Page 66 of The Home Game

Matty shot him a confused look as he poured more batter onto the griddle. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t mean to leave this all on you.” He gestured around the kitchen. “I didn’t even know you were going to do this. I just … I guess I turned off my alarm and rolled over and fell back asleep or something.”

Matty shrugged. “Well, clearly you needed the rest.”

“Yeah, but the kids are all dressed and someone did River’s hair and—”

“Ahh, it’s fine. Alexis helped. I fed Reese and Alexis changed the diaper. Which, let’s be honest, I got the way better end of that deal.”

Antoni managed a small laugh. “True. But I don’t want her to feel like she needs to raise her siblings, you know? She’s a kid. It’s one thing to pitch in occasionally but I don’t want her to feel like she has to be his mother. She should just be able to enjoy being fourteen.”

“Sure,” Matty said, flicking off the burner then walking over. “I’ve seen big families where the older kids have to take on way too much responsibility. But you’re allowed to sleep in one day of the year. I didn’t mind helping and I don’t think Alexis did either. Honestly, she said she was glad you were finally getting some sleep.”

“Yeah?” Antoni said, touched that she’d noticed. “That’s sweet but I really don’t want to lean too heavy on either of you. This wasn’t part of our agreement.”

“It wasn’t?” Matty asked, tilting his head. “Because I thought it was.”

“That’s not why I moved in with you.”

“I know. But I’m lending a hand is all,” Matty said with a shrug. “Like your parents. Or your brother.”

“But you’re not …” Antoni fumbled the words, not sure how to explain. Just because they’d had a moment last night didn’t mean they were … dating or anything. Even though he now knew Matty wasn’t straight and—if Antoni hadn’t finally gone around the bend from stress—had looked at Antoni like he wanted to kiss him.

“I’m not family,” Matty said with a nod. He turned away and got a mug down from the cupboard. “But I am your friend. Or at least I wanna be. And I thought you understood all that after you met the team yesterday. This is just what we do.”

“You invite strangers to live in your homes?” Antoni asked doubtfully.

“Well, kind of. It’s normal in hockey, you know.” Matty poured coffee, adding cream and sugar.

“It is?”

“Yeah.” Matty pushed the full mug into Antoni’s hand. “Have a seat, drink this, and I’ll tell you all about trades and billeting.”

Slightly dazed, Antoni took a seat at the counter and sipped the coffee. He didn’t really need it. He felt shockingly well-rested after all that sleep. But the coffee tasted amazing.

He was going to get so spoiled living here.

Matty leaned against the counter, arms crossed.

“Okay, so first of all, trades happen all the dam—darn time. One day you’re playing in a city, the next you’re on a plane heading across the country. And sometimes you stay in a hotel for a bit, but sometimes the captain or one of the players on your new team says, ‘hey, I’ve got a spare room, you wanna stay with me?’ And it’s nice, you know? It’s not so lonely. They help you get settled into a strange new city where you might not know anyone on the team, or only a few guys from playing in past tournaments or whatever.”

“Sure, that makes sense.” Antoni took another sip of his coffee.

“And then there’s billeting. Do you know what Junior hockey is?”

“Uhh, I’m guessing it’s below senior hockey?”

Matty laughed. “Sort of. It’s amateur hockey for players who are fifteen to twenty years old.”

“Okay.”

“So, especially for the younger kids, they need a place to stay. They’re not ready to be on their own but a lot of the teams they play for are far from where their families live. So people in the community volunteer to become billet households. The family helps the player with meals, laundry, studying, rides, all that stuff.”

“Oh. So like exchange students.”

“Pretty much,” Matty said. “And the families get money for expenses and all that. Does that sound kinda familiar, maybe?”

The metaphorical lightbulb went off over Antoni’s head. “So, you’ve been looking at this situation like we’re billeting with you,” Antoni said with a grin.

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