Page 54 of Two for Roughing

Damir twisted around to look at Kilian. “Are you ready?”

Kilian took an unsteady breath. “Yeah.”

Chapter Ten

“Okay, so it’s only been a week, and he’s only played in two games, but I am willing to eat my words about Kilian Howard. I know I was first in line to call him a draft bust and the Henderson trade a huge misstep for the Firecrackers organization, but fellas, I think I was wrong. Four points in two games! Whatever the Sea Lions were doing with him, they clearly hadn’t tapped into his full potential.”

Top comments:

firecrackers_spark: Eh. I’m withholding judgment. Anyone playing on Denny’s power play unit gets an artificial stat boost

lissums: tbh his stats with the Sea Lions weren’t as bad as people say when you factor in the absolute shitshow that was the Sea Lions’ d-corps last season

seelionssaylions: it’s hard to say for sure but some folks on the r/sfsealions’ subreddit have speculated Howard in particular was being sabotaged by folks behind the betting scandal with healthy scratches etc. If true, no wonder a change of scenery is doing him some good. If not, happy to see him doing well in Chicago anyway

(From “Was Howard always this good?” posted to r/chicago_firecrackers on 12/08/2025)

“There we go, boys!” Lissy crowded into Damir’s stall, elbowing him out of the way to pull Kilian into a noogie and rub his fist all over Kilian’s curls.

Damir suppressed the urge to pick Lissy up and move him out of their space, in no small part because no one ought to be messing with Kilian’s hair. He’d seen how many bottles of product Kilian had for it.

But Kilian laughed, lapping up the attention and praise.

Of course he did. Even before he’d known any of the interesting things about Kilian, such as his penchant for non sequiturs post-phone sex or his desire to be a role model, Damir had known he craved affirmation.

“Three straight wins! This calls for celebration!” Lissy cried, sauntering to the center of the room. He was naked, as was his wont in the locker room, leaving his surprisingly hairy ass on display.

Well, no, not surprisingly. What with his long, thick, wavy hair and his furry chest, it didn’t shock Damir that his ass followed suit. What surprised him, even after spending his whole life in locker rooms, was how little it bothered Lissy to be naked and on full display to the entire team.

“The bar and grill?” Rocky rumbled.

“Psh.” Lissy waved him off. “Howie is young. He needs excitement, adventure, not a steakhouse where they play hockey on TV.”

Kilian shrugged on his light blue shirt with a poorly hidden smile. Damir could have sworn he’d destroyed that shirt, pulled off all the buttons and left it in a crumpled heap on the floor of Kilian’s shitty one-bedroom apartment. And yet here it was again, washing out his pale skin and stretching too tight across his shoulders.

If Lissy got his way and took the team out to celebrate, Damir could just picture Kilian with the sleeves rolled up, top button open, revealing the tender skin over his clavicle. He’d be soaked in sweat, drunk off his ass, and dancing. Damir wanted to see it with a hunger he could barely conceal.

Fortunately, Damir had good reasons to sabotage Lissy’s planned celebration.

“You all remember we have a 6:00 a.m. flight tomorrow, right?”

“Boo!” Ketchup shouted far too close to Damir’s ear. “It’s the fun police!”

Lissy sighed theatrically. “Denny, why must you intrude with your thoughts of reality and logistics?”

Damir grinned, showing his teeth. “I like winning. I would prefer to keep doing it.”

“The man makes a point.” Lissy clapped him on the back. “All right, celebrating Howie is delayed until further notice due to frankly draconian scheduling.” He glared in the direction of the coaches’ office as if they had anything to do with the schedule. “But Howie, good work. Keep it up.”

Kilian glowed.

On the way home, Ketchup regaled him with stories about epic nights out, hot girls he’d “wheeled,” and all the times Lissy had very nearly gotten them thrown out of some establishment or other.

Kilian lapped it up with wide eyes and enthusiastic goading to hear more.

“That is amazing,” he said.

Damir eyed him warily in the rearview mirror. “Which part?”