Page 170 of Game Changer
The server arrived with their desserts. Scott blushed and sat straight up, thanking him a little too forcefully when he set the plate down.
After the server left, Kip smiled and Scott shook his head and let out a shaky laugh.
“This is the problem with taking you anywhere,” Scott said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about how you have exactly three minutes to eat that dessert because I am getting you back to my place as soon as fucking possible.”
“What, no coffee?”
“I’ll make you coffee in the goddamn morning.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kip bounced his way back to Scott’s (their?) apartment after his final shift at Straw+Berry. He tossed his strawberry baseball cap into a garbage can on the way.
It would be a quick stop at home to change because he was heading out to meet Maria and Elena for a celebratory drink. But he wanted to see Scott first because tonight was game six of the finals, and there was every chance that the playoffs would end tonight with the Admirals winning the Cup. Kip would be at the game later, of course, but he was hoping to steal a quiet moment with Scott before what was sure to be a hectic and exciting evening.
Scott had had a team meeting that morning, but he said he’d be home in the afternoon for a nap and to generally try to relax before the big game. The long flights and time zone differences between New York and Los Angeles had been adding to the stress of the series.
In the apartment, Kip found Scott in bed.
“Hey,” Scott said, hoisting himself up on an elbow. Messy hair, thick beard, muscles everywhere—Kip still couldn’t believe this was his boyfriend. “How was the last shift?”
“Uneventful,” Kip said. “But I brought you something. For luck.”
He held out a blue smoothie. The last one he would ever have to make.
“Aww,” Scott said, reaching for it. “I hope the new staff can make them this good.”
Kip feigned horror. “You would letanother guymake you a smoothie?”
Scott smiled around the straw. “I’d be thinking of you the whole time. I promise.”
Kip kissed his hair. “I gotta head out in a minute. Maria and Elena are meeting me in, like, half an hour.” He pulled his grubby T-shirt off.
“I guess I have to head to the rink soon anyway,” Scott sighed. “Are you guys gonna be talking about me?”
“Definitely,” Kip said, as he pulled a fresh pair of jeans out of the dresser. “Maria has been calling this the Secret Meeting of the Society of People Who Know about Scott and Kip. I expect at least a hundred questions from her.”
Scott chuckled and shook his head. “Not gonna be a secret much longer, I guess.”
Kip pulled a clean T-shirt on, and walked over to the bed. He tilted Scott’s face up, and gave him a slow, adoring kiss that tasted like blueberries. “When you’re ready,” he said gently. “Even just having my parents and some of my friends knowing about us makes me feel a lot better. No rush for the rest of the world.”
He turned to walk to the bathroom, but Scott grabbed his wrist. Kip turned back.
“Thank you,” Scott said. His face and his tone were very serious. His eyes looked like they were trying to say more, and Kip wished they would because he had no idea why Scott was thanking him.
“For what?”
“Everything. I don’t know what will happen tonight—if we’ll win, or if I’ll be getting on a plane to L.A. right after the game—but I want you to know that I wouldn’t even be playing tonight if it wasn’t for you.”
Kip’s brow furrowed. “Of course you would be. What do I have to do with—?”
Scott shook his head. “I was miserable, Kip. I know my life seems pretty great—and it is, in a lot of ways—but I was solonely. And it got harder every year. This season, before I met you, it was like...” He seemed to struggle for words. Kip took his hand and squeezed it.
“It was like,” Scott continued, “I had lost my love of hockey. Like...the fire went out, y’know?”
