Page 85 of Two for Roughing

“And, um. We’ve been…well. Look, can I go get the guys?”

Kilian peered into the background of the screen. He made out weights and a rowing machine, which meant Breezy’s chair wasn’t a chair at all but a bench. He couldn’t be at his and Luca’s apartment since they didn’t have a home gym. “Uh, yeah, I guess. Are they with you?”

“Yeah, we’re doing Christmas Eve at Phil’s this year and Christmas Day at the shelter.”

“Aw.” A pang of longing for his old team hit Kilian once again. “How’s Jayden doing?”

A wide grin split across Breezy’s face. “Great! He aced his French test after I helped him study.”

“Nice!”

It was cheating since Breezy grew up in Montreal and spoke fluent French, but whatever.

“Anyway, let me get everyone together,” Breezy said.

Kilian got an up-close view of the floorboards in Phil’s house as Breezy walked out to the living room, and then there were faces upon faces crowding into the screen and too many voices speaking over one another.

“Howie!” Jax called. Only the top of his bleach-blond head was visible. “You’re my hero, you know that?”

“Shut up.” Kilian laughed.

“No, I’m fucking serious. You are officially too mature to be a rookie.”

“Aw.” Kilian pressed his hand to his heart. “I love you too. Who all is there?”

Breezy picked up the phone again and panned it around, showing him Luca, sitting beside Breezy as always; Tom, who smiled with his whole face for once; Phil, leaning over the back of the couch with his elbows propped on the cushions; Dmitriyev, holding a bottle of something strong in his hand; Hayes, looking long-suffering with his wife beside him; and a half-dozen other guys strewn about the living room.

“So, the Sea Lions are very thankful you went on record saying you weren’t traded because we’re all homophobes,” Phil said when Howie had greeted everyone. “But I think a couple guys were wondering if you’d be okay with us following your example.”

“My example?” Kilian asked blankly. “What, you wanna know what clubs to hit up in the Castro, where no one knows shit about hockey? Gonna be honest, I think I fucked that up.”

Jax broke into loud peals of laughter.

“No, not exactly.” Phil’s tone of voice was one he’d never used before his knee got injured and he transitioned to coaching. Kilian hadn’t expected to hear it again now that Phil didn’t have to coach him anymore. “If some Sea Lions released their own coming-out statements, would it be okay with you? It’s your moment.”

“God, please. Take the heat off me. My phone is a time bomb right now. I can’t even look at it.”

“Awesome.” Jax pushed into frame to flop against Tom. He pulled out his own phone and began typing before tilting the screen at Tom, who nodded.

“Seriously?” Kilian asked. “Right now? It was all hush-hush for so long.”

“We’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” Tom said. “The team knows anyway, and we left you alone for long enough.”

He wanted to protest, to tell Tom he didn’t have to do this, but emotion choked his throat, and then Jax was saying “Done!” brightly and tossing his phone aside.

“I will wait until I can piss someone off by coming out,” Luca told him.

If Breezy’s phone hadn’t been so close to him and Luca, Kilian would have missed how Luca looked immediately to Breezy, sitting beside him on the couch. Most everyone surrounding them did miss it, checking their own phones and laughing at whatever Jax had posted. Kilian himself nearly didn’t spot Breezy looking back at Luca, soft and open and fond as ever.

Interesting.

Kilian would have to ask what was going on there later.

Phil cleared his throat. “We don’t want to keep you from your Christmas, Howie.”

Kilian shrugged. “No big plans. I think Damir—Denisov, I mean, is making dinner for us.”

“Sounds…nice?”