24. Colby
TWENTY-FOUR
Colby
“Wow. This really is a friend date,” I say as he pulls into the employee parking lot at the practice rink. “Nothing says unromantic like going to … your place of work.”
“Da. Friendship only.”
“What are we even doing here? And how can we get in when it’ll be all closed?—”
Novi smiles, and I slump.
“You stole a key for here too, didn’t you?”
“Of course not. Big corporations notice when those types of things go missing.”
My gaze narrows.
“I had one copied.”
“There it is. And how do you propose we stay out of trouble with security checks and CCTV cameras everywhere?”
“Everyone loves me. No trouble.” Novi parks in his favorite spot and turns off the car.
“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
“Once or twice.”
“Novi …”
“I like to come here over summer and skate while it’s closed, okay?”
“Over the summers? Why aren’t you with your family?”
“I go see my parents in Canada, but this is my home. I’m comfortable here.
They sometimes come stay with me, but they can only come on tourist visa.
If I could have gotten them residency in US, I would have, but Canada was easier.
So even though we’re apart, and I rarely get to see them, I at least know they’re safe where they are. ”
We get out of the car and walk toward the employee entry, which he easily unlocks.
Novi hasn’t spent his entire career here; it’s only been a few seasons.
He’s played for three different teams over his career: Anaheim, who drafted us, Winnipeg, and LA, so I guess he must like LA the best to have signed with another team here.
“Why do you like LA so much?” I hate the traffic, I hate the bustle, and don’t even get me started on the cost of living in California, but I suppose Novi doesn’t have to worry about that part.
My job pays me sufficiently well, and while I’m comfortable, I’m not exactly swimming in extra cash because rent, utilities, and everything else costs double the amount of where I was living in Pennsylvania.
Outside of Hawaii, California is the most expensive state to live in the whole country.
How people on minimum wage do it is beyond me.
“I like it does not snow,” he says.
I laugh. “You’re a hockey player. Who plays on ice.”
“That doesn’t mean I like being cold.”
“Ah, that’s the real reason you don’t want to go back to Russia, isn’t it? It’s not the threat of being arrested—you don’t want to deal with the snow.”
“Da. You got me.”
At least he can joke about the shitty position his government has put him in. That’s something.
We make our way through the back halls, and he brings me into the locker room of the team.
“You still size ten in skates?” he asks, holding up a pair of Landers’s skates.
“I am, but I have my own in my office.”
“I did not steal … I mean, I don’t magically own a key to that part of the building.”
Of course he doesn’t. “Landers’s stinky skates it is. I hope he doesn’t have athlete’s foot.”
“Wear two pairs of socks. Condoms for your feet.”
The things this guy says, I swear to God.
“Feet condoms. Got it.” I take the skates from him, and he throws me two pairs of socks from his cubby.
I wish I could say they smell clean, but I can’t smell anything in this room other than body odor.
That smell never goes away. It lives in the walls, in the carpet …
everywhere. I’m going to have to trust him.
It’s not like my feet aren’t disgusting after years of squashing them into skates anyway.
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask as we lace up. “Going for a very unromantic skate in the middle of the night with no one else around?”
“It will be very unromantic. I want to see if you can still outskate me.”
“You know I can’t.” I’m on the ice less as a coach for the NHL than I was coaching D1, and I haven’t had the time to sleep, let alone skate for the fun of it, since I moved here.
“Making you puke. Very unromantic.”
“Good to know you have some standards. Felonies are romantic, but you draw the line at puke.”
“Da.”
I can’t tell if he’s saying yes or duh. Could be both.
I lace up and stand. “Okay, I’m ready to be humiliated.”
“You could use some. You’ve gotten so much bigger head since you were drafted as a top ten pick.”
Whether he’s pointing out how much of a cocky ass I was back then or he’s trying to bring me back to that moment, it works. It’s suddenly seventeen years ago, and I’m obsessed with his attention. Mocking me or being nice, I didn’t care.
I still don’t.
It’s the middle of the night, and I should be bone-tired, but I’m not.
I knew going into this video coaching role that I would be one of the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave, but Novi breathes new energy into me by being in the same room.
Who needs sleep when I have those whiskey-colored eyes shining at me in amusement?
On our way out to the ice, he stops by the electrical box to turn on the lights to the ice.
“It’s not going to be smooth. When was the last time a Zamboni was out here?”
“Bumps make it more fun.” Novi takes to the ice like a duck to water.
I don’t show off quite like he does, smoothly gliding across the uneven surface. Though it’s not as bad as I was expecting. They would have resurfaced this evening, but it’s melted a bit since then.
Novi skates backward away from me while I follow him, not bothering to try to catch up. “You know, as one of your coaches, I should probably tell you to take it easy. You just played back-to-backs.”
“I’m not tired.”
“You might not be, but your body?—”
“If you call my body old again, I might have to take back all my romantic grand gestures I’ve given you.”
“Oh no. Don’t take away breaking into my apartment and dragging me out in the middle of the night.”
“I feel like this is American sarcasm, but then I remember how much you want me, and I am mistaken.”
I would hate him if it wasn’t true.
We may not be the same men we were as young adults trying to find our place in the world, but my feelings toward him haven’t changed since then. If anything, getting to see this relaxed and open side of Novi has only made them grow into so much more.
We skate around, and I refuse to race him because I know I will lose. I wasn’t joking when I said I shouldn’t be encouraging this. He needs to rest up because we go on the road in two days.
And even though it wasn’t his intention, this does turn out to be a pretty romantic date. If only we could show affection freely, but I know this place is covered in cameras.
If we’re caught here and now, it could be put down to working through Novi’s issues with his knees or Novi being pedantic and me trying to tell him that we won tonight and he can stop wanting to correct his mistakes from the game.
If we were to touch or kiss and then get caught on camera, it’s all over. Everything we’ve both worked for.
We take a break and rest against the side railing.
Novi looks so happy. So carefree. He never looked like that back when I knew him.
“When did you know?” I ask.
“Know what?”
“That you were gay.”
His lips flatten as he thinks about it. “There was something that always made me feel a bit different, but I didn’t know what that was or why I felt that way for a long time because I never saw it growing up in Russia. I didn’t know two men could …” He hangs his head.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I was just thinking that since … well, since owning who you are, you’re happier than you ever were back then.”
“I am. I am not all the way happy yet, but once I get everything I want, I will be happiest man on Earth.”
“Your sister out of Russia?”
“Among other things.” Those light brown eyes meet mine again, seeing right through me and deep into my soul.
My throat is dry as I ask, “Like what?”
He averts his gaze first. “A family. You know, kids.”
“Like, for breakfast? Fee fie foe fum style?”
“I don’t know what this means. I want to have children. I want to raise a whole lot of kids to believe they are supported and welcome and can be anything they want.”
At first thought, yeah, Novi being a dad is a ridiculous notion, but looking in his eyes and how genuine and exposed he is, with those angry walls down, I could see him being the best kind of dad.
The kids would be too scared to do anything naughty, but with how Novi’s talking right now, I know he’d be completely open with his kids, which means they’d be comfortable coming to him with any confusion or questions they had about being themselves.
“You think I won’t be good dad?” Novi asks.
I shake my head. “Not at all. I was thinking that any kid would be lucky to have you for a father.”
And that I would love to be there to see it happen. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.