Page 77 of Two for Charging
Luca found the assertion trite to the point of meaninglessness.
Phil on the other hand nodded along as if he believed every word. “They also have to trust us to have their best interests at heart.”
“Absolutely! No one can thrive where they don’t feel supported!”
Luca would feel supported if he knew how to exit this conversation. Each time Lindy turned her bright, astute eyes on him, he felt trapped in place.
“I appreciate your initiative here, Mazetti,” she said. “I know you’re going out of your comfort zone to do it, and it means a lot you would go there for your team.”
It wasn’t for the team. He could never tell her, but he’d suggested this for Chris and no one else.
“In fact,” Lindy continued, “this is the kind of initiative we’d like to see from someone willing to take on extra responsibilities.”
Luca blanched. “No. No, no. I will not be taking the A.”
Turning to Phil in mock despair, Lindy asked, “Did you curse the alternate captaincy or something? Why will no one take it?”
Phil held up his hands. “I wasn’t even on the ice for most of last year.”
“It should belong to Chris,” Luca said. “I know he doesn’t want it now, but he should have it, and he will get there.”
The humor drained from Phil’s face. In its place, something that might have been pride took over. Before Phil could do something horrible—such as express more emotions—Luca turned tail and left, citing an urgent need to get to the weight room.
The universe’s cruel sense of humor left him in the locker room three hours later, clutching a slip of paper with Chris’s name on it, while Lindy beamed benevolently at him from the center of the room in an off-center Santa hat.
He had no one but himself to blame.
Chapter Thirteen
Kayleigh [off-screen]: How do you like living in the States?
Dmitriyev: [translates into Russian]
Fedorov: Is good. Very loud, very busy, but good.
Kayleigh: Has there been anything shocking or surprising for you about the team?
Dmitriyev: [translates into Russian]
Fedorov: [turns to Dmitriyev, speaks at length in Russian. The words “pot of gold” are distinguishable partway through.]
Dmitriyev: He says is fun team, nice guys, but very boring. No surprises.
Top comments:
sealions4lyfe: anyone else get the feeling Fedorov said something completely different?
SFCLions: Jax Grant and his stupid shelter are dividing the team and this is proof!
howza68: @SFCLions—not cool. Anyone can play hockey.
hockeyfanofcolor: some of y’all are really telling on yourselves in the comments. That is not the face of a guy who hates helping out at an LGBTQ+ shelter. Dude looks like an excited puppy.
(From “Meet this year’s Sea Lion Rookie,” posted in The Rookery, the direct-to-consumer streaming service of the San Francisco Sea Lions and all associated teams, on 11/07/2024)
There was something wrong with Chris.
Scratch that. A lot of things were wrong with Chris. He had trouble understanding subtext, he hated serious movies because they made him think too hard, and he was a total pushover. But right now, something very specific and very embarrassing was wrong with him.
