Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot (15 page)

I looked up from my books to see Alex hunkered down over his laptop screen. His brow was furrowed as he stared forward. I didn’t know what he was looking at, but he was intense. It was sexy watching his eyes as they darted around, taking in the screen.

I leaned back and stretched, extending my arms back as far as they could go as my back arced in the chair. Sadly the chair didn’t lean back because that would’ve made the stretch even better. As I let go a yawn, a crumpled piece of paper hit me in the chin.

“What the hell was that for?” I asked, settling back into the chair and glaring across the desk. Alex, pretending that he didn’t do anything, looked at his screen. He couldn’t hide the impish expression that was slowly replacing his serious studying look. His slight smile betrayed him as well. “Yeah, you can pretend like nothing happened, but unless we’ve got poltergeists that was you.”

I tossed the balled up paper back. He deflected it with a quick move that had him looking briefly like a goalie.

“I couldn’t help it. You reared back, your shirt rose up just enough to show some skin. There had to be a response.”

I shook my head as I chuckled.

“How did you even see that? You were staring with laser precision when I stretched.”

 “Focusing on these diagrams doesn’t mean I’m not aware of when you’re being all cute over there.”

Sneaky boy managed to get the paper back in his hand, even though I thought he’d swatted it to the floor. He threw it back, hitting me on the nose. I was too slow to get any sort of defense up.

“No fair,” I said.

“What? Just because you’re not paying attention doesn’t mean I can’t launch a sneak attack.”

He threw two more at me. Where was he hiding his paper stash? Clearly I’d missed something while I was reading. He wasn’t just looking at his work. I quickly stripped my T-shirt off.

“Oh yeah. Strip!”

I balled the shirt up and threw it at his head and got exactly the desired impact, the shirt hit his head and opened so it sort of draped over his eyes.

“Awwww. Now I can’t see the sexiness.”

“You’re crazy,” I said. “What’s gotten into you tonight?”

He took the shirt off his head and threw it at the clothes hamper.

“Missed you today,” he said. “I knew you’d be in the room most of the evening and I wanted to be here instead of meetings and driving. I like sitting like this and studying, face-to-face.”

“Or throwing stuff at me.”

“Sometimes, yeah.” There was the playful smile again. Desk time tended to be serious for us. It was nice to have that shattered unexpectedly, especially in the middle of a week like this. “I figured it was a good time to goof off since you were yawning, that’s usually a sign you’re about done for the night.”

“For sure.” I eyed the clock and it was coming up on one-thirty. “We should both hit it soon since we’ve got eight o’clocks tomorrow.”

I stood up, went around to his desk, and pulled his chair out, swiveling him towards me. I leaned in and kissed him, which he eagerly returned. In no time it was a deep, hungry kiss.

“Hmmmm. That was nice,” he said.

We locked eyes and remained silent. Despite the tiredness, his eyes had energy, light, and passion radiating from them. It was sexy and crazy romantic.

“Do we really need to go to bed?” he asked.

“I know where you’re going with this.” I pulled him up from the chair. “We really shouldn’t be doing anything besides going to bed.” I lifted his shirt over his head and managed to land it on top of mine. “Classes at eight. I’ve got an exam at ten. An insane paper to work on. Night game. Full day ahead.” I unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his khakis, and unzipped them. “And even though it’s been a regular week for you,” I pushed his pants down so they’d drop to the floor, “rest is important.” I dropped my sweats and kicked them aside. “As much as I’d like to revisit that crazy good fuck I gave you a couple nights ago.”

“Hmmm…yeah.” He was staring at me, and the whisper of his voice was seductive. “You gave it to me good. I still felt that
this
morning.”

“It’s a matter of who we want to be tomorrow.” I gently guided him backwards towards the bed, making sure to let him step out of his pants, which had bunched at his ankles. “Are we going to sleep and be our normal good natured, albeit tired selves?” As we got to the bed, I pulled him down with me. He looked so good in just his green and blue plaid boxers, it was difficult for me to keep going without ripping them off. “Or, do we risk being grumpy to stay up even later and mess around?”

We situated on our sides, bodies pressed together as the kissing started up.

