Page 42 of Two for Roughing

A line drew down between Breezy’s eyebrows. “You don’t have to—”

“I’ll let you get back to whatever you were up to. See you at practice.”

“Howie!” Breezy called after him, but the concept of Kilian had already left the building.

He took an Uber home, his forehead leaned against the window. His brain buzzed uselessly, trying and failing to process every conversation he’d had today. In an effort to avoid the overwhelming nothingness, Kilian pulled out his phone.

On autopilot, he opened his Instagram message thread with Damir.

howza68: you know how we were talking about all the little muslim kids who look up to you?

ddenisov88: sure

howza68: i think i wanna be that person for gay kids someday.

Chapter Eight

Mark Tungsten [off-screen]: In your opinion, what aspect of the Firecrackers’ play needs the most work?

Ketchup: Oh, the forecheck, probably.

Denisov: Also the backcheck.

Ketchup: Special teams.

Denisov: Really, everything but goaltending. We’re still in a wildcard spot because of our goalie tandem. Petterson and Henderson are both so good.

Mark Tungsten: Ouch, harsh words for your team there.

Denisov: We all know last season was a disappointment, and we all want to do better. It’s hard to go out there and keep giving it your best when things aren’t going great, but if we can laugh about it, we can keep the mood in the room up and keep trying to improve.

Ketchup: And that’s Denny talking. He never laughs.

Top comments:

firecrackers_spark: as a fan: brutal. also as a fan: they’re not wrong.

sauceittome: love ketchup. Go on king, give us nothing.

Jefferson Howard: In my day, players had respect for their teams. This is shameful! I would have thought a man of faith like Denisov would know better!

(From pregame media availability, Chicago Firecrackers @ Carolina Twisters, 11/30/2025)

Damir skated onto the ice, his stick gripped tight in his gloves.

Both teams had gotten one goal and one miss in the first two rounds of the shootout. The Twisters had missed their third shot, and it was down to him.

As always.

The Firecrackers desperately needed more depth. Lissy’s prime had ended a good five years ago. These days, he could finish off someone else’s play with a tip-in, but he struggled for the speed and power he needed as a second-line center. The less said about Ketchup, oscillating between the second and third lines as if he had any business being there, the better.

Damir started slowly, picking up momentum as he deked the puck this way and that. He tried not to think too hard and strategize too much or he’d give himself away.

In the last yards before the arbitrary point he’d chosen to shoot from, Damir faked left and notched the puck in right, top shelf.

The goal light went on.

The crowd cheered.