Page 151 of On Thin Ice

“Also,” Jacob continued, “it turns out being amused by your total meltdown is a good distraction from my own anxiety.”

“I stayed up all night watching game tape,” Morgan said.

“Yeah, that’s really obvious.”

Morgan shoved an elbow into his side. Jacob had discovered over the last year, as they’d learned to tolerate each other off ice and had gradually actually become friends, Morgan had really fucking sharp elbows. Jacob yelped, shooting Morgan a dirty look.

“What? You’re being an unsupportive asshole,” Morgan said sulkily.

“Sucks, doesn’t it?”

Morgan shoved another elbow into his side and this time Jacob just accepted the pain as a matter of course.

He’d doanythingfor Finn, even tolerate Morgan’s pointy elbows.

“I’m supportive,” Morgan squawked. “I’m even wearing his sweater! I haven’t worn one since—” He stopped abruptly.

Jacob glanced over at him and they shared a look.

He remembered the first time he’d put on a jersey that wasn’t his own. It had been Finn’s, during the Evergreens’ playoff run last year. He’d wanted to be supportive in any way he could and doing something had felt better than doing nothing. But his fingers had still slid over the fabric uncomfortably before he’d finally pulled it over his head.

“It’s gonna mean a lot to Finn that you’re wearing it,” Jacob said, more gently than Morgan probably deserved. Finn had gifted it to him for Christmas this year, his autograph proudly scrawled over the two and the nine on the back.

Finn had told Jacob later that night, as they’d cuddled naked in bed, that he didn’t think his dad would ever wear it, but he hoped he’d carry it with him either way. Jacob had told him that he knew he would. Because he could say a lot about Morgan Reynolds, but these days, the man was dedicated to showing his son just how much he cared about him.

“And he’s going to laugh his ass off that we’re sitting here, like fucking twins in a Sears photoshoot,” Morgan grumbled.

“Yeah, probably.” Jacob smiled. Inside,hewas laughing his ass off that they now looked like twins. “Don’t you dare shove that elbow into me again. Iwillkick your ass if you do.”

“No, you won’t,” Morgan said, sounding very confident.

Kind of the way he’d used to talk in press conferences and with reporters’ microphones shoved in front of him.“Oh yeah, I’m definitely gonna get points tonight against Braun. There’s no way he can stop me, not when I’m skating like this.”Morgan being confident in relation to him in such a different way had taken a lot of getting used to.

Jacob wasn’t sure he’d quite accomplished it yet.

But then, when Morgan Reynolds was your future father-in-law, could you ever sleep easy?

“Did I tell you that I’m cutting back on some of my ESPN commitments?” Morgan asked.

Jacob considered telling Morgan that no, he hadn’t told Jacob but he’d told Finn and that was as good as telling Jacob. But Morgan was clearly making an effort to not freak out, or notkeepfreaking out, and Jacob wanted to encourage that.

“No.”

“Well, I am. I want to be present for this, for Finn. It feels important, you know? I’m still doing a few segments, but they said I can do those from my rental house.”

Jacob ping-ponged, much the same way Finn did, on how he felt about Morgan abruptly decamping from New York and moving, in some kind of long-term capacity, to a rental house a mile from theirs in Tampa.

On one hand, it was a very good thing for Finn to have a better relationship with Morgan, and to everyone’s surprise, itwasbecoming a better relationship.

On the other hand, Morgan liked to annoyingly show up just when Jacob wanted to get Finn naked.

“Good. Do more of those,” Jacob said and then laughed at the horrible expression that crossed over Morgan’s face.

“For the hundredth time, I don’t want to hear about your sex life,” Morgan muttered.

“Then stop interfering,” Jacob said easily, fully expecting and accepting the elbow that got shoved into his gut.

“Do you . . .should I . . .” Morgan trailed off, suddenly looking not only anxious, but also like he might be about to vomit.

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