Page 80 of The Best Parts of Him

Hand in hand, they ambled back to the reading and sat amid adults and children alike.

It occurred to Dabbs then: that was who Ryland gave him permission to be—the adult he was and the child he’d never had the chance to be.

Sending Ryland a smile, his heart tumbling over itself when Ryland smiled back, Dabbs squeezed his hand, ready for whatever came next.

chapter twenty-one

Ryland:

Dabbs! You asshole!

Dabbs:

What? What’d I do?

Ryland:

You keep distracting me, that’s what. Every time we see each other, I swear to myself that THIS will be the day I’m going to blow you silly in exchange for telling me what you said to me in French. Yet every time, you distract me with your smile and your chest and your stupid big dick energy.

Dabbs:

You’re going to blow me anyway, so that’s not a fair trade.

Ryland:

Dabbs, I swear to god . . .

Dabbs:

I’ll take your word that you’ll never play “get” in Scrabble again as trade.

Ryland:

Fine. Yes. Whatever. The word’s been deleted from my vocabulary. Now tell me.

Dabbs:

T’es comme un arc-en-ciel, captivant et surprenant.

Ryland:

Google says . . . You’re like a rainbow, captivating and surprising?

Ryland:

Did you actually mean that or were you just feeding me a line because I asked?

Dabbs:

I meant it. You’ve always had color where others are gray, Ry.

The race for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference came down to the last day of the regular season. Ryland had been watching the standings closely for weeks, and if he were a betting man, he would’ve bet on the Pilots. Sure, they were down by two in the middle of the second period during this last game of the season, but the tide could turn at any moment.

They needed to win this game. Montreal had won against Ottawa two nights ago, putting them ahead of the Pilots by one point. If the Pilots won tonight, they’d kick Montreal out of the second wild card spot and claim it for themselves. If they lost in regulation, they were shit out of luck. If they lost in overtime, they’d tie with Montreal for points, but since Montreal had won more games this season, the wild card spot would still be theirs.

The Pilots needed to win.

End of story.