misa post break up with his girlfriend is going out with guys for the first time. he’s following about four different shirtless dudes, packaged in between some random instagram model women to hide it. but it’s the off season now, and he’s mostly free to do what he wants as long he fits his training in. he’s not even trying to hook up with a guy specifically, it’s just an option that he’s not entirely opposed to… only looking seems less scary
sam doesn’t know what to do about it because they’re not talking about it. he went out to this bar with misa and his friends expecting to wing man some people, maybe misa included for the first time ever, maybe not and then they would leave and get burgers together. that’s decidedly not what happens because sam is sat at a table with nick lardis watching misa honest to god giggle at whatever some mid-twenties douchebag is saying to him. it’s confusing to say the least. there was misa and his girlfriend, then misa and no girlfriend, and now there’s a guy coming onto him and he looks like he wants that to be happening.
misa doesn’t even leave with the guy but he gets his number and now sam feels like he’s stuck on that, how misa just handed over his phone and then cutely waved the guy goodbye. that doesn’t happen, hockey players don’t do that, and yet! he’s thinking about it during the van training camp where misa once tilts his head into the spot between nick lardis’ shoulders, surely that isn’t happening. sam continues thinking about it all the way back in san jose when misa tells him he can’t come out because he’s got a date with alex. who’s alex, sam wants to ask, is this a boy alex, alex could definitely be a boys name, is it a guy? is misa going to suck his dick, is misa going to start dating him and bringing him to wag events?
it doesn’t matter because a week later when sam does bring it up to ask what happened, misa shrugs and says, i don’t know, it got weird. sam is viscerally reminded that misa is not the best judge of character. the idea of him going out there, trying to meet nice, normal, non-exploitative guys is worrying. all it would take is one asshole, one asshole who misa makes bedroom eyes at in a club and then NHL Player Michael Misa Has Explicit Gay Rendezvous in Nightclub Bathroom is plastered over the front pages. sam wonders if it’s too insane to offer misa to just experiment with him, it’s not gay if sam is just helping him out, and it’s definitely not cheating if sam’s doing it for misa.
