3. Devon
3
DEVON
My legs burned as I skated toward the net. Everything flew by me, but I was always aware of where everyone was. Jansen passed to me as I narrowly avoided a hip check. Those extra practices at home paid off.
We were in overtime with the score tied at two.
I had to wait for the exact moment to pass to King. But he was currently trying to get clear of Wood, Tennessee’s defenseman. And a damn good one at that.
Sweat poured off me. I was tired and ready for the game to come to an end. We’d played our asses off tonight. That was what happened when we were up against a team who rivaled ours in terms of skills. At least we knew what we were in for when we played them.
I moved just in time to avoid the puck being stolen from me. It was in that moment that King was open, so I sent it sailing his way. He took off for the net with Wood right behind him. Of course, they’d put him on King, given the number of goals our left winger scored.
And tonight, he didn’t disappoint.
He aimed and took his shot, the puck barely passing to the right of the Tennessee goalie as he was moving to block it.
The horn blared. King raised his hands, his stick in one, cheering the goal. The fans in attendance jumped to their feet and yelled happily as he skated over to pound twice on the glass, celebrating the win with them.
I skated over to him. We collided against the boards where Jansen joined us.
Game over. Hard fought. Hard won.
In the locker room, still sweaty but shed of our gear, the media came in to do interviews and eventually we made our way to the showers. There was nothing more I wanted in that moment than to be clean. Then I could go out and celebrate with my friends and parents.
Mom and Dad came to the games when they could. It wasn’t always easy, given my mom’s job, but I didn’t expect them to see every home game in person. I knew they supported me. Always had since I was little and wanted to play. Hell, when I took the contract with the Jetties, Mom sold the family practice she built from the ground up in Minnesota and found the open position at the urgent care here. At least now she didn’t have to run the entire business like she used to. She could focus on helping patients and not the administrative work that came with owning it.
King slapped me on the back as he stepped up next to me. I already had my slacks, shoes, button-down shirt, and tie in place. I just needed to slip on my jacket. “Great game, D.”
“Me?” I asked. “You’re the one who got us the win.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your assist. Team effort.”
“That’s right,” Jansen McKenna said as he sidled up next to us. “You can’t forget my handsome face in that winning play.”
King palmed Jansen’s cheek then shoved him away. “No one wants to look at your ugly mug, Kenna.” King had a habit of using nicknames on everyone except Hayes. I liked to call everyone by their first names, at least on my team. The other teams, it was last names for them.
In all honesty, Jansen was gorgeous. Six foot three with a mess of loose, dark curls that always flattened out with sweat under the helmet during the game, yet bounced right back once he was showered. He had bright blue eyes and was great to have on the ice with us as a defenseman.
But I didn’t sleep with the guys on my team. Ever. It was a hard and fast rule I had. One I also never broke.
Hayes came over to stand with us. His gray suit fit him well, without a single wrinkle. He was the right winger on our line and the complete opposite of King. Where King was all about having fun and playing every game like it was his last, Hayes was serious, on and off the ice. I swore it was King’s mission in life to get Hayes to loosen up. The two of them were best friends.
“Who wants to head out for some fun?” King asked this every time we won. Hayes would give him a look like King should know better than to ask him. Jansen would sometimes go, sometimes not. He was currently dating a supermodel, but she was in town less than she wasn’t. As for me…
“Can’t. Mom and Dad are waiting for me. We’re going to get a bite to eat before heading home. You’re welcome to come.” My parents had bought us dinner more times than I could count. And we ate. A lot. But they loved having us with them.
“Dinner?” King’s eyes went wide. The man rarely turned down a free meal, even if it meant eating instead of scoring a hookup. When it came between thinking with his dick or his stomach, unless he’d just eaten, his stomach usually won.
I chuckled. “Come on. You know they love you.”
We made our way out to our vehicles. I was the only one with a truck. Since there was no snow on the ground, King had his BMW 840i coupe. It was sleek and dark as night. If it snowed, even flurried, he showed up in an older Jeep Wrangler he kept for when he couldn’t drive his car. Hayes climbed in with King since the two of them lived together and commuted to the arena.
Mom and Dad would be at Espen Steakhouse waiting for us since it took us a bit to get out of here after the game. I led the way with King behind me and Jansen in back of him in his Subaru Crosstrek.
Jansen had only come to the Jetties two years ago in a trade. He was from Michigan but last played for New York. King busted on him all the time about upgrading to something fancier than the Subaru but Jansen held fast. He loved his car. Said you didn’t drive in the winters he had without a great vehicle to get around in. No, we didn’t get nearly as much snow here as they did farther north, but every once in a while we got a little.
For some reason, during the drive to the restaurant, my mind kept going to Lincoln. I couldn’t get him out of my head. The only thing that distracted me from him was when I was playing. Afterward, I was right back to where I was before.
If only I could have the confidence King did. He never had a problem asking someone out. Man, woman, he wasn’t picky. He never had a shortage of people to warm his bed. Me, I was like a teenager all over again, unable to ask out who I wanted. I found that when it really mattered, I’d freeze up. Lincoln was someone I could see having a relationship with. And I longed for that.
The light turned red a couple blocks from the steakhouse. I could hear and feel the bass from the music in King’s car thumping through mine.
