Page 2 of Offside

“Ooo and he got his little ears pierced,” Kinny added, toying with my earlobe as I fought to just put my stuff in my cubby. “That the gay ear, or is it the left one–I never remember.”

“Got ‘em both pierced, so he must swing both ways,” Wes teased.

That was all–it was just a tease.

It just…didn’t feel so much like a tease these days.

“Must be takin’ after our new resident goalie,” Kinny went on, taking a step back to start getting changed with me for camp. “You met Ash yet, Karts?”

“Not yet, but I’ve heard.”

Ashton Kincaid–one of two openly out players, active in the league today.

Sure, a few retired players had since come out, and there was even that couple who got married a few years back, but only after they’d both been retired for over ten years.

Being gay in professional sports was not for the faint of heart, so all the power to Ash and Noah. I'd had the pleasure of playing with Noah in New York for part of a season before I was traded to Florida–he was a good guy.

“So, then you know?” Kinny asked, leg propped up on the bench while he tightened straps on pads. “Who his boyfriend is.”

“Why would I know that?”

“Because that is the conversation, man–you seriously don’t know?” Wes was jaw-dropped, with wide eyes, and something close to amusement in his eyes. “You remember our goalie from when you were here last? Thayer?”

“Of course I do–dude was a beast. I was super bummed when I heard about his hip injury and retirement.”

“Don’t be too bummed,” Kinny snickered.

“No, seriously–don’t,” Wes laughed. “The guy retired for all of five minutes before getting a job coaching at the University of Michigan–”

“Where he met Ashton Kincaid–”

“And really, uh…coached him through some stuff.”

Wes and Drew were bouncing off one another, time warping me back about five years to being stuck between them like this then. I’d never met a more in-sync duo than those two–it was no wonder they’d lasted so long together on the same team.

They were a package deal now.

“Are you saying that Thayer is Ashton’s boyfriend?” I asked, eyebrow cocked at Wes as he snickered.

“I prefer Ash,” the head of golden blonde next to us huffed, glancing over at us as he pulled out his goalie pads…

Oh.

“Here, we'll get this out of the way now,” he sighed, straightening up and offering me his hand. “Hi, I’m Ash. I’m twenty-three, bisexual, and nailing your former star goalie. You are?”

Honestly, the guy was intimidating.

He had soft features–golden blonde hair, soft blue eyes, and a baby face–but deep in those dark pools of blue was something making my spine stiff.

The guy could probably kill someone with his left thumb and still go home with a smile on his face.

“Sam Karter,” I offered, shaking his hand quickly. “I’m also twenty-three, and I was on the team about five years ago–you can call me Karts, Sam–I pretty much respond to everything.”

“Nice to meet you, Sam.” Ash smiled.

Maybe he was nicer than his eyes gave away.

Or maybe you just had to learn how to hear yourself being talked about so much when you were out of the ordinary–how to take it on the chin and keep on moving.