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It finally took one--oragain He wasn't about to watch mein self-pity forever, and after about a ed me out of the house and to the arena with him For the first time ever, I actually watched my father do his job Sure, I'd been into hockey, but everyone in Sydney was into hockey We're Canadians, after all I'd gone to Oiler gah they werea boyfriend on the team But I never really knehathome a paycheck

I found it fascinating watching him have a very close and personal hand in an athlete's prowess I started spendinghith I watched young men come to him for advice, and I watched him improve play

And then I decided that's what I wanted to do as well

"I assument means you don't want corins down at ine those two perfect dimples he sports underneath his beard I hty fine look too

I wave a hand to an e"

He plops down and unwraps a large Italian sub on his tray "Thinking about your dad?"

I quickly shake my head because I'm not now, nor will I probably ever be ready to tell hi It was too painful to think about the night of the party Just talking about it would lead to u this truce with him too much

"No," I say with a sood that beard looks on you What made you decide to keep it after the play-offs?"

"Lazy groo another bite of his sandwich

I dip er, because that was always Hawke While he was fastidiously clean and always s, he hardly ever paid attention to his appearance Usually a quick brush of his fingers through his long hair or a shave once a as as good as it got with hih, and the beard definitely suits

Has, takes a sip of his bottled water, and tips his head at ed a lot"

I cock an eyebrow at hi elucidation

"The piercings," he prompts

"Oh," I say in understanding as I absently run a finger across the bridge of s to be sporting when you're trying to get a job I got rid of thee just a bit"

Hawke gives a gruntlike chuckle and then dives back into his sandwich We eat in silence for a little bit and it's not the slightest bit aar

d I' if that's because we've shared hours of silence together before, and know the safety of it Orto say to each other and that's okay too

That's probably it So s have died and we're not ere all those years ago

Except, have feelings really died? There's been anger and defensiveness on both of our parts for sure He wronged s that we should wisely confront and clear the air because ere s that will probably never happen because this peaceful little truce is safe and stress free

"Your dad says you've been busting your ass ork," Hawke says out of the blue I look up fro me with concern "Two jobs You ca and I saw your dad yesterday Stayed until around eight pm and you still hadn't come home Is that par for the course?"

"Yeah, well, it's e have to do right now Dad's treat his house payment back in Sydney and he can't touch his retirement from the Oilers until he turns sixty-five Plus I still have student loans and there are some incidental medications that aren't covered by insurance, so it's necessary right now"

"Do youwhat you make here?" Hawke asks, and while that's a deeply personal question to ask an acquaintance, I suppose our historybecause it doesn't bother me

"Forty-one thousand dollars and so hoym, but that's coht now"