I didn’t have a lot of close friends. Given my shy nature, I didn’t make them easily. On the team, it took a while for me to get comfortable enough to show someone who I really was. King and Hayes broke through that. Jansen too. I considered them my closest friends, but I’d never be able to break the bond King and Hayes had. If Hayes wasn’t straight, I’d easily see more happening between them, but he never gave an inclination he thought of King as anything other than his best friend.
The other guys on the team, coaches, staff, I talked to them. New people were a whole other story.
I drove ahead when the light turned green and pulled up to the valet, with the guys behind me. I hopped down out of my truck before the valet could come to my side. He immediately recognized me.
“Mr. D’Agostino, great game tonight.”
“Thank you.” I slid him some money.
“I’ll take good care of your truck.” I nodded, knowing he would.
Once the other valets handled King’s and Jansen’s cars, we went inside and were immediately seated with my mom and dad in a quiet corner with not many others around us.
Mom stood, needing to hug all her boys, as she put it. She pulled me in for a hug last. “You played well tonight.”
Leaning back, I smirked. “Well?”
She lightly smacked my arm. “Don’t get cocky. It’s not a good look on you.” I wasn’t. Never had been. Yes, I was one of the top centers in the league, but I didn’t let it go to my head. King on the other hand…
“What about me, Mrs. D? How’d I do?” he asked with a grin.
“Kingston Walker, I’ve told you about calling me that. It’s Nat or Natalie.”
“It’s just easier since we call Devon, D.”
Jensen chuckled. “Yeah, and you like to yell out, ‘Give him the D!’ when Dev’s about to score.”
Hayes couldn’t hold in his laugh. “Every single time.”
King grinned and my mom glared at him. She knew it meant more than what he was saying and that was another reason King said it. He never meant it in terms of defense. When we were playing for the Jetties, we were targeted with a lot of homophobic slurs. I didn’t hide my sexuality and King certainly didn’t. Plus, our owner was gay.
It sucked that people felt the need to be so hateful, but I’d come out as a teenager and was used to it. King liked to take things that were said to us and turn them around so they meant something else.
Case in point, he liked to shout on the ice to me about giving the other team the D. And it didn’t bother me one bit.
The waitress came over and took our drink orders while King soaked in the praise from my parents. Hayes focused on his menu, used to how King was. Jansen was checking his phone, no doubt seeing where his girlfriend currently was. And I was sitting in the middle of a half empty restaurant enjoying the people around me.
But then Lincoln slipped back into my thoughts, and I wondered what he would think of all this. Would the guys grate on his nerves? Would he laugh along with them? He watched hockey, I knew that, or else he wouldn’t have commented on it yesterday. But why was he stuck in my head? It wasn’t like yesterday was the first time I’d seen him. For some reason, I couldn’t get him out of there.
“How’s business, Alec?” Hayes asked while King was listening intently to a story my mom was sharing about the time she was hiking and came across an injured football player. She’d never give his name due to privacy or even where she was when it happened, but King was enjoying the story nonetheless.
“I’m working on something new. I was hired by a company to design software but I signed an NDA so I can’t talk about it. Once it’s out in the world, however, I’ll gladly discuss it.” He smiled.
That was typical. Dad founded a software company before I was born. He grew it over time and eventually sold it about a year before moving here. He made a lot of money from it. Now he had the freedom to do what he wanted, and it was designing software. It was what he was passionate about.
“So, which one of you is settling down soon?” my mom asked. “I need someone to be a good influence on my son. I want grandbabies one day.”
“Seriously?” Groaning, I looked around, grateful there wasn’t anyone near us.
The waitress was on her way over. She dropped off our drinks and took our orders. As soon as she was gone, the conversation started back up where we left off.
King elbowed me in the ribs. “What’s wrong, D? Don’t like us diving in to your love life?”
“There’s nothing to dive in to.”
Mom gave me a pointed look. “That’s what we need to fix.”
“No, we don’t. Check back in with me once the season is over.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know damn well if I do that, you’ll have another excuse. You need to find someone, Dev. Let these boys help you.”
That got a loud laugh out of Hayes. “No one should let King be in charge of fixing them up.”
“Hey, I set up Kenna with Serilda and they’re happy,” he retorted.
“What does that make your record now?” Hayes asked. “One in four hundred?”
King narrowed his eyes at him. “You stay quiet over there. It’s not my fault none of the people I set you up with pan out.”
“No, you find the most ridiculous women for me.” Hayes leaned his elbows on the table. “Did I ever tell you about the acrobat he set me up with? She was in town traveling with a show.”
King sighed dreamily. “She was so bendy. I was doing you a favor.”
“Good god,” I muttered.
“I think a change of topic is in order,” Dad cut in.
“Hear, hear.” I raised my glass of water to that.
Once we finished our meals and my parents paid the bill, even though we all offered to pay, we made our way to the door, where outside about twenty fans in Jetties jerseys were waiting for us. I gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek and hugged Dad before turning to the fans where King, Hayes, and Jansen were already busy signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
I wanted to go back into the restaurant and sneak out the back door through the kitchen, but that wasn’t going to happen. Maybe if I was alone. King loved every minute of this. No way would he let me leave any other way than through the front.
Next time Mom and Dad wanted to take us out to eat, I was going to suggest takeout at their place. After a strenuous game, interviews, dinner, and now this, I was ready to crash in bed. With Lincoln on my mind, I wasn’t sure how easy that would be. I just needed to do it. To ask him out.
I shook my head and started signing my autograph for the fans. Maybe tomorrow I’d have the courage.