“I don’t know what the right answer is,” he finally said. “Rest is important. Doc Kirk would be pissed if he knew how little sleep I was getting. But my God, being with you is my very favorite thing.”

I smiled, nibbling on him. “Too bad we can’t both call in sick to our responsibilities tomorrow. An entire day in bed would be perfect.” I ran my free hand down his back and he shuddered. “I don’t know how we can be this tired and horny at the same time.”

“You know, I don’t even know if I’m that horny or…”

“Your hard dick against mine makes me think you’re horny,” I interjected.

“
Or
, if revisiting that night of kissing is what I need.” He paused, and his eyes lit up more. “Can I tell you something I’m looking forward to? It’s gonna be kinda weird maybe.”

“I doubt it’s weird. Tell me.”

“One day we’re going to have furniture. Real furniture. I want a couch where we can stretch out next to each other, or have one of us sitting and one lying on the other, or just curled up together. I could truly spend hours of time just snuggled next to you. Lying on the bed is one thing, and it’s good, but snuggling up on the couch, reading or watching TV, making out or just being together is gonna be awesome.”

My heart melted. I hadn’t considered the possibilities of that kind of snuggle, but he made it sound like it was the best thing ever. If I thought we could fit the right couch in here, I’d go buy one tomorrow.

“I love you.” I peppered his face with kisses and then met his mouth for a really deep one. “I love hearing you say stuff like that. We’re so getting the perfect couch when we get a place.”

He nodded, smiled, and brought his lips back to mine for more kisses. The kisses eventually tapered off and we fell asleep. It was only for a few hours, but I woke up feeling fairly rested and very content.

I’d just settled into my desk at the community center and was reviewing my schedule for the day. Most of my individual sessions fell on Tuesdays. I was also working with interns on a regular basis on processes and how things operated here. It was fun training them, and gave me even more opportunities to know the place better as well. My desk phone rang.

“Hi, this is Simon,” I said.

“Hi, Simon, it’s Monique. Walt Sinclair is here, asking if he can see you. He’s not on your schedule, and you don’t have any drop in time listed today, but he asked if I could check since you know him.”

It’d been just over a week since the incident in the rink parking lot and there’d been no indication he needed to talk. He and Scottie seemed fine, too.

“Sure, Mon. I’ll be right there.”

“Great. I’ll let him know.”

I hung up and quickly finished getting set up for the appointments. I wanted to give Walt as much time as I could before my first session.

Walt sat on one of the benches in the lobby, looking like he was about to face the principal instead of me. He stood up as I crossed the lobby.

“Hey, Simon. Is it okay I came to see you here?”

“Of course. I’ve got some appointments this afternoon, but we can talk for a few minutes. Do you want to talk in the cafe?”

“That’s fine,” he said. “I just wanted to be away from Scottie and the team.”

I motioned for him to follow me. “Do you want a coffee, or something?” I asked as we entered the cafe. It was empty except for a couple sitting at the counter talking with Judy, the barista, leaving us our pick of seats everywhere else.

“Hot chocolate?” he asked.

“Sure,” I smiled.

I walked up to the counter and Lisa came right over as Judy waved.

“Hey, Simon, the usual?” Lisa asked.

“For me, yes, and a medium hot chocolate for my friend.”

“You got it. That’ll be two fifty.” I gave her my credit card to swipe. “I can bring those over to you, if you want.”

“Perfect. Thanks, Lisa.”

I steered Walt towards my back, corner table. He took the seat that kept his back to the rest of the cafe, and let me face the door. As I sat down I thought how at this rate I’ll have met with everyone on the team at this table by Christmas break.

“So, what’s on your mind, Walt?”

“This stays between us, right?”

“Of course. Are you here talking to me as your coach, as a counselor, or as your friend?”

He thought for a moment. “Probably as a counselor. Is that okay, even if I’m not gay?”

“Absolutely. While you’re not gay, you have friends that are. We do speak with many young people and adults about supporting that friendship.”

“Cool.”

Lisa came over and dropped off our drinks, along with a plate of four chocolate chip cookies. “Cookies are on the house today.”

“Nice! Thanks, Lisa.”

She quickly went back to the counter, leaving us to talk.

