Page 58 of Hard Count
“From the season?”
“No.” Tank held his gaze. “What do you actually fucking want? Right now.”
Piper stood, grabbed his water bottle, and took a long drink.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because I’ve played seven seasons with you and I’ve never heard you want anything that wasn’t a ring or a stat. I don’t know if that’s real or just the answer you give.”
Piper sat back down.
“That’s bleak.”
“Little bit. But you’ve been fucking off. Like you’re learning something you didn’t expect.”
Piper looked across the room. He had escaped these conversations in the past because he had no idea what the fucking answer was and Joan was no help.
It had always been the easiest place to exist.
“I’m figuring something out,” he said.
Tank nodded. “What?”
Piper shook his head. “Not yet.”
Tank sat with it. “That’s it?”
“It’s more than it sounds.”
“I know it is.”
Tank leaned forward. “You’ve been running this shit so long I don’t think you know if you’re still choosing it.”
“When you are ready,” Tank said, “let me know. I’m not going anywhere.”
Piper let out a deep breath. “I know.”
“I don’t know what the next thing is,” Piper said.
“Nobody does,” Tank said. “That’s the point.”
He stood, grabbed his bag, and put his hand on Piper’s shoulder.
“Go get your fucking life together,” he said. “You’re going to get to the point where you and Joan aren’t going to get through this alone.”
He headed toward the door.
“Thanks Tank,” Piper said.
Tank paused.
“Don’t thank me, communicate with me, bro,” he said.
He walked out. Piper stayed another minute, then picked up his phone and called Noah.
Noah answered on the second ring.
“I think I’ve been figuring something out.”
