He nodded.
“Trust your line,” I said again. “This is your family and if you can’t trust them, then you won’t play fluidly. You did great this last practice, I know you can do it again.”
I slapped his shoulder as he nodded at me again.
Parker had gone quiet after I whooped his ass, but I saw the respect in his eyes and he listened. A few weeks later his quips and snarks had quieted down to more questions and observations. The kid was a fucking great player, but he had problems being cohesive with the team and if he didn’t learn how to play better, he wasn’t going to get drafted.
In the third period, Parker and his line scored another goal and for once they played like a line, they communicated and they overwhelmed number eight and the goalie. They won the game two to zero and I couldn’t have been more proud of the guys. Just a few small changes and they were working so much better together.
“Hey, would it be ok if I invited the team out to eat and play at that arcade?” I asked Dalton. “I think it would be a good teambuilding moment and get them to have fun as a team outside of the ring, plus I’ll pay for food and play.”
“Uh….” he looked stumped. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to, I think it would be great for them,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed for suggesting it. “You could come too and uh, my friends would be coming too.”
He smiled. “I think that would be cool.”
“Alright, I’m gonna let them know before they jet out,” I said, getting excited but nervous that none of them would want to come.
I walked to the locker rooms where the guys were being rowdy.
“Hey, good game, guys!” I said as I walked in, giving them a chance to cover up if they were shy.
The guys had all said varying different ‘thanks’.
“Hey, so since you guys killed it, how about pizza and games on me?” It was stupid to be nervous about asking a bunch of college kids to come eat with me, but I really thought it would be a good idea for them and it helped that Forest and Jude thought the same thing.
“Free pizza?” Tommy the captain asked.
“Yeah, all free,” I chuckled.
“I’m in,” he said, and soon most of the team said yes.
“Alright, I’ll wait for y’all outside the tunnel, so don’t take too long cause I’m starving! We can organize transportation out there.”
“Alright, you heard the man, hurry the fuck up!” one of the defensemen yelled, and I just chuckled as the guys rushed to the showers.
“Don’t die running to the showers!” Coach Dalton said, coming out of his office.
I chuckled, walking out of the locker room and toward my men. It was weird calling them my men, I still couldn't believethat we were all together. I still hadn’t decided how to introduce them to Coach Dalton and I hated having this lingering fear of how people would react to the people I dated. I was an out Bi man so it shouldn’t be a surprise but I still worried.
The moment I walked out of the locker room I saw Jude and Forest waiting for me, but surprisingly, a few kids recognized me from the Yetis. They asked for autographs and some pictures, giving my ego a little boost.
“Look at him just soaking up all the attention,” Forest said, as I was walking toward them.
“I can’t help it if I’m famous,” I said with a chuckle.
Jude laughed, hugging me. “You looked great out there, Sammy. Congrats on the win.”
“I was hoping your uniform would be short shorts with a polo, some tube socks and tennis shoes,” Forest said. “But yeah, congrats on the win.”
“This isn’t some eighties porno,” I laughed.
“But your ass would look amazing in those short shorts,” Jude grinned, waggling his eyebrows making me laugh harder.
“So, are the kiddos coming out?” Forest asked.
“I think so, they did great,” I said, feeling proud.
