Chapter Ten April #4
“Who’s playing?” Brady asked as he took the only empty seat. They’d taken up one corner of the bar where it curved. He was several seats down from Nick, but unfortunately with the L-shape of the counter, his seat put him directly in Nick’s line of sight.
“Who’s playing!?” GG looked legitimately offended by the question. “It’s third round of the playoffs, and you don’t know who’s playing?”
Brady half shrugged, no shame at all. “Not really.”
The Pens had gotten kicked out of a Wildcard spot their last game of the regular season.
The Caps had gotten themselves booted from the first round in typical Caps fashion, crashing and burning in Game 7.
Brady’s lack of interest in the playoffs was shared by most of the area, who’d tune in once it got to the finals but not before.
GG was old-school enough that he followed every game in every round for both conferences. He probably stayed up late for the West Coast games, dutifully enduring double or triple overtimes if need be and going to work the next day the hockey equivalent of hungover.
“You know,” GG said to Brady, “you used to be my favorite.”
“He still covers for your lazy backcheck when you play center,” Gail said. “So he better still be your favorite, ’cuz I’m not putting up with that BS.”
When it became obvious that no one was actually going to answer the question, Nick called out, “Jackets and Canes.”
Brady turned to Nick, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. At least until he registered what Nick had said. “Wait, who?”
Nick grinned. “You heard me. This is a doomsday scenario, right here.”
Brady made a face that was just shy of disgusted. “We allowed to disband the NHL until October?”
“If only.”
There was a pause, mostly filled by people drinking or fighting over nachos. Nick was happy to let the conversation move on (especially since Terry was watching them like a hawk; Gail too, probably).
But then, before he could think better of it, Nick blurted out, “Fuck, did you grow that beard overnight?”
Everyone turned to look at Brady. Lexi had a chip halfway in his mouth, GG and Gail squinted at Brady, trying to spot any differences, and Terry quirked his head in confusion.
Brady absently rubbed a hand over his beard. It should only be stubble, but it looked nearly as thick and long as when Nick had last seen him.
“What?” Lexi asked, voicing the group’s confusion. The chip had finally made it into his mouth, and it garbled his words. “Jensie’s always got a beard. Doesn’t he?”
“He shaved,” Nick mumbled, more to himself. He should probably stop, but he’d already said too much, confessed to Brady that he’d seen the pictures on Facebook, so what difference did it make if he stopped now? “For his sister’s wedding.”
He felt the intensity of everyone’s eyes. He prayed his cheeks weren’t burning.
“You have a sister?” Lexi said skeptically, though thankfully he was now more interested in Brady than Nick.
“You were out of town?” GG asked.
Gail was mercifully quiet. Probably because, as the only observant person there, she was well aware of the subtext of this interaction.
“My sister’s bossy,” Brady mumbled. It seemed like that was all he planned to say on the matter, but everyone was still looking at him expectantly, so he added, “She made me shave for the wedding. It’s still kind of thin…
” He trailed off as he ran a hand over his beard again, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
“It looks the same as it always does, though,” Lexi muttered into his beer. “I work all November for a mustache and get jackshit. Lumberjack over here can grow a full beard in a week.”
Mags arrived then, rescuing them all from Brady’s beard.
“They already did opening faceoff? Where’s the sound?”
GG sprung into action, begging the nearest bartender to turn up the volume on the game, and they lost themselves in good ol’ playoff hockey. The one good thing about the Caps being out of it was Nick could enjoy the hockey without feeling the pain of missed pucks and bad calls.
It also meant he wasn’t completely enthralled in the game.
He stole more than his fair share of glances Brady’s way, and their eyes met enough times that he suspected maybe Brady was doing the same.
Under both Gail and Terry’s watchful eyes (and by proxy, Jenna’s, too), he didn’t dare do anything.
He stayed in his seat, only talked to Brady during intermissions, and made sure to talk to everyone else.
He also belatedly realized he was neglecting his cousinly duties. He watched Terry and Gail, pleased to note that things seemed to be going well.
At the end of the night, as Nick drove home, he felt simultaneously lighter and sadder than when he’d started the evening. Ignoring Brady didn’t sit right with him, but he knew he had to get used to it.
He didn’t have to like it, though.
*
Nick didn’t check his phone until he got home. Only two messages waited for him, and both amused him for different reasons.
Jenna May (6:34 p.m.)
WTF what the actual fuck this isn’t fair how does friggin TERRY get to see your boy before I do??? You are disowned I have disowned you
Brady (6:49 p.m.)
you going to that thing Gail put together? I have a ton of extra cookies from the cookie table if you want any
Family first, so he opened up Jenna’s message.
Nick (11:29 p.m.)
i didn’t even know that a.) brady was gonna be there or b.) terry was gonna be there
i am blameless here
terry however is not so you give HIM shit okay?
though in his defense… him and gail look really cute and you should hold off murdering or disowning him until you’ve seen them together
If he was lucky, Jenna was already in bed, and he wouldn’t have to give her a rundown of the evening.
Two cousins with love interests in play would give her a friggin’ field day.
She’d pry details from both of them separately and together about how they each did.
It would be exhausting, and he’d rather not right now.
His messages to Brady used to require more thought, but since PA he’d given up overanalyzing texts and just winged it.
Nick (11:34 p.m.)
sorry didn’t see this before
wtf is a cookie table but also yes i want free cookies
if you wanna get rid of them you should just bring them to a game and give them out in the locker room
BEFORE the game when everyone’s not all sweaty and gross and cookie-ruining
how was your trip btw?
There was a very real chance that Brady was still awake. They lived close and had left the bar around the same time. It wasn’t so much a chance as a certainty: Brady was at home getting ready for bed, the same as him, and if he was like any good millennial, he’d check his phone first.
To avoid having to deal with keeping up a conversation so late, Nick plugged in his phone and put it on silent.
He had to stop being at Brady’s beck and call, after all. He’d done the “friend” thing by asking about his trip, and that was enough for today.
Deep down, where he was more selfish and hurt than he let even Jenna see, he secretly hoped Brady would text him, that he’d sit there waiting for an answer that wasn’t coming. Let him be the one with disappointed hopes for once.
Before he drifted off, he took back the wish. He didn’t want any more disappointment in their future, not when it came to each other. If the bad stuff did happen, he didn’t want it to be his fault.