Page 45 of Role Model

Troy almost laughed. Did his new teammates really get together to play board games? “Like, what? Monopoly?”

“Usually games like Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride.”

Troy had not heard of those, but they sounded nerdy as hell. “Where do you go when you go out?”

“Lots of places. I like live music, so I go to a lot of shows. I go to gay bars. Not clubs very often. I’m more of a pub guy. How about you?”

“Pubs, I guess. I don’t go out much.”

“Unless some weirdo invites you to look at Christmas lights?” Harris teased.

Troy’s lips twitched. “Apparently.”

“Are you going to see your family at Christmas?”

“Nope.” Troy didn’t like talking about his family, but for some reason he said, “My parents are divorced. Kind of a messy one. Mom is traveling and Dad is basically a giant asshole.”

“Oh.”

“He has a new wife, too, and she’s barely older than me. So.”

“Awkward Christmas.”

“Yeah. I’m not sad to miss it. I haven’t cared about the holidays in years.” It wasn’t exactly true. Last year Adrian had surprised Troy in Toronto on Christmas Eve, and they’d had a really excellent couple of days together. Their celebrations weren’t exactly traditional, though.

There was a silence for a few seconds, and then Harris asked, “Did you see your dad when you were in Vancouver?”

“Yup. He still sucks.”

“Sorry.”

Troy could imagine what Curtis Barrett would say if he saw his son riding around Ottawa with a gay man, looking at Christmas lights. “Whatever. Fuck him.”

“That’s a good attitude,” Harris said. “Toxic people aren’t worth your energy.”

“I’m starting to figure that out,” Troy said to the window. The highway was dark, and he actually wouldn’t mind some festive lights to look at right now.

“What about your mom? Is she cool?”

“She’s great. She’s...” Troy sighed. “She was miserable, after Dad left her. And I was too busy with hockey to do much except give her money. Buy her a new place to live in Vancouver. That sort of thing.”

“That doesn’t exactly sound useless.”

Troy knew she’d appreciated the help, but he’d wished he could have done more for her. “Anyway. She’s good now. She met a nice, quiet guy named Charlie who treats her well and makes her smile. So now they’re traveling the world together. Been gone for almost three months.”

“That’s awesome. I’ll bet you miss her, though.”

“Yeah. A lot.”

There was silence between them for a moment, then Harris said, “Can I ask you something? About that dickbag you used to be teammates with?”

Troy almost laughed. “Sure.”

“I can’t really—like, he doesn’t exactly hide the fact that he’s—”

“A dickbag?” Troy offered.

“Right. Why were you friends with him?”

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