Hat Trick Overtime: Summer Camp by Jeff Adams-2
1125 Words
I looked up from the book I was reading as Alex came in the cabin door. I knew immediately something was wrong. He was seething. I couldn’t imagine what could’ve set him off. We were through the first week and all of our campers were doing well, so it couldn’t be that.
Alex had been fine at dinner. He was on cleanup detail with some of the other coaches, but we all did that. I’d come back to the cabin to relax while the campers got ready for the evening campfire discussions. Most camps sang songs or told stories around the fire, but our campfires were about telling stories of success and failure on the ice. Plus, of course, generous helpings of s’mores were included. The wonderful smell of the campfire already permeated the cabin since the fire was built in the central courtyard between the cabins.
He walked up to our bunk and I leaned over from my position on the top. I had to resist running a hand through Alex’s hair, which was longer than usual since he hadn’t cut it since the school year ended almost two months earlier. I’d save that for a calmer moment.
“We need to talk,” he said. It was a controlled whisper and I knew he was on the verge of a meltdown.
I nodded and he stepped back so I could hop down. I looked around. The campers were tidying up their areas or getting ready to head out to the campfire. No one seemed to pay attention to us. I jerked my head towards the door, knowing that outside would be the best place to talk.
I followed him to the corner of the porch furthest from the door. I leaned against the railing watching him, waiting for him to calm down enough to talk. Behind me, the chatter of the campers was going as everyone enjoyed evening free time. Alex paced the narrow porch a few times. He finally stopped, looked at me, and took a couple deep breaths.
“I almost punched Sergei a few minutes ago.” He was quiet, not wanting our campers to hear. “He came on to me. Son of a b***h tried to kiss me.” I started to talk, but Alex held up his hand so he could continue. “He didn’t listen to me the first time I said no, so I shoved him back, hard. I told him no way. Not ever.”
He paused and paced a little more. I knew from experience he was giving it everything he had to calm down. He didn’t get mad often, and I hadn’t seen him this wound up in a long while.
“He had the gall to do it in the pantry, trying to trap me against the shelves. I’m sure the others on clean up duty are wondering why I stormed out before we were done.” Alex stopped pacing and stood in front of me. His face relaxed as some of his anger drained away. “I didn’t even know he was into guys. Is my gaydar that bad?”
I tentatively reached for his hand. He let me take it and I squeezed it as I pulled him closer.
“The guy’s a d**k,” I said, calmly, even though I wanted to go kick Sergei’s ass. “Sounds like you handled it. Now, if he does it again, I say deck him and let me know and I’ll do the same.” I gave him a smile, letting him know we could deal with this.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything to lead him on. I hope you know…”
“Hey, hey, where’s that coming from?” I looked into his grey eyes and saw the conflict still brewing there. “I’ve never doubted that your heart is mine.”
He held my gaze for a few beats and relaxed further.
“Good.” He bumped up against me and laid his head on my shoulder. “I’ve never had this happen before. He knows we’re a couple, right?”
“Everything okay?” Leo called up. He was looking at us from ground level.
“Yeah. Just a little weirdness to add to the evening,” I said as Leo came up the stairs to join us.
I gave Leo a quick rundown and then went back to Alex’s thought. “And, if Sergei doesn’t know we’re together, he’s an idiot.”
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.” I kissed the top of his head. “And if he does it again, we’ll both take him down.”
“I’m happy to kick his ass, too,” Leo added. “The guy’s just a jerk. He’s already talking trash and we haven’t even started playing each other yet. I don’t get the talk. Everyone’s here to learn to be better players, not tear each other down.”
“Some people don’t know any better,” I said. “He can do whatever. We’ve got three more weeks working with the best group of campers and we’ll make the best of it.”
“Hmmm, second best group I think,” Leo said, with a wink. “We’ve got the best.”
“Jerk,” I said, shoving Leo’s shoulder.
Dylan came out, spotted us and came over.
“Sorry, not interrupting am I?” he asked. Even though we’d been coaching now for a week, he was still nervous about approaching us.
“Nope,” I said. “We’re just hanging out.”
“After the campfire, do you think I could hit the ice for a little bit? I know it’s short notice, but I wanted to work on what Simon showed me today.”
“I’ll find out if it’s okay. Do you mind if we ask some of the other guys? They might want some extra practice, too.”
“Sure,” Dylan said, sounding like he didn’t really want to agree to it. “They’re all better than me, though, so I doubt they need the extra time. I’ll see you guys in a few. Thanks.” He headed back inside before we could say anything else.
“I wish he wouldn’t do that,” I said. “He’s always down on himself. He doesn’t realize that he’s actually in the top half of our group.”
“I haven’t heard him do that until now,” Alex said, changing his position to stand next to me.
“I hear it at least once a day from him. He does the work, but he doesn’t see his own improvement, or how good he plays in general. If I can find the right moment, I’ll talk to him about it.”
Leo’s smile suddenly evaporated.
“What?”
“Our least favorite person just walked by. He had the gall to wave at me as if nothing at all happened.”
“Well he doesn’t know that you know,” I said.
Alex and I turned and saw Sergei’s back as he went up the stairs and into his cabin, which was across the courtyard from ours.
“It’s not like he can let on that anything happened,” Alex said. “We can’t either. As wrong as it was, nothing good will come from making a big deal out of it.”
“Are you sure you’re not the social work major all of a sudden?” I asked, hugging Alex from behind.
“You rub off on me sometimes, you know,” he said.
I quickly kissed the back of his head. “We should rustle these guys up and get to the fire pit.”
Leo looked at his watch. “Crap, I gotta get back. Kieran’s going to wonder where I went off too.”
No sooner had he said that than campers from two other cabins spilled out into the common area, heading off to the fire pit.
“Come on, guys,” I called out in the direction of the cabin door. “Time to go.”
- Writer
