Okay, I’ve spentmostof my life not thinking about him. Not going to lie, when I saw him on that billboard in his underwear? Yeah, I thought about him a little bit. How could I not? I thought he was gorgeous when I’d seen him in passing either at games or in pictures online. The billboard gave me a whole new appreciation.
But in person? Goddamn. Gorgeous just doesn’t cut it.
No! Fuck’s sake, Laurent. Hockey!
Thankfully, I don’t have much longer to continuously mentally force myself to focus on what I should be doing. Whichisn’tthinking about a sexy Buffalo player. We head back to theice a few minutes later, which makes it marginally easier to keep my concentration since he’s no longer in view, and I have a job to do.
We arrange on the ice and line up for the puck drop. Mattias flings it away and it lands against Noah’s stick. It doesn’t take long for me to realize I’m much better playing defense and allowing them to dance around each other. Noah and Mattias aren’t exactly the magic that the Buffalo trio is, but they connect quite easily.
The puck is stolen by Max and his fast ass has it down the other side before long. He doesn’t go for a shot, but gives the attempt to Menlo, who manages to get it by Azure. We trade out and I watch Azure block two more shots while we make two—Noah and Mattias. Shocking.
I swap out with Noah right after Menlo makes his second goal. The end of the first period sees us tied 3-3 with me making one and Larson following it up directly after. For the last minute the two teams move up and down the ice until the buzzer.
We get our asses handed to us in the second half. I don’t know if Metro has a switch that they flipped for ‘kick ass’ or what, but we barely gain control of the puck for the entire ten minutes. They make seventeen attempts on goal. Lamar’s amazing and stops thirteen, but that means they still land four, ending the game at 7-4.
My head is spinning as the buzzer sounds and the two teams pile onto the ice to wave to the fans. Atlantic and Central join us, as do sports anchors, the coaches, and some random people I don’t know.
I’m standing near Max when he’s talking to a local Florida network, so I can’t help but listen.
“You came off a hard year not long ago and have turned your game around. What do these wins mean for you, Max?” he asks, clearly referring to yesterday as well.
“My game never suffered regardless of what was happening in my life,” Max answers, not unkindly but also shutting that down. “It’s been an honor to be invited to the All-Star Games. While it is a lot of hard work with different challenges than we’re faced with everyday, it’s also a lot of fun catching up with friends on other teams and showing off our skills in ways that we normally don’t get to.”
“You mentioned different challenges during these games than you usually face. What does that mean?”
“When you’re with a team for a while, you build a routine and rapport with them. A bond. You learn each other’s quirks and play style. Here, we’re thrown in with ten different players, the majority of which you’ve never played with, but have played against. It’s challenging to turn your mindset around—these aren’t opponents right now, they’re teammates. I’ve spent years playing against Larson Faulkner and suddenly I need to figure out how to switch off my strategies that I’d useagainstLarson and figure out how to workwithhis strengths instead of trying to counter them.”
“It seems your team managed to do that very well,” he says.
Max nods, shrugging. “We came together in the end, yes.”
“Do you have any plans for the award you’ve won today?”
“Nah,” Max says, laughing. “I didn’t plan to win. Of course, it’s always my hope and why I work so hard, but there are some amazing athletes here, so I didn’t think my chances were all that great. I didn’t think about the prizes at all.”
“You’ve been with teammate Deryke Schneider for a couple years now. Is he at home watching?”
“Yes,” Max replies. He doesn’t elaborate though there’s an awkward pause as the anchor waits for him to.
“What do you think he’d say if he were here?”
“He’d say he’s proud of our team and that we played really well.”
Another pause.
“Do you have any celebration plans with Deryke for when you get home?”
“I’ll answer any relevant hockey questions you have, otherwise we’re done,” Max says.
I snort. Beside me, Noah laughs. I glance toward him, unsure when he moved beside me.
“I really hope he asks Max another irrelevant question,” Noah mutters.
We listen for a few more minutes and the anchor seems to have gotten the message loud and clear. The next half a dozen questions are directly related to the All-Star event—the competition, the other players, the event that he struggled with the most…
And then he asks, “There’s a lot of gay representation at the games this year. How does it make you feel to have so many of your people competing alongside you?”
Noah’s eyes get wide, and I hold my breath. Did he really just ask that? Max just stares at him, and a beat passes before Max turns around and skates away. The anchor remains still for a second, as if not quite comprehending what just happened. As he’s turning to the camera, Max is back and grabs the microphone from him.
