CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Thankfully, Luke only had to sit out a few games before he was back in the lineup. He focused on playing and not injuring himself again and managed to snag a couple of solid assists and a highlight-worthy hit.
He spent a little time with Sebastian before the Harriers headed out on a road trip again too.
It was a long one too. They were heading to Vegas, then playing the California teams.
Luke wasn’t mad about an opportunity to enjoy some warm weather in March—it had been pissing down rain when they flew out of Boston—and to see his dad and stepmom. They came to Luke’s game, then went out for a late dinner after he was done with his post-game shit.
Luke hardly knew his stepmom since she’d married his dad when Luke was in his late twenties, but she was a nice enough lady, and it was good to spend some time with his dad in person. Neither of them were much for talking on the phone or texting.
After a win in Vegas and San Jose, the Harriers headed to Los Angeles.
The team had a free afternoon after practice and Jesse planned a group trip to the La Brea tar pits. Because of course Jesse had. Luke would have been happier hanging out at the hotel pool, but … team bonding or whatever.
After Tanner nearly fell in the tar pits and was rescued by a beefy security guard who he proceeded to flirt with, they checked out the fossils in the museum.
Heated arguments over the best dinosaur ensued before they started getting dirty looks from the staff, so they headed to L.A.
’s Grand Central Market where they broke into smaller groups and went off to do their own thing.
The rookies quickly disappeared to find food and shop, while Graham and his boyfriend Thad headed out to meet up with a guy Thad had known in prison.
His cellmate for a chunk of it, from what Luke could gather.
Over the years, Luke had gotten to know some guys who’d been incarcerated.
Most of them had said they’d wanted nothing to do with their fellow inmates after getting out but somehow it didn’t surprise Luke that Thad had stayed in contact with the guy.
Or that Graham was cool about meeting a guy Luke suspected Thad had hooked up with while they were locked up.
Luke headed to a taco place with the remainder of the guys.
Tom, who had skipped the tar pits to meet up with former teammates, was planning to join them.
On the way to the dining concourse on the lower level, Luke passed various vendors and shops, and he smiled as he passed a florist and caught a whiff of a cool green scent that made him think of Sebastian.
He reached for his phone, intending to take a picture to send to him, but Tanner bounced up, yammering about something or other.
Well, so much for that.
Luke couldn’t think of a single reason to explain why he wanted to take the photo that wouldn’t give away his relationship with Sebastian and lead to a whole shitstorm of questions he didn’t feel like answering, especially because he and Sebastian hadn’t really talked much about what the fuck they were doing.
Clearly it was more than just hooking up, but every time the conversation veered toward talking about what it all meant, Luke froze, then changed the subject.
He wasn’t much good at talking about his goddamn feelings, and he didn’t know how to get better at it.
Hell, he wasn’t even sure what he wanted or if he could follow through once he did figure it out.
Hookups were way fucking easier than whatever this was, but the thought of Sebastian not being around made Luke’s fucking chest feel tight, the same way it did when he thought about his contract negotiations and possibly having to leave Boston.
He wasn’t the brightest guy ever but even he could figure out that meant he wasn’t ready to hang up his skates or let Sebastian go.
Luke felt a little bad for the way he’d blown off Sebastian’s questions about his contract shit. He hadn’t seemed pissed or anything, but Luke knew damn well he couldn’t ignore it forever. He couldn’t ignore the relationship talk either.
But for now, he was in L.A. with his team and he might as well focus on that.
Luke tuned back in to hear Tanner say something about the Grand Central Market apartments and how cool the location was.
“It’s right near the L.A. arena too!” he added.
Luke stared at him blankly. “You planning to get traded or something, Clayton?”
“No!” Tanner said. “I fucking love playing with Boston. But like, let’s be honest, there’s no way I’m going to end up playing for them my whole career.”
Luke nodded because guys like Connor O’Shea were rare as hell and most players did wind up bouncing from team to team. Tanner was the kind of guy who might only play for two to three in their career, but he wouldn’t be in Boston forever.
That was the hard truth about hockey. Nothing ever stayed the same.
“Why?” Tanner asked. “You want me to leave?”
“Most days,” Luke said, which led to Tanner squawking like an angry parrot and Luke putting him in a headlock to give him a noogie.
Tanner squirmed away with a shriek about his hair, careening into an older woman coming out of a designer handbag store.
