Page 159 of The Blame Game

Eli beamed.

“Eli and I like to push the boundaries of fashion a bit.”

“I love that,” Shea said honestly. “That tension between styles and genders and everything else is totally what makes fashion fun.”

Eli looked wide-eyed. “Do you ever wear anything like Charlie and I do?”

Shea hummed. “Not a whole lot. But I did have my ear pierced in college and I used to wear fun earrings sometimes. Haven’t done that in a while but I might start again.”

He glanced at Charlie. “I saw this fantastic shoot once, with a guy who was wearing traditionally masculine clothing, but he had on pearl jewelry and I absolutely loved it. I’ve always been tempted to try it out and see if I liked it.”

Charlie’s eyes lit up and he pressed a hand to his chest as if overcome. “Oh, honey, you would look amazing like that. And if you ever want to talk fashion shoots and jewelry you have come to the right place.”

Eli looked between them. “Can I talk too? This is like, so cool. You’re both totally my idols.”

Charlie smiled and hugged them. “Of course, sweetie. You’re always welcome.”

Shea nodded and agreed, promising they could talk more later.

The last kid of Matty and Antoni’s was a teenage girl who looked him up and down, then frowned. “So I know you’re dating Uncle Dom but are you a hockey player?” she asked, her tone curious. “You kinda look like one.”

Shea grinned. “I used to be. My knees couldn’t hack it though so I switched to physiotherapy. What about you?”

She brightened. “Yeah! I play defense like Matty. I score more goals than he does though.”

Shea threw his head back and laughed.

Shea talked hockey with her for a few minutes, then met a few more teammates. Colton and his girlfriend, Birdie, Jordan and his girlfriend, Natasha, Erik Jensen and his wife, Kayla.

Shea also met the Makarovs’ five kids, who immediately decided he was boring and dragged Matty by the hand, begging him to jump on the trampoline with them.

“He’s going to launch them into outer space,” Dustin muttered.

Charlie laughed and patted his cheek. “I am pretty sure that’s what they’re going for. And this is why we got the safety netting, darling.”

River tore off after them and Shea stood there a moment, taking in the happy chaos.

When Shea noticed Antoni standing nearby, holding Reese, he walked over.

“Hey,” he said. “Sorry, I don’t think we technically met.”

Antoni gave Shea a little smile. “No worries. Great to meet you, Shea. And let me know if you ever need a break from all this. This team is wonderful but, uh—”

“We can be a lot,” Charlie said in a stage whisper as he leaned in. “Feel free to hide in an empty room upstairs if you’re an introvert.”

Antoni nodded. “That’s what I do.”

Shea laughed. “No, I’m not particularly introverted. But I’m familiar with the type.”

He glanced over at Dom who now sat by himself on a bench in the sun, looking perfectly content to watch everyone else having fun. He had a small smile on his face and he looked perfectly relaxed.

It was interesting watching all of Dom’s layers be revealed and trying to figure out which ones were because he’d intentionally isolated himself for decades, and which were simply who he was.

Shea had no way of knowing, really, and he suspected Dom didn’t know. But he thought there was a good chance Dom was, at his very core, someone who had always and would always be a little bit apart from the rest of the world.

It made Shea feel especially humbled to know that out of everyone, Dom had chosen him to be more open with.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Charlie asked, nodding at a cart nearby. “We have a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.”

---