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“I’m glad he called,” Henri interrupted. He didn’t want to lie any more than he wanted to admit the truth; best to avoid the topic altogether. “If he needed it.”

“He needed it,” Novak said. “I took his phone to charge it, so you won’t hear from him again until morning. But he should be…normal again by then.” He hesitated. “Did he say what happened? He didn’t tell me a fucking thing.”

“Not really. Just that he argued with Sokolov, and it was bad.”

Novak grunted. There was the sound of a door closing, then the bing of an elevator. “Sokolov was reasonably behaved in the locker room and on the bench, so I thought maybe he’d finally learned things aren’t what they were. Always knew he was a thickheaded fuck, so I’m not sure what I really expected. And Evers is too fucking nice. If my kids and wife weren’t here…”

“You’d still leave it alone,” Henri said sharply. He was 90% certain that was true—like many players, Novak was more bark than bite—but he wanted Novak to believe it too. The last thing anyone needed was the scandal of Novak beating the shit out of Alexei Sokolov at a hotel during the All-Star Weekend. “Fight him when we play Chicago in April.”

The suggestion seemed to soothe Novak. “I think I might. Baps, I gotta go. I left my kids with Nilsson, and I’m sure they’re wearing his patience by now. I’ll text you in a bit with an update.”

“Don’t leave him alone too long.”

“I won’t, Baps. I’ll check on him in thirty. Hey, try to get some sleep.”

Not fucking likely. “Thanks, Novak.”

“Literally any time. Seriously, sleep.”

And then the call ended, and Henri was stuck feeling like he might throw up. Instead, he lay down on his bed, folded his hands over his chest, and stared at the ceiling until something almost like sleep took him.

Dylan (February 2024)

Hen I don’t know if you’re up yet but I’m so sorry

I didn’t mean to scare you

I shouldn’t have hung out with Alexei at all that was so stupid

Hen

You did scare me a little

You feel better? No hangover?

Oh I’m hungover as fuck

I feel more liquid than solid today

I will hopefully not throw up on the plane

When you say I scared you

//I hope you don’t think [DELETED]

//I want you to know I’d never [DELETED]

//If I’d thought he was going to [DELETED]

//I’m so fucking love with you I couldn’t [DELETED]

I wouldn’t do anything with him. Or anyone.

It’s just you.

I feel guilty but I did have a moment where I worried

It’s a lot of history between you