Page 80 of Skating to Him

Way to lay it on thick.I moved the phone so both of us showed on the screen. “Dad, we play well together. I don’t think I’ve ever had a partner I gelled so well with.”

“I’ve seen it. You two are unstoppable when you’re in sync. I guess the biggest question I have is, does your coach know?” Dad’s brows ticked.

“He does not.” I huffed. “We only have the second half of the season left and I’m not sure what good it would do to tell him if it’s not noticeable on the ice.” Of course Dad would go there. He was a coach. I winced.

Dad narrowed his eyes. “Did you ever date anyone on my juniors team?”

“No.” I freed a nervous chuckle. “And if I had, I wouldn’t have told you.” I glanced at Rowan. “There aren’t many people who know about us.” I wanted to get off this topic.

“Mr. Hodge, I just met Jett Jarvis and Mason Hopkins, who, as you know, are living and playing together for the Coyotes. I think they’ve set a precedent for the rest of us, don’t you think?” Rowan lifted a brow.

Twisting his lips, Dad said, “You have a point. I suppose no matter if you were in an off-ice relationship or not, if your game suffered, your coach would mix things up.”

“Frank, enough of that talk.” Mom’s face came into view. “Tell us about your family, Rowan. What does your father do?”

“Oh, my dad’s a lawyer, and my mom used to do paralegal work for his firm, but now…” He threw a quick peek at me. “Now my mom is on disability. She has, um, she has MS.”

Mom’s eyes popped open. “Oh my. How long has she had it?”

“She was diagnosed, I don’t know, ten years ago? She has a rarer kind, one where the disease progresses pretty fast. She doesn’t necessarily go into a full remission in between flare-ups.” He pressed his lips together.

“I’m sorry, Rowan.” Mom’s gaze softened. “That’s got to be rough for you and your family.”

“It is, but my brothers are both still living at home, so they help out a lot.” He swallowed and scratched his nose.

“He was there with me when you called to tell me about your diagnosis.” I leaned into Rowan’s side, enjoying his warmth. “He helped me a lot that day.” I gave him a warm grin.

“Oh…” Mom’s lips tugged up in the corners. “Is that when you two fell for each other?”

I focused on Rowan.

“Yep, pretty much. At least, that’s when I figured out I liked him more than a friend.” Rowan gave me a charming smile. “This is new for me, but I’ve fallen head over heels for Tyler here.” He choked out a laugh. “I mean, how could you not? Look at him.” He held his hand up to me.

“Stop it.” As my cheeks flamed, I dipped my gaze and then turned my attention to the phone, catching Dad rolling his eyes. He was not amused, but Mom seemed to love it. “Anyway, I’ll be home for Christmas and will be meeting with the Blackhawks, then I plan on visiting Rowan in Boston.” It was time to wrap this up.

“And you’ll be meeting his family. Oh, how sweet. I’m so happy for you both.” Mom beamed into the phone, clasping her hands over her chest.

“Yeah, I’m happy for you too, son. Rowan here seems like a standup guy, and I like what I’ve seen of him on the ice.” Dad smirked into the phone.

“Thank you, sir.” Rowan squeezed my thigh.

Lifting his chin, Dad said, “Maybe I can put a word in with Brian and get him to take a look at Rowan.”

My heart lifted. “Yeah? I wouldn’t complain about it.” I snuck a glance at Rowan. “I think Dean is working on it too.” How perfect would that be?

“I, uh, I signed with Dean too.” Biting his lip, Rowan arched a brow.

“Good, I’ll definitely put a word in.” A wide smile swept over Dad’s lips. “I know a winning defensive pair when I see one.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Holy shit. “Anyway, we should get going.” I glanced at my beer in my lap. We had more celebrating to do.

“See you soon. Bye.” Mom waved into the phone.

“Bye, boys,” Dad said.

In unison, Rowan and I said, “Bye.” I stopped the call, scrubbed my face, and then looked at Rowan. “That went amazingly well.”

“Sure did.” He lifted his beer can to me. “To a winning defensive pair.”

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