Page 41 of Two Guys One Puck (Gods Versus Monsters Hockey #2)
FORTY-ONE
SEABORN
“ F unny seeing you here,” I say as Ktytor takes a seat in the box next to me.
He laughs. “Did you hit your head, baby doll, and somehow not remember you punched me first?”
“You deserved it,” I snap back.
“I deserved it? You’ve been up my ass all game,” he growls, and I have to bite back a laugh, not wanting to seem too unhinged.
The fans around the box are always listening.
We’re two periods into the ECAC Conference championship, tied 0-0, so Ktytor and I get heated, but instead of the rage I’ve felt during other games, I’m not mad at all.
He absolutely deserved the punch I threw, though.
And with the way he smiles through our whole fight, he enjoys every second of it and pushing me there.
“You heard me. You pushed my buttons until I hit you.” I side-eye him.
He smirks. “Is my job. Maybe you should learn to control your temper.”
“I won’t be doing that.” And you don’t want me to either , I finish in my head.
They win the game in a last minute goal but it’s not Ktytor who scores.
We line up to congratulate them.
“Told you we’d win,” Ktytor whispers when he gets to me. “You owe me.”
“I do, and don’t worry. We’ll beat you to win the Frozen Four.”
“Not on your life.”
A week later, Ktytor sits next to the hospital bed in the middle of the living room, whispering back and forth with my father while we wait for the official NHL Central Scouting rankings to publish. We have ESPN on and keep refreshing our phones, but nothing yet.
He hands my father more food as they laugh, thick as fucking thieves. We’re here for spring break, but it’s only for a few days because we go right into the Frozen Four regionals when we get back.
My father is home in hospice care, and I’m glad the season is almost over so I can be here as much as possible. My teachers told me I could do the rest of my work online, too. So once the season is done, I can focus here.
I’m glad Ktytor could get away with me, even if it’s short because I won’t see him again until school’s over unless we play again during the Frozen Four.
Then, depending on what happens, we might have a month or two to spend together before going our separate ways to camps, so we’ve got to hold on to every moment we can get together.
And I don’t know how my dad will be doing.
Everything feels like a sprint right now and I just want it to slow down.
“Are you going to tell him?” Emily asks, taking a seat next to me.
“Do you think I should?”
“You know what I think. Even more so now that you two have decided to be serious.” Emily lifts a shoulder.
“Are you sure he can handle it? Maybe I should wait until the hockey season is over so I can be here after.” I don’t know what’s right, and I hate it.
“Don’t do that. We don’t know how much time he has.”
“Here it is,” Ktytor says, interrupting us.
The list is going to tell us how we stack up against the other drafts and where we will possibly go in it. Everything is speculation, but it matters, especially going into the Frozen Four. Teams will watch the players on the top of the list closely.
We all stare at our phones.
“Wolfe is top of the goalie list,” Ktytor says.
“Like number one?” I ask, impressed. He’s one of the best, but damn, that’s huge.
“Yes.”
“Why are you looking at the goalie list and not the player?” I ask.
“Because I know I’ll be one or two. I’m not worried.”He’s such an arrogant dick.
“Christ, the ego on you.” I scroll, getting through the article introduction finally and to the list. I nearly drop my phone.
My name is first. Ahead of Ktytor. All the oxygen leaves the room, and I don’t know what to do. I look up, searching his face. Is he going to be mad? But I can’t read him. He’s stone faced.
The entire room seems to be holding its breath.
“I’m—”
He cuts me off, getting to his feet. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” I say tentatively. I’m still in shock, not sure how to take care of his feelings.
“Don’t do that. If I was one, I would be rubbing it in your face. You deserve this. Smile! Be happy.”
“I’m in shock.” I realize I stopped at one and didn’t see where he is, so I look at the list again. I check, and he’s three. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t know how to enjoy anything, do you?” Ktytor looks at the ceiling and mutters something in his language.
“But—”
“If I have to shut you up, I will, Seaborn.”
“Can you not let me care about you at all, Ktytor?”
“Oop, the girls are fighting!” my brother says.
“No, sorry, I’ll be a bad boyfriend and make you celebrate yourself, Seaborn.”
“What was that?” Dad asks.
I freeze not daring to look at my dad or brother.
Ktytor seems confused, and then it registers. “Слово—не горобець, вилетить—не сп?йма?ш!”
“What does that mean?”
“Something like words are not sparrows; once released, they cannot be caught. My bad.” He shrugs.
I laugh, awkwardly as I turn towards my father, because what the fuck else can I do? “Well, I guess it’s out. Ktytor and I are seeing each other, but we don’t want it to leave this room for obvious reasons.”
“You must really think I’m an idiot.” Dad shakes his head.
I don’t know what to say because I can’t tell if this is a good reaction or a bad one. “What?”
“You think I don’t know when my son is smitten? Please. You wear all your emotions on your face, just like your mother.” Dad rolls his eyes.
“This is what I’m saying!” Ktytor slaps his thigh, busting out laughing. “He hides nothing.”
“Nothing at all.” My dad just shakes his head again.
Zeph isn’t even paying attention. Clearly, I’m the only one who cares if I’m gay.
“Come here,” Ktytor demands. I cross the room to him, and he wraps his arms around me. “You deserve this.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you mad?”
“No. Teams know my value, and if bad teams take you first, I go to better one.” He winks.
“You fucking ass.” I press my lips to his. “Are you pissed?”
“Three. Is good spot, and when we beat you at Frozen Four, it will mean more.”
“You’re not beating us.”
He pats my cheek. “If you say so.”
“How are you two going to handle the Frozen Four?” my father asks, clearly more anxious about it than we are.
Ktytor laughs. “I’m going to kill him on the ice, then we kiss and make up.”
I roll my eyes but take my father’s question more seriously.
I know he’s worried about what will happen after he dies and wants to know that his kids will be okay, so I want to give him all the reassurance I can.
“We decided it doesn’t matter and that we’re never going to let any of it come between us.
The reality is we will most likely spend our careers on different teams, and if we want this to work, we’re going to have to accept that one of us will win and the other will lose, and sometimes, we will directly affect that for each other.
It’s an entire team. If we hold any of that against each other, we’re dooming our relationship from the start.
And I don’t want to do that.” I glance over at Ktytor.
We hadn’t talked about it that in depth, but we’d come to that general idea. “Or something like that.”
“Is true. He can’t be mad at me for being hot and good at hockey. Yes?” Ktytor grins.
“And you can’t be mad at me for shutting you down so well.”
“I can. Little bit. But you like it when I take it out on you.”
“Ew,” Zeph calls out. “Get a room.”
Dad and Emily laugh.
“You still want to do this?” I ask later when things have quieted down and the reality of the draft sets in.
“You need more food for your ego, Коханий?”
“Will you just tell me what that means!” I drag him closer, draping my arms over his shoulders.
“Not my fault you forget to ask after the game, Seaborn.”
“I could Google it.” But I won’t.
“How?” he hisses.
“You put it in a text?”
“And you didn’t look it up? That’s your fault.” Now he’s looking at me like I’m an idiot.
“I want you to tell me.”
“I want to see your face when I tell you, so this works good.” I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Is this you being sweet, Leontiy?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“Tell me what it means.” I cup his face.
“My love,” he whispers over my lips.
My hands freeze. “Really?”
“Yes. Is bad?”
“No. I love it. I love you.”
“You better because I’m going to make you really mad next week.”
“Dick,” I mutter into his lips.
“I love you too.”