Page 53 of Skating to Him

“Nope. We have a tradition of staying here for the holiday and spending it with the squad. We’re on the road enough, and we all go home for Christmas.” He licked the sauce off his fork.

“Shit, I’m supposed to fly home on Wednesday night and come back Saturday. But it’s like a whole day of travel each waywith all the flights I’m on.” I huffed a sigh. Would Dad let me return the tickets? Could I? “If I stayed, could I?—”

“Yes, you can have Thanksgiving with me and the squad. Ace won’t be here this year, so Archer is coming over with his boyfriend Leo. Leo’s going to cook the turkey for us.” He wrinkled his brows. “Could you stay?”

I widened my eyes. “Archer, as in Archer Carlson from the Coyotes?” Holy shit, he might be my second favorite D-man from the ASU team.

“None other than. And…” He looked around and focused on me. “Mason Hopkins and Jett Jarvis will be stopping by.” He wagged his brows. “You can meet them all.”

“Oh, fucking hell, I’m staying. I don’t care what my old man thinks.” With a chuckle, I ate some noodles wrapped around spicy beef, and the flavor exploded in my mouth. Nodding with a closed-mouth grin, I pointed at my noodles.

“Good, huh?” He twirled his fork in his noodles. “Those two, Mason and Jett, they sure went through the ringer with those assholes in Dallas.”

“They did. But they play so well together, I’m not surprised the coaches are letting their relationship slide.” My heart lurched. What about us? “Hey, you think Coach would have a problem if he knew about us?” I drank some iced tea.

Shaking his head, he said, “Seeing as how my other friend, Jonah, was dating a coach and they covered it up, no.” He flashed me a grin. “As long as we win, it’s all good.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “But I don’t think it’s something we should flaunt, you know? We should keep this between us and our friends.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. I could see where a coach-player thing would get dicey, but two players? Hell, they’d change up our line, maybe.” I hadn’t come out to Ace yet, but maybe I would at some point. But what about my parents? I set my fork on my bowl. “What do your parents think about you beinggay?” I tented my hands over my food. I needed a break before I could eat more.

“They were cool with it for the most part. Mom didn’t care, but it took some getting used to for Dad. I think that’s sort of typical.” He sat back, placing his fork on his napkin. “Getting full?”

“A little. Just taking a break before I eat more.” Though, I might have to bring some home. I could eat a lot, but Tyler had made a big breakfast too. My heart swelled with emotion. He was taking such good care of me. Could a guy ask for more? “My dad, uh, I have no idea how he’ll take it if I tell him about us.” My chest grew tight. “But with Mom sick…shit.” I hung my head, a knot rolling in my gut. The more I thought about it, the more it didn’t sit well. “She’s okay with Teddy. Shit, shelovesTeddy.”

His gaze darted over my face, and he leaned in, grabbing my hand and resting them both on the table. “You’ve got time to get comfortable with this. I’m not asking you to come out to your family.”

“But at some point, I need to, right?” I threaded my fingers in his. “I mean, if we’re getting serious…” A soft ache floated through my chest. “I never thought I’d have to think about this.”

“What does your dad say about Teddy?” He shifted his chair closer to mine and kissed my knuckles.

“Nothing, really. He’s cordial to him and doesn’t say mean shit behind his back or anything.” I sucked my lower lip under my teeth and freed it. “But I just don’t know. He’s a dad who’s very proud to have a hockey player for a son.”

“Then he’ll probably be a dad who’s very happy his son has found someone.” He gazed deeply into my eyes. “No matter what happens, I’ll be there for you.” He squeezed my hand. “And I know your friend Teddy and all my friends will be there for you too. You’re part of the queer family now.” He creased his forehead.

I parted my lips. Hadn’t Teddy talked like that? Sometimeshe’d just tell me a guy was family, and I’d know that meant the guy was queer. Holy shit, that was me now. “Uh, yeah.” I blinked and blew out a breath. How had the conversation taken this turn? “So, let’s eat the rest of this wicked good food here.”

A grin swept over his mouth as he freed my hand and picked up his fork. “Absolutely. But see if you can stay here for Thanksgiving.”

“Won’t be a problem. I’m sure I can use the money from the tickets on my flights home for Christmas.” I sank my fork into my noodles. “I’ll tell Dad I got a chance to have Thanksgiving with three NHL players, and he’ll probably ask me to stay here and get him some autographs.” I chuckled and ate my food.

After finishing our noodles,we went back to my place and napped for about an hour while tangled in each other on my bed. I woke up with Tyler’s arms wrapped around me from behind and let a soft grin creep over my lips. What a day. Who’d have thought a guy could make me feel like this?

He stirred behind me and, in a groggy voice, said, “You awake?” He lifted onto an elbow and looked me up and down.

Rolling to an angle, I said, “I am now.” It was early evening. At what point would he go home? Could he stay another night? But fuck, he had a morning skate tomorrow.

“How’s the knee? I think we need to ice it some more.” With a soft sigh, he climbed off the foot of the bed.

A grin swept over my lips. He was doing his best to get me back on the ice as soon as possible. I grabbed my knee brace from the side of the bed, strapped it on, and ambled into the main room.

Tyler came at me with the ice pack and helped me onto the couch. “I’ll call my agent tonight and let you know what he says.” He set the ice pack into place and wound the compressionbandage around it, and then glanced toward the window and frowned. “It’s getting late.”

“You need to get going?” I brushed my hand up and down his forearm. I’d known this moment would come. He’d already done so much. I couldn’t ask him to stay another night.

“Yeah. I’ll catch an Uber to my car.” He slid in next to me, draping an arm around my shoulders. “I have a chapter or two I should read tonight.” He rested his forehead against the side of my hair.

“Yeah, and I have practically all day tomorrow to study. No gym, no morning skate, and only a few classes.” I lifted my head and gazed into his stunning face. Brushing my knuckles over his cheek, I said, “You go. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you need any help getting to class tomorrow?” He knitted his brows.

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