Page 173 of Game Misconduct

“Thanks for—for giving me space.”

“Of course,” Tanner moved down the hall, away from the door. “I love you, Princess.”

“You really do, don’t you?”

“Fuck yes.” Tanner smiled at the wall. “Did you just figure that out?”

He could almost hear Leif shrug. “Well, you actually giving me space when I needed it even though it was probably hard for you made it stick, I think.”

“Good. Thanks for the proof of life pics. I wanted to be sure you weren’t going to throw yourself off the Empire State Building or something.”

“It’s not even the tallest building in New York. You know that, right?” Leif asked.

Tanner laughed because it was such a Leif thing to say. “No, I literally know nothing about New York except for what I see on TV or when we’re visiting for games.”

“I’d really love to show you my city,” Leif said with a sigh.

“Yeah?” Tanner asked, leaning against the wall.

“Yeah. Once—once you’re, uh, done with the postseason.”

“I’m hoping that’ll take a while,” Tanner admitted. “Not that I don’t want to see you, but …”

“No, I get it.”

They were both silent for a moment. Tanner looked down at his feet, realizing he had a hole in one of his socks.

“Maybe for the final round you could—you could come to some of the games?” Tanner offered.

“Wouldn’t it be weird? Wouldn’t people notice?”

“Uhh, dude,” Tanner said. “Your dad is one of our coaches. I really don’t think they’ll be that weirded out by you coming to cheer for yourfamily. They don’t have to know you’re cheering for me too.”

“You assume I’m going to cheer for you. Maybe I won’t.”

Tanner laughed so loudly that it echoed down the hall and he clapped a hand over his mouth to stop it. When he’d finished giggling, he said, “You fucking better cheer for me, Princess.”

Leif sounded like he was smiling when he said, “If it’s not the Rockets, I guess it should be you guys.”

“Youguess,” Tanner scoffed. “Don’t even pretend like you wouldn’t be happy for me.”

“I would be,” Leif said, his voice weirdly earnest. “I would be happy foryou. Even though I’m still sad for me.”

“Hey, it wasn’t your year,” Tanner said softly. “And that sucks. And I know—I know it’s easier for me to snap out of it. It’s always been easier for me, I think. But I might not be very smart about a lot of things outside of hockey but the one thing I know forsureis that the best way to get over being sad for myself is to be happy for someone else.”

“Don’t put yourself down,” Leif said. “You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, you know?”

“Yeah?” Tanner asked.

“Yeah. For sure.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I have to admit though, the being happy for someone else bit totally feels like something your mom would say.”

Tanner giggled again, mostly because he was so relieved that things were getting back to normal for them. “It totally is.”

“But the proof of life pics, that was all you, wasn’t it?”