Page 19

He just called this a date. Did he mean that in the context of the auction win or…?

“After the funeral, my grandpa and uncle told me I was the man of the house. I had to look after Mom and Bobby. I took that very seriously, looking after Bobby at school, trying to help Mom when I saw that she was sad. Grandpa in particular kept reminding me of it until he passed away when I was in high school. Despite what Mom and Bobby have said over the years, it’s hard for me to let it go. Family was important already, but this extra layer’s been drilled into me. So different circumstances, but we can’t shake off what we learned as kids.”

We’d shared a lot. If we weren’t skating, I’d pull him into a hug.

“The weird thing is,” I picked up, “they don’t get they can finally let go. They still scrimp on food, and I can’t convince them that they can buy something just for the hell of it.”

“Sounds like they’re stuck in their routine just like you and I are. Mom tells me I worry too much and spend too much time keeping tabs on her and Bobby rather than finding someone…”

Uh-oh. What happened?

“I’m totally babbling. Sorry.”

I’m not sure who was more vulnerable.

“You should bring your folks to a game sometime.” Kyle moved the conversation as the music coming from his pocket kept playing dance tunes. “Between your sponsor access and what I get as a player, we can set them up great.”

“I’ve tried. They don’t want me to spend money. I wish life hadn’t been so hard on them that they can’t enjoy more now.”

Kyle looked at me and again raised that eyebrow, except this time it came with a quirky smile. “Hmmm. That sounds familiar.”

“Whoa. That’s not fair.” I knocked into his shoulder, temporarily forgetting I was on skates. My feet sputtered, but Kyle leaned into me and kept me upright. “And maybe you should take some advice from your mother. Seems like she’s in favor of you settling down like Bobby.”

He grunted, deep and gravely. What sounds would me make if he were under me? Or over me? Anywhere with me in bed.

Oh, man. We’re so far away from that.

I couldn’t go there. I’d already thought about that while drifting off to sleep last night, and while it was a sexy, great fantasy, it would never come true.

“I’ve never figured out how to date and do the travel, the practices, the games, and everything else. How could I give anyone the time they deserved? I know a lot of guys date and get married while playing the game, but I can’t imagine being able to make that work.”

Kyle and I had unexpected things in common. Our pasts had interesting intersections with family and obligations.

“You’re really tight with your family. Has it always been that way?” Probably a weird question to ask, but his family seemed so different than mine.

“Totally.” He lit up. “It’s all hands on deck for the holidays. Sometimes, I don’t get as many days as Mom and Bobby get, but I manage to be home on Christmas Day. The league’s good about that, even around prep for the Winter Classic for teams that play in that. Last year, we celebrated here because Bobby and Seb wanted to host at their new place. I expect will be there again soon enough because they want to start a family.”

I didn’t miss the extra inflection in his voice, and I caught a twinkle “You’re looking forward to being an uncle?”

“For sure. Between me and Mom, the kid will be wildly spoiled.” Something ran through his mind that I couldn’t decipher, but I caught his expression out of the corner of my eye. “They’ll be awesome parents too. Sebastian was a perfect match for Bobby.”

“Can I ask, did your mom freak out at all when both sons turned out to be gay? Sometimes I think my parents try to forget about it.”

Out of nowhere, I realized skating and talking wasn’t quite so hard. It became more like driving a car and occasionally glancing at the passenger.

“Mom was always super great. I got outed at thirteen.” He laughed even though that sounded horrible. “I got caught at hockey camp with Garrett Howell.”

“Whoa!” That was too loud. I darted my eyes around to make sure we were still alone. “Wait. Same guy from the auction and who’s on the ESPN cover?”

“The same.” The smirk on his face said everything. “G billeted with us when we played juniors. We were horny teenagers who were out to each other. We messed around a lot. We got caught at camp by another kid who decided to freak out.”

Kyle told this with amusement in his voice.

“Parents were called. Things were said. We didn’t get thrown out, but we were no longer allowed to be in the same bunkhouse. Garrett’s my bestie. And Mom was great. She was happy Garrett and I were safely experimenting with each other instead of random people.”

Kyle related all this with exaggerated hand gestures, and until he finished, I didn’t realize he’d let go of me.

“I would’ve died if I ever got caught. It stressed me out just hearing the story. Did you and Garrett ever date?”