Bar Down (Grand Marquee Manticores #2)

Chapter 19

NINETEEN

Three Months Ago

Eli

When Edvin walks in the door after his weekend away, I’m pretty much shocked into stillness. He’s so…grown up. When the hell did that happen?

The last time I saw him, he was just a skinny sixteen year old struggling with his reaction time in the net. Now he’s tall and big—almost as big as me. And what is that on his face? Is he growing a beard?

“Eli!” he drops his bag, abandoning the task of taking his shoes off, and runs up to me, tackling me into a hug.

I squeeze him tight and say, “Hey, lapsi . I missed you.”

He pulls back with a huff. “Not a kid anymore. I’m taller than you,” he says, trying to straighten up and going on his tiptoes.

I laugh and bring him into another hug. “Sure you are.”

“Both my boys are home, I’m so happy,” mom says, joining in on the group hug. Dad comes in too and pinches our cheeks, trying to be annoying. Joke’s on him, I’ve missed this like crazy. When I look up, I see Ash hovering by the stairs, watching us with a small smile.

“Ed, I wanna introduce you to my friend?—”

“Ashton Meyers, hell yeah!” Ed walks up to Ash and reaches out a hand. “You scored that amazing goal that won the Manticores the Cup.”

Ash smiles, albeit a little tightly but says, “It was a team effort. Nice to meet the famous Edvin, I’ve heard a lot about you this past weekend.”

“Ugh, did Mom pull out the baby pictures and embarrassing stories? If so, in my defense I was a little kid, it’s not my fault I was always naked.”

“Yes it is, you kept taking all your clothes off. And no baby pictures were shown,” I say, clapping Ed on the back.

“Are you telling me all this time I could have been looking at baby pictures?” Ash asks with a sparkle in his eyes. “Mrs. Kalias, you’ve been holding out on me.”

My mom laughs, charmed, and says, “I’ll bring them out.”

“Mom, no!” I groan while Ed starts laughing. At least he’s the naked one in the pictures.

“Ed, how are you?” I ask, taking in my brother. He’s really changed so much in just two years. It makes me wonder what else I missed.

“I’m good. Enjoying life as a high school graduate, excited for college,” Ed says with an easy smile. Mine comes with a wince as I say, “Sorry I couldn’t make it to your graduation.”

“Are you kidding? You were playing in the Calder Cup, who cares about a silly graduation?” he says, dropping onto the couch and resting his legs up on the coffee table.

I take the spot next to him and Ash walks over to us, but before he can sit down with us, my mom comes bounding down the steps with a stack of photo albums. His eyes light up when he sees them and all but bounces on his feet in excitement.

My mom places them on the coffee table and sits on the floor. Ash joins her and the two of them flip through page after page as she tells him every embarrassing story of my childhood, like the time I played in a mud puddle in the backyard and refused to come inside the whole day. The picture shows me covered in mud from head to toe, wearing my biggest smile. Or the time I broke my arm jumping off the stairs because I thought I could fly just by wearing a cape, like Mario.

Ash laughs at my mother’s animated recounting of the story and I can’t help but feel relieved and happy that he’s here. He belongs so easily by my side and I want so badly to tell him that.

At some point, my dad steers the conversation to hockey and comes up with a plan for practice. Ash is quiet while my dad talks about it and I’m surprised. The sport has always made him excited and happy, but lately that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. His smile is always tight when someone brings up the Calder Cup.

Ed groans and says, “Dad, I just got home, can we maybe not talk about hockey yet?”

“You know how important training during the offseason is,” my dad says, putting on his serious face and I nod along. Ed shrinks into himself a bit and I feel bad. Maybe we should talk about something else.

“Okay, enough hockey talk,” my mom says, collecting the albums and putting them away.

“What do you want to do for your birthday, hani ?” she asks when she comes back a moment later.

My gaze snaps to Ash and I see him grinning at the term of endearment. I knew something would go wrong bringing him here. I figured that my family would find out we’re into each other before I got the chance to tell them, but I never considered that he would slowly learn the meaning of all the secret nicknames I’ve come up with in the last few months.

“I was thinking we could go to Helsinki. Maybe rent a hotel so we can sightsee a few places. Ash wants to ride the tram.”

