"And New Year's?"
"I sat at home thinking I could keep playing safe. Or I could go to The Drop, walk across that bar, and choose something real." I stared at him. "I chose you."
He bit his lip. His eyes went bright. "Fuck."
"Too much?"
"No. Just—no one's said that before. Not like they meant it."
"I mean it."
"I know. That's—" He shook his head, smiling. "That's what scares me."
Margaret's needles clicked. Juno grinned into her latte. Thunder Bay watched through fogged windows.
Behind us, a couple at the next table were arguing quietly about the Storm's playoff chances. "—Hawkins took three penalties last game, can't keep doing that—"
"Yeah, but he kept Pickle from getting his head taken off—"
Hog's jaw tightened. I squeezed his hand.
"Want to take a walk?" I asked.
"In the cold? Where everyone can see?"
"That's the idea."
He grinned. "Yeah. Let's go."
We stood. Hog pulled on his jacket—careful again not to knock over the chair or bump the table. I left money for the coffee and a generous tip, while pocketing my phone. The cold hit us the second we stepped outside—that sharp lake wind that cut through everything.
"Damn," Hog muttered, hunching his shoulders. "Forgot how cold it was."
"Sweated through practice?"
"Yeah. My gear's probably frozen solid by now." He held out his hand. I took it.
We walked past the grain elevators and the shuttered tourist shops. A Storm pennant hung in the window of the corner store—faded but still visible. Hog noticed it and smiled slightly.
He spoke after a block of comfortable silence. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah."
"Why stay? You could've left after your dad got sick. Sold the business. Done the Toronto thing."
It was a tricky question. "At first, I didn't have a choice. My parents made sure of that. Then, after—I told myself I was staying by choice. That I loved it here, that leaving would mean abandoning people."
"But?"
"But I was mostly scared. Easier to accept staying than risk failing at something I actually wanted."
His hand tightened around mine. "That doesn't sound like the guy from New Year's."
"That guy's new. Still figuring him out."
"I like him so far."
"Yeah?"