She frowned at him, but even with his hair looking like he’d stuck a finger in a light socket, Tanner poured on the charm and a moment later, all appeared to be forgotten as she gave him a big smile and patted his shoulder.
“How does he do that?” Anker muttered. “He was like that with the guard at the tar pits too.”
Luke shrugged. “Hell, if I know.”
It was almost impressive the way Tanner had people absolutely eating out of his hand, although Luke would never say that aloud. Tanner’s ego was bad enough as is. He didn’t need Luke pumping his tires.
Thankfully, they finally reached the stairs to the lower level, and it wasn’t long before they had their food.
Luke had eaten some pretty damn good tacos in his life, but as he devoured these, he had to admit these were up there with the best. Collectively, the guys mowed through an obscene amount of food and by the time the meal ended, Luke’s stomach groaned with too many tacos for comfort.
He had just loosened his belt, pushed his chair back a little, and stretched out his legs when Tom Bass appeared near their table.
“Hey, where the fuck were you, dude?” Jesse called out as he approached their table. It wasn’t like him to be late.
“Sorry, I got held up.”
Luke frowned. Tom’s brown skin looked a little ashen and he kept glancing over his shoulder as he took a seat at the table.
“Hey. What is it?” Jesse asked with a frown, leaning forward. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Tom swallowed hard, playing with someone’s discarded straw wrapper. “Uhh, you know why Krista and I left California, right?”
“Yeah. A weird stalker fan, right?” Tanner asked, cramming another chip loaded with mango habanero salsa into his mouth.
Tom nodded. “Sort of. It’s more complicated than that. Krista and I, we’re, uh, poly. Um, polyamorous.” He glanced around. “You all know what that means, yeah?”
Kady perked up, glancing away from the small container of churros he’d been eating. “Yes. Is like Mandy and me.”
“Uhh,” Anker said. “Kady, I think you might not quite have that—”
“No,” Kady said, his jaw going stubborn. “I love Mandy. Mandy loves me and Lauren. Lauren loves Mandy and husband Jake. Poly. Many loves, yes?”
Tanner squinted at him. “Mandy is bi and dating a woman who is married to a man?”
“Yes. All very happy. 10/10, no notes.” Kady folded his arms as if to say that was that.
Jesse frowned and said something to him in Belarusian. Or Russian. Whatever the fuck language he and Kady spoke together. Luke sure couldn’t tell the difference.
They went back and forth a few times before Jesse nodded.
“Yep. Checks out in both languages. Kady and Mandy are poly. Jake and Kady aren’t romantically involved but they do hang out and play video games together, I guess? Everyone’s happy with this arrangement.”
“Huh,” Connor said.
The team all sat there staring blankly at each other for a few moments before Connor waggled his head as if shaking off whatever he’d been thinking, then turned to Tom. “Uh, anyway. You and Krista are poly, like, uh, Kady and Mandy, apparently?”
“Yeah. It’s … we’re happy, you know? It’s always gone well in the past but last season things got …
complicated. We got involved with this woman and she turned …
uh, I don’t like to use the word crazy. But, uh, it was bad.
There were threats and we had to move houses and then the head office had to be told because it was escalating and …
yeah. That’s why I requested a trade and we moved across the country.
Krista took her kids to her parents’ place in Massachusetts, and I followed as soon as the trade went through. ”
“And do the Harriers know about all this?” Connor asked with a frown. “Like, security, head office, all that?”
“Yeah. Gavin’s known since the beginning. I don’t think everyone knows about the poly stuff but all the important people do, including security.”
“You didn’t tell us,” Tanner said, looking offended.
“Dude, let people have some fuckin’ privacy, assbag,” Luke said, slugging him in the arm.
“You’re an assbag,” Tanner muttered, punching Luke in the thigh, but he did finally shut up.
“Look, I don’t mind telling you guys,” Tom admitted. “You’re cool. I just didn’t know how it would go over at first. And then it felt weird to just drop into conversation, you know?”
“So what the fuck happened today?” Anker asked with a frown. “You looked spooked, man.”
“I stopped back at the hotel after meeting up with some guys from L.A. but when I left to come here, I would fucking swear Darla—our ex—was following me.”
In unison, everyone’s heads swiveled around.
There was no one acting suspicious nearby, at least not that Luke could see at the moment, but he frowned anyway. “What are you going to do?” he asked.