream?”

“I don’t know. A few years ago?”

“How is that possible?”

Troy lifted one shoulder. “It’s not something I crave.”

“So what do you crave?”

Lord above, was Troy blushing? “I—”

“Like, what’s a treat for Troy Barrett? If you could eat anything?”

Again, Troy seemed to struggle with the question. “I like salmon.”

Harris laughed. He couldn’t help it. “I was kinda looking for something that’s not part of your trainer-approved diet plan.”

“I don’t really care about food. It’s just fuel.”

Harris didn’t understand those words at all. “Food is the best thing about being alive! Like, I love fish, but if someone put a salmon fillet and a pile of my mom’s apple fritters in front of me, that salmon is gonna get real cold.”

“Cold salmon is good.”

“You can have it. I’m stuffing myself with fritters.”

“I don’t have a sweet tooth, I guess.”

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