Page 126 of The Home Game

“It’s noon.”

“What?” Antoni sat up, blinking until Matty came into focus. “Noon? How did … holy shit. I haven’t slept that late since college.”

“It’s okay. We don’t need to be anywhere.”

Antoni rubbed his eyes, his brain still struggling to shift into awake mode. “Kids okay? You should have woken me.”

Matty gave him an amused look. “They’re at your parents’ place, remember? They wanted us to enjoy the weekend together. A stay-at-home honeymoon. Or did you forget we got married?” he teased.

“Uhh,” Antoni said. “Maybe a little bit?”

“Harsh.” Thankfully, Matty didn’t look upset.

“Look, when I’m sleeping that deeply, I’m lucky if I remember my own name when I wake up.” Antoni said thickly, rubbing his hands across his face. He glanced down at his hand. Yeah, he was still married alright.

That hadn’t been some kind of weird but surprisingly great dream.

Antoni might have been full of nerves at city hall yesterday but this morning he was feeling pretty good about things. What that meant long-term … well, he wasn’t thinking about that.

Because for now, he was married to Matty and they were more than compatible in the bedroom and yeah, life was pretty fuckin good.

Antoni pulled the ring off, playing with it. “Wearing this still feels weird. Not in a bad way. I’m—I’m not used to it yet is all.”

Matty smiled. “It’ll take a little while but you’ll adjust. I’ll have to take mine off for games and practice. I really need to get a chain to wear it on or something.”

“I think I have one you could use,” Antoni said. “I don’t wear it much anymore. For a while, Reese went through a grabby phase where he yanked on it all the time and I was afraid it would break or he would try to eat it or something. But you could use it if you want.”

Matty beamed. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

Antoni turned the ring over, inspecting it more closely. He frowned when he spotted something on the interior.

“Hey, there’s an inscription inside. It says: when you know, you know.” He huffed. “Well that’s … cryptic. Thanks, Mom and Dad.”

“Huh.” Matty inspected his ring. “It’s on mine too.”

“I wonder what it means.”

Matty smiled. “Guess we’ll have to ask them about it sometime. Hey, do you want waffles?”

“Uhh.” Antoni brushed his hair out of his eyes. Damn he was overdue for a haircut. “Sure. I can help though …”

“Mmm, nope. They’re already made.” Matty lifted a tray off the dresser. “See?”

“Oh. Okay. Wow. This is some full-service marriage here, huh?”

“I like taking care of people,” Matty explained. He put the tray on the bed beside Antoni.

Antoni smiled. “I know you do. Just tell me if there’s anything I can do for you. Because I want to. I want to be good to you, Matty.”

“I’ll tell you,” Matty promised. “But c’mon. Enjoy the waffles and sausage before they get any colder.”

So Antoni reached for the smaller plate. “Thanks for this.”

After the first bite of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, he sighed happily. “God this is amazing. At the risk of being greedy, is there maple syrup though?”

Matty rolled his eyes. “God, you’re so Canadian.”

“It’s important to our culture,” Antoni said primly.

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