“Woah, woah, don’t make this about me,” Ash says, standing up and stretching. I catch a glimpse of skin as his shirt rises up and do my best not to stare at it, but I fail miserably. He notices and gives me a subtle wink. “It’s your birthday in a few days, what do you want to do?”

“That is what I want to do,” I say, frowning. I’ve never cared that much about birthday celebrations. It’s just another day to me, so why make a big deal about it?

“Okay, so the three of you go, get a hotel for a night or two, it will be fun,” dad says.

“Do you two not want to come?” I ask my parents, hoping they will say no so I can get more time alone with Ash.

“We can celebrate you here when you come back. I’ll make your favorite cake,” mom says and I straighten up in my seat.

“German chocolate cake?” I ask.

“Of course,” she responds, patting my shoulder as she walks by to the kitchen.

“Ugh, what is it with you and coconut? It’s not even that good,” Ed says and I smack him in the chest with a decorative pillow.

“Alright, let’s get the hotel and train tickets. Are you excited?” I ask Ash as I stand up from the couch.

“Hell yeah!” Ash says, turning around and running for the stairs.

“Pack light, we’re only downtown for one night,” I yell after him.

“Yeah yeah,” he says, bounding up the stairs to our room. His excitement is infectious and my brother runs up after him to pack his own bag.

Ash

Even though the man I love is turning twenty nine today, he doesn’t want to make a big fuss about it, so we keep our excursion lowkey. We walk over to Fleet Park where we see all kinds of boats, but the sailboats are by far the most interesting ones.

Sailboats are fucking cool.

Growing up in Charlestown—one of the rich neighborhoods of Boston—means I’ve seen and been on my fair share of boats. I remember begging my dad for months to get a sailboat when I was fifteen. I was so excited when he finally said he’d purchase one, it was probably one of the few times I actually liked hanging out with him, touring different boats together. But when the time came, he bought the biggest, most expensive yacht he could afford instead.

My father has never been a man of his word. I don’t know why I expected him to actually follow through when he never seemed to care about me or my interests before. I should have known better.

I’m lost in my own thoughts when Eli steps up next to me, leaning on the fence that overlooks the bay. Ed joins on my other side and for a moment we take it all in. The sun is out and a small breeze picks up and it’s enough to ruffle Eli’s hair, which has been getting longer.

“We should go on a sailboat,” I say wishfully.

“My friend Mikko has one, I’m sure we could at some point.”

I gasp and turn to Edvin. “Are you holding out on me, Ed-man?”

“We’ll get in touch,” Eli says, walking closer to me. He’s been doing that more since we got here. Finding ways to be near me. I expected him to put a mountain of distance between us, but he’s been more casual than usual with his affection. I look over my shoulder at him. He’s so close I could kiss him.

Instead, I just look at him. I keep telling myself that I need to stop staring at him all the time, but it’s not easy to peel my eyes away, not when he looks so good in a pair of navy blue shorts and a white button up short sleeve shirt. When he winks and puts on his RayBan sunglasses with a smile, I go a little weak in the knees.

The three of us have been walking around for the last half hour, after getting coffee and pastries at a nearby cafe. From the pier, I can see the ferris wheel, which is smaller than I expected, but still impressive. When Ed tells me one of the gondolas has a sauna, I am blown away. A sauna on a ferris wheel? How cool is that?

I’m reluctant to leave the sailboats, but Eli says, “This isn’t the last you’ll see of them, I promise.”

So we keep walking until we get to one of the tram stations. I don’t know why I’m so excited about public transportation of all things, it’s not like we didn’t have trains in Boston growing up, but my dad always had a driver take me to school and practice, so I never really got to experience it. And while we have buses in Grand Marquee, it’s such a small city that I don’t really need to ride the bus.

The tram is more modern looking than I expected, each seat attached to a swivel and posted in front of a small table. There are even a few TVs located above the large windows but I pay them no mind, looking at the buildings as we pass them by. Helsinki has an interesting architecture and history from what I’ve seen so far. Older buildings made of colorful red bricks—like cathedrals—look like they’re straight out of a history textbook, while the newer buildings have a more modern, minimalistic look to them. It’s such a stark contrast, but somehow it works.

Eli and Ed do their best to give me a rundown of what everything is, but there’s so much to see and learn about, that we start looking up architecture tours for tomorrow before we head back to their house. While Ed is spending the night with a friend tonight, Eli and I got a hotel room. I’m hoping we can also celebrate his birthday today in a fun way, with a bed that’s not directly above his parents’ room.

