“Tom…Constantine…Crowler,” Jax said between pokes at Tom’s stomach.
“Okay, I don’t have a middle name, and if I did it would not be Constantine,” Tom said, squirming to evade Jax and laughing all the while.
Abruptly, Phil realized he had interrupted two guys who had gotten back together very recently, alone at home and on a rare day off.He finished his tea amidst a few suggestions for how to tighten up the third line, and then he made his excuses.If watching the easy way Tom let himself be teased made Phil ache for something so uncomplicated with Ben, well, that was his business.
Chapter Fourteen
Olivia Starling [off-screen]: We’re here live at the Pot of Gold shelter with a few of the San Francisco Sea Lions’ best and brightest, talking about their new partnership.Gentlemen, what inspired you to pick up this project?
Breezy: Why we’re working with the shelter?Well, it’s just a good thing to do.
Jax: The LGBTQIA-plus community is a big part of San Francisco, and we want to give back.The arena we play our games at—that’s something the city built and paid for, with sponsorship from Cyberian incorporated, of course.We’re a part of this town, and it’s important to us to share the privileges we get as athletes.
Breezy: Yeah.Like, Pittsburgh does a thing with sick kids in hospitals.Montreal partners with an animal shelter.
Phil: It’s also really important to marginalized communities to see yourself in fields that aren’t always welcoming.When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of Black hockey players around.I nearly quit more than once because I thought it was a pipe dream.Currently, there are zero out LGBT-plus hockey players in the NHL.If we can make the sport more accessible and, frankly, less hostile to even one of these kids, we’re growing the future of the sport.
Top comments:
phileastonfanclub: [clapping emoji]
sealionsfan8216: Phil is the best of the Sea Lions.Always measured, always kind, and such a good role model.
seelionssaylions: someday Easton will give a personal interview where he doesn’t talk about fishing or about how hard it is to be a Black hockey player.Dude earns six mil a year—what has he got to complain about?
(Video posted toThe San Francisco Heraldsports section on 12/20/2024)
Christmas fell on a Tuesday.
The team had a three-day break in the schedule, so there was a brief, blessed respite from hockey and, even better, from hockey media.In his last media availability before the break, someone asked Ben about Luca Mazetti’s defensive skills and whether he thought them on par with his offensive power.Ben, who had been under the impression that as a D-man, Luca only played defense, floundered horribly.
Despite having suggested festivities with the shelter to Charlie, Ben hadn’t done much for Christmas in years.It was a lonely holiday when he never stuck around anywhere long.
This year, he wasn’t alone.
On Christmas Eve, Phil’s cleaning service brought a tree.To Ben, this stretched the definition of their job by a large margin.But Phil spent all morning joking with Rosalia as they put the tree up together, and when she left, he handed her an envelope with a Santa Claus sticker on it.
“Of course I give her a Christmas tip,” Phil said when he caught Ben eyeing him.“Who do you think I am—Scrooge McDuck?”
“No, I just…” Ben didn’t think Phil ever interacted with his various services, but it seemed rude to say so.
“If we get married, we’re going to have to talk about your problem with me having money.”
“I don’t have a problem with it.”Ben lied on autopilot, too caught up processing that Phil still hadn’t understood a marriage would be an awful idea.
“So you get all defensive and snarky about it because you love me being rich?”
“Hey, I’m not defensive.”He’d give Phil snarky, but honestly, Ben had every reason to be.It had been about a week since the memorable night in Phil’s tub, and Ben had expected things between them to change.Hoped for it, even.How was he ever supposed to get over Phil if Phil never backed off?
Instead, Phil had taken Ben and Charlie Christmas shopping.He’d watched game highlights side by side in the living room with Ben and told him what skills Howie needed to work on to become a more effective center.Worst of all, he’d appeared on the team’s Instagram during one of their segments on the team’s work with the shelter, talking about how important it was to support queer youth.
Ben was especially proud that he didn’t say anything after the Instagram thing.He watched the reel lying in bed, with Phil just on the other side of the wall, and it made him want to scream with frustrated desire.If Ben had to go and fall for a confused, possibly bi-curious guy, at least he’d chosen the nicest one on the planet.
“Great!If you’re not defensive about money, it’ll be really convenient for the gift I want to give you,” Phil wheedled.
“You got me something?”Ben said.“Wow, I didn’t think—”
“Ben.”
