Page 16 of Role Model

“Nothing wrong with that. What about something savory, like poutine?”

“Always seemed kinda gross.”

Harris blew out a breath. “I’ll edit that answer out so the Ottawa fans don’t know your shocking views of poutine.”

“Cheese and gravy don’t go together.”

“The fuck they don’t!”

Troy smiled properly at that. A brief and heart-stopping flash of teeth that made Harris light-headed. It changed Troy’s whole face, and Harris wanted him to do it again.

“I’ll take sweets over fries and gravy any day,” Harris said, “but poutine is delicious. Who do you play as in Mario Kart?”

“What?”

Harris grinned. He found he got the best answers when he kept the questions random. “You’ve played Mario Kart, right? Please say yes, or I’ll have to tear up my entire second page of questions.”

“You have a page of questions about Mario Kart?”

“Answer the question.”

The smile didn’t fully return, but Troy’s eyes glinted in a way that suggested he might be having an okay time. “I’ve played Mario Kart. I usually pick Mario.”

“No imagination whatsoever.” Harris sighed.

“He’s the best one, isn’t he? The game is named after him. Why? Who do you pick?”

“I’ve been a Yoshi man since I was, like, six years old.”

“He’s my second choice,” Troy conceded.

“We’re basically the same person!”

“Twins,” Troy agreed flatly.

“What’s your favorite place on earth?”

“It’s really hard to follow these questions.”

“But you’re not bored, right?”

A slight quirk of Troy’s lips. “No. I’m not bored.” Again, he took his time considering the question. “Is on the ice a terrible answer?”

“It’s the worst answer. Where do you spend your summers? Or have you traveled anywhere good?”

“I, um.” All of the amusement left Troy’s face. He looked tortured, like answering this question might actually kill him. Harris took pity.

“On the ice is fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks. Sorry. I’m not good at this.”

“You’re crushing it,” Harris assured him, though it wasn’t exactly true. “Next question: Mountains or ocean?”

“Why choose? I’m from Vancouver.”

Harris grinned. “That’s right! And the team is heading there this week. That must be nice for you.”

Troy frowned. “Sure. Yeah. Of course.” The way he said it implied that he would rather travel directly to hell than home to Vancouver.

---