Page 103 of Cheap Shot

“No,” Sebastian said. “But it’s a fucking start.”

Crawford laughed and the mood lightened. They resumed watching hockey. It was still 2–1 so they hadn’t missed much.

Trevor Underhill drew a penalty and a Canadian player went to the box. Sebastian held his breath as Team USA drove toward Canada’s net, applying offensive pressure. Dustin Fowler barreled down on Jesse Webber, but the netminder snatched the puck out of the air like he was just playing around in practice or something.

The camera zoomed in on his face to show him smiling widely. He winked and tossed the puck to the nearby ref.

“Damn it, Webby,” Crawford muttered.

“He’s pretty good, huh?” Sebastian asked with a laugh. “It’s kinda nice to be able to cheerforhim for once.”

Crawford just grunted.

The game ended with Team Canada winning 3–2 in OT. Luke grumbled under his breath as the teams shook hands at center ice following the defeat.

Sebastian laughed, nudging Luke’s ribs with his elbow. “Good game, huh?”

“Yeah,” Luke admitted a little grudgingly. Ithadbeen a good game. A tight, high-paced, high-energy game.

There had been a handful of fights, plenty of scoring chances, and some really tight defense. In the end, Jesse Webber had simply been the better goaltender.

“Well, at least we get Webby back now,” Luke said with a sigh.

“Yeah, Kady seems like a great guy and a decent backup but he’s not …”

“He’s no Webby,” Luke agreed. “It’ll be good we have him back in the lineup going forward.”

“So how many jokes did the team make about the groin sprain he had?” Sebastian asked.

“So many,” Luke said with a laugh. “We gave Connor so much shit. The man was redder than his fucking hair by the time we were done.”

“Is it a good locker room?”

“Yeah,” Luke said with a small smile. “The fucking best. Connor’s really … he’s better now, with Webby. He wasn’t bad before but he’s—he’s really become the captain we needed.”

“I wonder what that would feel like to play for a team where the captain’s queer,” Sebastian said.

“Not just the captain,” Luke pointed out. “The GM, the yoga and Pilates instructor, a forward, half the fucking D-corps … and don’t forget the media guy.”

“Yeah,” Sebastian said with a soft laugh. “All that. And I guess the GM is abigfactor too. But I just … I wonder what that would have been like.”

“You miss it?”

“Yeah.” Sebastian had his head tucked into the crook of Luke’s neck, so he couldn’t see his face but there was something weird and tight in Sebastian’s voice. Luke reached out, wrapping one of Sebastian’s soft, springy curls around his finger and playing with it. “Yeah, I miss it a lot. I made the right decision. I believe that. I love the flower shop, love being my own boss. But, you know, watching shit like this is hard. Wondering what it would feel like to represent my country.”

“I get that.”

“You ever wish you got invited?”

“All the time,” Luke said. “I’ve always known I’m not the player they’re going to invite to the Olympics and shit. There’s no fighting. I don’t have a role there.”

“You’re still a really fucking solid shutdown defenseman,” Sebastian argued.

Luke smiled because it was funny—but kinda nice—to hear Sebastian hotly defend him instead of call him a shitty player.

“Yeah, but there are other guys who are just as good if not better,” he admitted. “I did think maybe I’d get invited to this tournament though. I’ve had a really good season and I kinda thought …”

“Yeah?” Sebastian settled a hand on his chest.