Page 149 of Goaltender Interference

Jesse shot him a skeptical look. “That’s not exactly on our diet plan.”

“Nope,” Connor said. “I don’t care. I’m tired, I’m hungry, and this has been aday. I’m eating comfort food and I’m not gonna feel guilty about it.”

“Fair enough. Show me the menu so I can pick out something too.”

Connor directed him to the restaurant’s site.

Jesse laughed. “Legal Seafood? I mean, better than illegal, I guess but …”

“Yeah,” Connor agreed “Weird name, good food.”

“Works for me.”

Jesse was silent a moment while he scrolled through the menu. “Well, Iwasgoing to stick to my nutrition plan but everyonehere in Boston keeps talking about the lobster rolls and this place has some …”

“Worth it,” Connor assured him. “This place has good ones.”

“Butter drenched or traditional lemon mayo?”

“Lemon mayo,” Nolan and Connor both said in unison.

“Well, alright then. Traditional lobster roll with the house salad, please.”

“Done,” Connor said after he’d added them to his online order. “Nols?”

“Clams and linguine. And Boston Cream Pie. It’s my favorite dessert,” he told Jesse.

“Just like your Uncle Kelly,” Connor said absently. He added a couple of slices to the order, then submitted it. The restaurant was about a mile from his place. It shouldn’t take long.

It wasn’t until Connor was done with the order that he glanced up to see his son looking apprehensively at him.

“That’s okay, right? If I’m like Uncle Kelly?”

Connor swallowed thickly, realizing how true his earlier statement had been. “If you grow up to be like your Uncle Kelly, that could only be a good thing,” he assured his son. “I give him shit but he’s smart, he’s a good person, a helluva hockey player, and a good husband. That’s all I want for you. I want you to be happy and healthy and loved. I wanted that when you were born and I still want it now.”

“Thanks,” Nolan whispered and Connor had to blink back tears.

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” he said. “That’s what a dad should do.”

“But Mom doesn’t feel that way.”

Connor’s heart ached and he was suddenly grateful for the press of Jesse’s shoulder against his back, the heat of his body, and the squeeze of his hand.

“Your mother … it’s complicated,” Connor admitted. “She loves you. I know that for sure. And she wants you to be happy and healthy and loved. I don’t doubt that for a second either. She … she has ideas about what things will do that and what might hurt you. And she’s trying to avoid you being hurt. It doesn’t make it okay, but it’s the reason.”

“But why is she like this? She didn’t seem this way when I was little.”

“She’s always been a little bit this way,” Connor admitted. “It’s how she was raised. But she—she got more into the Orthodox Church when our relationship got worse. I think she wanted a feeling of connection and support and I think the church gave her that. I made mistakes, Nolan, I did. I wasn’t who she needed me to be. And when we got divorced, she turned to her religion more. It can be a comfort to people.”

“Is that why you went to church earlier?”

Connor sighed. “Partly. I needed to think about things.”

“About me coming out?”

“It was part of it. But also about my feelings for Jesse.”

“But you said you love him.”

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