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“Was it…totally ignore me if this isn’t any of my business. But is it better now that it’s out in the open? Do you ever regret saying anything?”
“Nope, never. Not that things are perfect—there are a lot of dicks out there—but the good outweighs the bad a million times over,” Olive replied immediately.
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. You know, some people will make comments, or underestimate me, or someone from the media will ask me a stupid question. But I’mfree. There are so many things I had to worry about before, so many things I couldn’t do.”
“Like what?” Ishir asked.
“I mean, date Levy, for one.”
“That must have been wild, falling for a teammate,” Ishir muttered, as if that wasn’t his whole damn life.
“Yeah, I guess. Levy’s just…Levy. He’s one of a kind. In my eyes, anyway.”
“Nah, he seems nice. I’m really glad for you, man.”
“Thanks. I mean, Orion definitely helped a lot. He must make an awesome captain. Not that I’d replace Gabby, obviously, but you know.”
Ishir huffed a laugh. “Yeah, no, he’s great. I’m lucky to be in a locker room where IknowI can be a little different, and it’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, that’s huge. I’ve heard of some locker rooms that are just…yikes.”
“Fucking nightmare fuel,” Ishir agreed as they made their way up the line.
Ishir was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Olive. Maybe they’d been a little too similar during Juniors—shyer, less ready to approach other people. Now, both of them had stepped out of their shells, and it was fortifying to find this new spark in an old connection.
The outing was fun—there were too many people, as was standard in New York, but they managed to escape the crush and just walk around Queens for a while, eventually finding a bar to settle in.
Levy and Olive were fucking adorable together, sitting close and holding hands on the table. The way Levy looked at Olive, the adoration in his eyes, made Ishir’s chest clench.
He was happy for them from the bottom of his heart, but it also made him wonder when he’d have that. It didn’t have to be soon—he was only in his early twenties, after all—but the fact that the timing was completely out of his control was demoralising.
I’m free, Olive had said, and it was a glance into something Ishir could have one day. It was too terrifying a concept to consider now, but he buried the thought deep in the tender, damp soil of his mind.
“We have to do this again soon,” Zee said as they were about to part.
Ishir found himself nodding enthusiastically, happy when Olive and Levy reciprocated.
It would do Ishir good to spend time with someone who had been brave enough to make the choices Olive had made.
Maybe it’d inject a little daring into Ishir, too.
**********
It happened again.
Ishir got another goal in New Orleans against the Spirits, a clean one-shot snipe during the power play. He pumped his fist as the crowd groaned, a few cheers scattered in the arena. The rest of the Cats on the ice crashed into him—that had been the go-ahead goal, the score now blinking at 2-3.
Ishir grinned. Coach had recently put him on the second power-play unit so that his strong defensive numbers would support the real goal-scorers. It felt good to produce himself, though, especially during a tie game.
Zee was waiting for him on the bench, tapping his helmet aggressively. “There you go, baby.”
Ishir huffed through his smile, bowing his head happily. It was only then that it hit him—he had another goal. In a place where hockey wasn’t a big thing. Where he wouldn’t be recognised if he went out.
He wondered if Zee would recast himself as the overinvolved wingman or if it had been a one-time thing.
He didn’t have a lot of time for the thought to fester, his next shift driving him over the boards, mind focusing on the game.
