Page 146 of Body Check

“Why do I feel like that still leaves us with plenty of options?” Jesse called after him as he stepped into the bathroom.

Gavin shot him a grin and a wink over his shoulder, but didn’t reply verbally, letting the door swing closed behind him.

After he’d done his business and washed his hands, he returned to the party. If anything, it had only increased in volume andintensity. Dakota was talking to his brother-in-law, Jeff, so Gavin headed for the bar to grab glasses of water for them both.

There was a small line, so while he waited, he glanced around the space and spotted his brother, deep in conversation with Graham Pennington.

Their heads were bent together and for once, there wasn’t a trace of Thad’s typical charming, slightly smug smile on his face. He seemed unusually serious, nodding as he listened to something Graham had to say.

It was nice to see Thad making friends with people on the team.

A few moments later, Graham and Thad got their drinks. When they turned to face Gavin, Thad looked surprised.

“Hey,” Gavin said. “Can I talk to you for a sec, Thad?”

Thad held up his free hand. “We were just talking, I swear.”

Gavin glanced between Thad and Graham with a raised eyebrow. “Uhh, I didn’t think otherwise. That wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Graham shot Thad a tight smile. “Uh, thanks for the drink, man. I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, later,” Thad said, still staring at Gavin. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Gavin stepped out of line, motioning for Rafe to go ahead. Thad followed suit.

“Do you want to skate with me tomorrow?” Gavin asked when they were no longer in the way.

“Skate with you?” Thad looked startled.

“Yeah,” Gavin said, swallowing past a lump in his throat. “I’ve missed it.”

Thad’s expression softened. “I have too. I’m pretty rusty now, but, uh, yeah, I’d love to skate. Not too early though, okay?” He held up his drink.

“Not too early,” Gavin promised with a soft laugh. “I’ll text you on my way over. We should be able to get some ice time at HCI no problem though. I know a guy.”

He winked and Thad shot him a grin.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“To a better year than the ones we’ve had before,” Gavin said softly, lifting his glass.

Thad clinked his glass against Gavin’s. “To a better year.”

THIRTY-FOUR

MID-JANUARY

“Oh my God.” Dakota’s fingers trembled as he stared at the photos of his ex-boyfriend. It had only been a few weeks. He couldn’t believe how quickly this had happened. “You—you found him?”

“My PI did, yeah,” Gavin said.

His hand was heavy as he slowly rubbed it along Dakota’s back, the heat and pressure soothing.

“What—where is he?” Dakota looked up.

“Sacramento, California. He changed his name but it’s definitely him.”

“Wow,” Dakota whispered, staring down at the picture again. Funny, he’d been so in love with Bryce, so wowed by his looks, so … dazzled by him. And sure, on paper—or on the screen in this case—he was still incredibly good-looking. But there had been nothing of substance underneath. Dakota glanced up. “Wait, was Bryce even his real name?”

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