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“Thank you.” I sighed, feeling a weight lifting from my shoulders that I wasn’t even aware I had been carrying. “For the record, I would not run down a man trying his best to break out in a sport that’s got people trying to hold him back.”
“Right, of course. I must have…perhaps I projected.” He seemed to loosen up a bit then, the tension in his shoulders lessening. Several long, awkward moments passed. Were we going to have to sleep in this damn box? “That little girl on your lock screen. Is that your kid?”
“Yeah, her name is Kyleen. You want to see more pictures of her?”
“Definitely. I mean, sure, if you want to show me.”
I darted a peek at him. He sure looked sincere. Which was odd as hell because most guys his age weren’t really into kids.
I brought up a few of the thousand images of my princess. He cooed over them all, smiling at the picture of her and me eating ice cream cones this past summer. We had made a fine mess of ourselves.
“She’s really cute. She must take after your wife.”
“Ha, yeah, you’re humorous. There is no wife.”
“Oh.” His gaze flittered to me like a nervous hummingbird before zipping back to a shot of Kyleen in her Wonder Woman outfit. “Your girlfriend then.”
“Nope, no girlfriend. Just me and my gal and my great-aunt. You know how it is for us queer folk. We have to build our own family sometimes.”
He openly stared at me as if trying to work out what to say. He opted to move on and not comment. The air was stuffy now, his cologne filling the small space. The aroma of Rivendell was appealing, not going to lie, but I did need to get my head out of Middle Earth and back to this quaking, tentative détente we had reached. Huda did not strike me as the kind of guy who spent time at fantasy or sci-fi conventions. He was far too uptight.
“She’s adorable. Want to see my new nephew?” he asked, and I nodded. A light bright enough to power every home in Watkins Glen illuminated his face. It literally took me back a step. I’d never seen the guy smile. Ever. His whole being glowed. The broody look was gone, replaced with joy as he thumbed through his pictures while I rested my chunky ass against the railing to keep me upright. Lord above the man was pretty. “His name is Banyu, and he’s three months old. I got to be there when he was born, well, not in the room because…yuck no I’ll pass on seeing my sister’s womanly gates.”
I sniggered softly as I looked down on a pudgy, happy baby being kissed on each cheek by a beaming couple.
“He’s precious,” I stated honestly before handing him his phone.
“I know. I can’t wait for them to move here in November. My brother-in-law got an upper management job at Schaffer Salt and my sister is applying for substitute teaching jobs in the area. They’re anxious to be in America with my parents and me, but my brother-in-law is sad about leaving his family behind in Phuket.”
“Well, they can visit,” I said as he gave his nephew one last loving look.
“Yeah, they can. I don’t think they will much, though. They’re leaving because the human rights in Thailand aren’t great. My last visit when Banyu was born was pretty tense. Like, people there knew I was gay. I mean, I’m not exactly quiet about my queerness online, and it’s not good there for LGBT people or women so they’re coming to the US where they can raise Banyu in a country that’s more accepting of those who aren’t the default.”
“More accepting, yes, but still have a long way to go.”
“Yeah, truth.” A moment of quiet resignation settled on us. The elevator jerked, scaring us both out of our wits.
“Hey, now that’s good news,” I said as we stuttered upward a few dozen feet. The doors opened and about forty people were crammed into the area awaiting us. A few in suits, probably hotel management, a couple in work overalls which I assumed to be elevator repair people, and various members of our teams. The hockey players who were gathered behind the guys in the overalls all stared at us as if they were expecting to find two bloody corpses lying in the lift.
My head coach gave me a long look. I smiled and stepped out of the elevator and away from the wild woods scent as if we’d not been stuck for close to an hour in a metal box dangling on a cable.
“So that was fun,” I quipped. A few members of the press corps milled around at a respectable distance but still jotting down tidbits while probably taking pictures on the sly.
The Comets engulfed me, pulling me down the corridor to our bank of rooms. Questions flew at me that I made light of, playing up how I’d not only beaten Huda on the ice but also in the battle of words we’d had during our time together. I glanced back while Crispy was going on about no one getting anything past me, not even a pun, when my eyes met Baskoro’s. He was chatting with his fellow goalie, Liam Polkman, his expression inscrutable.
He nodded, just once, and then I was tugged into the room and the door closed on Baskoro Huda.
Funny though, I could still smell woodland on my clothes and see that honest, pure smile of his in my mind’s eye…
Chapter Five
Baskoro
I’d not slept well after that encounter with Newley in the elevator.
Tossing and flopping about, I finally drifted off well after three in the morning, only to be jarred awake at six by my phone alarm.
“Nooooooo,” I groaned into my pillow, slapping my rubbery hand at the bedside table until my fingers found the phone. After silence returned to my world, I rolled onto my back, rubbed at my sticky eyes, and slowly sat up. Lying back down seemed to be the right thing to do, but I knew Liam would be at the door any minute filled with that Bryn Mettler gung-ho drive that he’d been ingesting since birth or darn close to it. The morning was barely here yet. Not even the sun was properly awake. A coolish air drifted in through my bedroom window, carrying the smell of the lake as it brushed over my face. Closing my eyes, I breathed it in, tucked my legs into a tidy lotus, and closed my eyes. Meditation was a key factor in my success, and the success of many other goalies, for it not only relaxed, it helped with mental clarity and focus, which is something we tendies had to have tons of. Also, it was just super nice to start—or end—the day with some mindfulness. A few peaceful moments with no outside world, no internet, no hockey, no family or friends, just yourself and your breath.
