Robbie paused, his cheeks flushed. Just for a second, Finn thought his eyes flicked to Finn’s mouth.
But then he shook his head and said, “Deal.”
The next seven weeks were going to be interesting.
Chapter Six
ThePennyPuckBeat Drops
Robbie ZeigerTo Compete onDance Your Ice Off
Dancemakes official announcement of former Beavers goaltender competing on next season after photo of Zeiger at Pride with Finn Graham goes viral.
A fan of the show—and the Beavers—spotted Zeiger and Graham at Toronto Pride last week and posted their selfie with the two men.
@notyouremotionalsupportlesbian You won’t believe who I just ran into… #beavers #pride #dyio #finngraham #robbiezeiger #bestillmylesbianheart #theyresotall
Neither Graham nor Zeiger acknowledged the post on social media, but the official Twitter forDancereposted the original tweet with a Happy Pride banner and the promise of being able to “catch more of Finn and Robbie as they battle it out to support Robbie’s chosen charity, the LGBT Youth Line, on the newest season of DYIO!”
Given Zeiger’s chosen charity and his attendance at Pride with Graham, speculation has been rife as to what this could mean, both in terms of their personal lives and the upcoming competition.
@dyiofan Robbie Zeiger on Dance. Robbie Zeiger at pride with an I heart queers shirt. Robbie Zeiger in my dreeeeeeeams.
@GoBeaversGo69 Okay but… why are Zeiger and Graham at pride TOGETHER?
@wonderqueer Am I the only one who noticed that very ambiguous phrasing?? Are Robbie and Finn battling each other or with each other?? DYIO… does this mean we’re getting our first same-sex pair?!
The firstweek of training had not prepared Robbie for the punishment of week two, which was saying something, because he once played through a grueling twenty-two-game Cup run that ended in defeat.
In the mornings, they had an hour of off-ice practice for the group number. Robbie used to like musicals. Now he never wanted to see another one. If he ever met Hugh Jackman, he was going to punch him in the face.
Then they broke into their pairs to practice those routines, with ice time scheduled in here and there.
Stef and Finn had geeked out over their choreography, but Robbie was content to stand where they told him to, move the way they told him to, and generally be their puppet.
“You’re getting better at the rhythm,” Finn told him on Tuesday. Considering Robbie was holding one of his hands and basically had the other on Finn’s ass, his mind went to the bad place.
Finn probably noticed, because he rolled his eyes and said, “Shut up, what are you, twelve?”
On Wednesday they made it through the song at regular speed for the first time with no major errors, and Finn whooped and spun Robbie around on the ice. “Awesome! We’re gonna nail it.”
Robbie raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, come on,” Finn laughed, shoving him away.
Not everything went smoothly. For filler material—“It’s B-roll,” Finn said in exasperation—sometimes they had to film segments with the other pairs, either all together or in smaller groups. PlayingMinute to Win Itgames with Finn against Sophia and Chadshould’vebeen fun, but Chad was a sore loseranda sore winner. After five minutes Robbie suggested he and Chad just arm-wrestle instead, which Chad refused, probably on the chance Robbie would beat him.
That effectively ended that. Robbie was pretty sure none of that footage was going anywhere near the airwaves. Not unless the show was trying to set Chad up to be a villain WWE style.
Finally it was Monday. Performance day.
While they’d practiced Saturday, they had Sunday off to rest. Robbie did a light workout like he’d do on any non-game day and otherwise spent it playing video games with his kid. Becoming a dad at his age would’ve been a lot more difficult if he’d ever grown up properly. Hopefully he wasn’t fucking up too much by letting Sawyer eat candy and go to bed without brushing his teeth. Kid had to learn consequences at some point, right?
Monday Robbie awoke early with the buzz of excitement in his bones.
Emily gave him a fist-bump as he walked into the arena. “Ready to get your ass handed to you?” Once an Olympic-levelcompetitive hockey bro, always an Olympic-level competitive hockey bro, even if you were a lady.
“You wish,” he told her. “We’re gonna bring the house down.”