We end up seeing two museums—one of art and one of history—and by the time we are done it’s already evening. Eli takes me and Ed to one of his favorite restaurants with outdoor seating by the water. This gives me a great view of the sailboats, so I’m extra happy.

When Ed goes to the restroom, I place my hand on Eli’s thigh under the table and lean in just a little. “Thank you, for today. I’ve had a lot of fun.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t bore you with all the history and museums?”

“Are you kidding? This is your home. I want to know all about it! Plus it’s your birthday, so we had to celebrate you in your own way.”

Eli’s smile is big and I spot some pink in his cheeks. I want to kiss him so badly, but instead I squeeze his thigh again.

“I know you didn’t want to have a big birthday celebration, so I didn’t get you a present, but there’s plenty of things we can do later to make it up to you,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

“I have you here with me, I don’t need anything else.” Eli’s serious gaze is piercing and I can’t fucking wait to get to the hotel. My hand twitches, wanting to move higher up, but I let go when I see Ed walking back to the table.

“Just got a text from my friend, he said there’s a new club nearby and I think I’d want to go. What do you guys think?”

“No, thank you,” Eli says before I can reply, and I look at him from the corner of my eye. His grip is tight on his fork and he’s digging into his appetizer like it personally offended him. Ed gives me a questioning look but I just shrug. This isn’t my business, even though I have an inkling as to why Eli doesn’t want me around clubs.

The conversation moves to hockey and I zone out, like I do every time the topic comes up recently. I’m too much in my head about it and I can’t shake off the disappointment my dad expressed after the Calder Cup. I keep my eyes on the sailboats while Eli gives Ed advice and tips on training.

When I return to the conversation, Ed is looking a little bored and chastised. The poor kid just wants to have a little fun with his brother and instead is getting a lecture.

When the waitress brings our meal, I order a bottle of champagne for the table and change the topic to something more lively.

“So Ed, what fun plans do you have for the summer?”

Ed perks up and says, “I have tickets to a music festival at the end of August. It’s a huge line up of DJs but also some popular pop artists. Wait, do you guys wanna come? I could totally find some tickets.”

“We’re returning to the States before then,” Eli says, and I can’t figure out his tone. Is he disappointed that we’re not staying longer? Or is something else bothering him?

“Oh, right. Well, maybe I can save some money and come visit you next summer?” Ed asks shyly.

Eli looks startled for a moment. “That would be nice,” he responds with a smile.

We spend hours at the restaurant, ordering more wine and dessert, and for the first time in a long time I think I’m really happy. We part ways with Ed, who is meeting up with his friend, and Eli and I head over to the hotel. I’m feeling buzzed and happy but some of that happiness dims when I get a text from my dad.

Have you started training? You better not be wasting time partying god knows where.

My initial reaction is to throw my phone away and go party, just like he expects me to. But I try to put him out of my mind. Why should I still give a shit about what he thinks of me and my career?

yep

I lie and put my phone away right as we get to the hotel.

“Everything okay?” Eli asks.

“Fine.” What’s one more lie?

As soon as the elevator doors close, Eli takes hold of my hand and threads his fingers through mine. He doesn’t let go, not even while he opens the door to our room, not while he backs me up against the wall, not as he unbuttons my shirt and my pants, and not as he reaches into my boxers and makes me see stars.

After, we make love on the bed and shower together, taking our time to kiss and appreciate every part of each other’s body, knowing we won’t have this kind of privacy or time together for the rest of the trip. Eli falls asleep on his stomach, one arm slung over me, his head on my shoulder and his legs entwined with mine.

My phone buzzes again on the nightstand and I want to ignore it, but ultimately I give in and look. I expect my dad to yell at me and tell me again what a disappointment I am, but instead I see a text from Ed.

My friend and I want to go to that club. We’re on the way, but we don’t really wanna go alone since we’ve never been before. I know Eli doesn’t want to, but is there any chance you’d wanna join us?

I close my eyes and blow out a breath. I shouldn’t, I know I shouldn’t. But he wants someone there to more or less chaperone. Eli is exhausted and won’t wake up until the morning, I’m certain of it. I slowly pull myself away from his arms and text Ed back.

Send me the address.