Page 64 of Broken Ice, Mended Hearts

“A lot of the teams we play aren’t that far from DC. If both our teams have an off-day, we could meet somewhere.”

“That sounds good. Could one of us fly home for a few hours? We could do this again.”

“This, as in fucking?”

“Yes, but more than that. We could be together. I could see you smile, laugh with you, watch you eat ice cream.”

We grew quiet, but I resisted falling asleep. Today was too precious to spend unconscious, so I shook him awake. “Let’s take a shower and make breakfast. I want to spend the day with you.”

His rumbly chuckle tickled my neck. “Can we take bedroom breaks?”

“And a pool break, a couch break… maybe even a kitchen floor break.”

“It’s a plan. Then tomorrow, we’ll get up and do what we need to do.”

“It was the delivery guy,” Pip called, coming out of the house wearing trunks and a big smile, holding up a bag in one hand and a pizza box in the other. “It’s lucky we heard him because he was getting ready to leave.”

Pip ambled across the yard toward the pool, and I was about ninety percent sure he was showing off for me. I could have believed some ab ripples while he walked, but with every step?A big pec-flex was the giveaway, so I scoffed. “I already think you’re sexy, asshole. You don’t have to convince me.”

“Who’s trying to convince you?” He stopped beside me and grinned before placing the food on the table. “I’m giving you something to remember me by.”

My smile almost faded, but I kept it in place. “I’ll remember, don’t worry. Will you remember me?”

Okay, so that was blatantly needy, but fuck it. I already missed him.

“You haven’t been out of my mind for thirty minutes since that dinner at Alex’s. That’s not about to change.”

He sat down, and I stared into his eyes. I halfway expected a smart-ass follow up, but I suspected he was telling the truth. “You’ve hardly been out of my thoughts since then, either. It’s been a great summer.”

“Sure has.” He held my gaze another few seconds before glancing at the goodies on the table. “What kind of bullshit is this? The dumbass brought my pizza and wings, but where’s yours?”

“Fuck off, Gagné. That’s my food. You’d better go look for some cheese and crackers.”

“Go to hell. It was my idea to get their new sausage on the pie, and I’m not missing out.”

“Oh yeah? Give me that box so I can lick all the slices.”

We argued good-naturedly while he unearthed paper plates and set them in front of us, then divided the honey-habañero wings between us. I reached for the pizza box, but he urged my hand away. “Let me, Sven. I won’t get to do this for a while.”

He gave me a crooked grin as he moved a slice of pizza to my plate, and to ward off tearing up, I glared at him. “Thanks for touching it with your dirty fingers.”

“You liked my dirty fingers just fine this morning.”

A glob of melted cheese slid across his hand. Fortunately, the pizza was lukewarm at best, but he cursed anyway.

“Are you getting so old you can’t hold on to your food, Gagné?” I asked, then snickered. “Or maybe you’re just plain cheesy.”

“And you’re a real pizza work.” Nodding at my plate, he said, “Better get a piece of the action because I’m not waiting around.” Demonstrating what he meant, he devoured half his slice in one bite.

We insulted each other and laughed until the food was gone, then jumped into the pool to wash the grease off our hands and faces. After racing to the other end and back—I won, but Pip tried to say it was a tie—we paused before climbing out of the water. He showed me one of his special smiles while he brushed a palm against my cheek, then planted kisses on my eyebrows, nose, both cheeks, and lips. “You’ve got one seriously ugly mug, Holmer,” he said before kissing my nose again. “And it’s undoubtedly the handsomest one I ever saw.”

After a nap and an afternoon game ofLethal Company,we ordered Mexican food for dinner. While we feasted on a triple order of guacamole and chips, grilled corn carnitas, tacos al pastor, and barbacoa beef enchiladas, we needed a walk to jump-start our digestion. It was dusk by then, and the temperature had gone down to a balmy eighty-five, so we set out for Rock Creek Park. It wasn’t far, and we were surprised to have it mostly to ourselves. Others we passed were engrossed in their own conversations, so we finally talked about what was about to happen.

“It’s going to be hard,” I said. “Harder than we’ve admitted. Being apart is a strain for any relationship, but we haven’t had that long together.”

Pip blew out a breath and nodded. “True, but what we’ve had has been quality time.” He hesitated while a shadow passed overhis face. “At least since we became partners. I know the first part of the summer was rocky.”

A couple passed going in the other direction, and I took advantage of the time to think about how to answer. “It was difficult at times,” I eventually said, “but I don’t think it was a waste. It gave us both a chance to work through things and decide what was really important to us.”

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