Page 52 of Home of the Brave

He must have felt me watching because he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “You didn’t want to try to find out?”

I stared down at my former peers. “No.”

“I wonder what I’ll do.” He paused, and I didn’t feel the urge to fill the silence. “Maybe coach or get a front office job. Something to stay within the sport like you. If it will be too painful, I’ll have to do something completely different and close this chapter of my life.”

“I hope you don’t have to decide for a very long time.”

I caught him turning toward me out of the corner of my eye. “Thank you.”

I quickly met his gaze before looking away.

“What was your least favorite part?” he asked after a moment.

“Of playing?”

“Yeah.”

I considered for a second before huffing a laugh, “Trying to sleep on the bus.”

He groaned. “That is very accurate.”

“What about you?” I wasn’t sure why this conversation started, or if he was here for more than small talk, but if he was going to ask me questions, I would return the favor.

“Off the record?”

I let out a laugh at his teasing smile. “Sure.”

“The offseason.”

I cocked a brow. “What?”

“I don’t like the offseason.”

“Because you’re not playing?”

He lifted a shoulder an inch. “Yeah.”

“But it’s your vacation time. Your only time to relax.”

“Exactly, I’m not very good at that.”

“At doing nothing?”

He nodded. “I love the structure of my days during the season. I know where and what I need to be doing at all times.”

“Then you should join the military after retirement.”

He scoffed. “I don’t think the military wants soldiers prone to breaking into fights or yelling at each other.”

I laughed. “True.”

A whistle blew, ending practice. I waited to see if Josh would move, but he remained still, watching the players head toward the bench.

“Sorry you got taken off covering them.”

The unexpected change of subject made me flinch.

“It sucks.”