“I can’t get what Scottie said in the parking lot out of my mind.” Walt blew on the hot chocolate as he talked. “He’s one of the coolest people I know, and a solid friend. I mean, I’ve only known him a few months, but he’s awesome. He clicks well with a lot of my other friends, too. Yeah, it took ‘em a while to get used to him.” He paused and took a bite of cookie. “It actually took me a while to get used to him. I’ve never known anyone with as much personality as he’s got. Do you really think he hears fa…that word every day?”

“It’s entirely possible,” I said. “It may not be said loudly. Someone could say it as a whisper when he passes and no one would hear but him. It could be more overt, too.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, it does. He’s lucky he’s got a supportive family and some good friends who help counter the ugliness of the words.”

Walt took a long drink before continuing.

“Um, I’ve got a question I don’t know how to ask.”

“Between us, you can ask anything.”

“Does he have to be that way? So loud and big about everything, well most everything anyway.”

“You just said he’s one of the coolest people you know. Why would you want him to change?”

“Because sometimes it’s too much. I mean if he hears that word every day, why not change rather than go through that?”

“I’ll ask you the same question again, why would you want him to change?”

“Because it’d be easier.”

“For who?”

He sighed. “Both of us, I guess.” He looked down at the table. “I’m awful for saying that.”

“Not really. You’re truthful with yourself in that you’re not trying to put it all on Scottie.” I considered my next words carefully since I wasn’t proud of this story. “When I first met Scottie, my first impression was that there was no way he played, much less was a goalie. It was an immediate judgment made based on how he acted. I made it even though I’d worked here for two years and see a wide variety of young people. People make snap judgments all the time. Scottie knows it happens. He even called it out when we met. He’s a brave guy. I don’t know that I would’ve done that in his place. The thing is, you’re going to make judgments, it’s how you act on them that makes the difference. You’ve stood by Scottie and it’s good you want things to be easier for him. You make it easier by standing by him and standing up to the bullies with him.”

As he studied his cocoa, he grabbed a cookie from the plate and began to nibble. I picked up one, too, not wanting the silence to get uncomfortable. People were often more at ease if it felt like there was no pressure to speak, and eating and drinking helped fill that space.

“So even you?”

I nodded. “I’m not proud of that moment. I think about it a lot because I don’t want to make those kinds of judgments.”

“Doesn’t it put him more at risk though, with his personality the way it is?”

“Yes. There’s no question. He faces things I never had to. I probably could’ve stayed hidden most of my life if I wanted to. That would’ve been a miserable existence and it’s something no one should have to go through.”

He nodded. “You’re right. If I didn’t know you were gay, and if I never saw you with Alex, I’d probably never guess. But with Scottie, it’s just out there.”

“Along with all the stereotypes that go with it. Scottie really nailed something for all of us with what he said. It also goes towards how strong he is that he lets the names fly without second guessing himself.”

“I feel stupid for even thinking that he could change.” Walt sounded and looked sad. It wasn’t the effect I wanted.

“Don’t feel stupid. You asked some questions, looked for advice. There’s nothing wrong with that. Keep being his friend. Keep standing up when he needs you to. Be an example to others. Does your school have a GSA?”

“Yeah, Scottie goes to most of the meetings.”

“Do you?”

“He’s never asked me. Should I?”

“It’s a gay, straight alliance. You don’t have to be invited. If you go, you show your support for him and anyone else who’s gay, questioning or whatever in the school.”

“I’ll do it!” He covered his mouth, realizing his yell carried. Lisa and Judy and the two at the bar looked over. I smiled. Walt’s mood improved. I looked at my phone to check the time. “Am I out of time?”

“About five more minutes.”

“I’ve thought about leaving my car like it is, thinking it might actually be supportive of Scottie. Sort of like driving as a badge of honor.”

I shook my head. “No. Get that off the car. Those are awful words.”

“My dad’ll be happy you said that. He was leaving it up to me, but he really wants to get the car repainted.”

“Have you been driving the car with that on it?”

“No. It’s been in the garage. I’ve hitched rides with friends while I’ve thought about it. Thanks for the talk, Simon. Really appreciate it.”