Chapter Three #2
The sound of rustling and murmured voices comes through the speaker. Soren nods at someone beyond the phone and smiles. “Gio and Phil want to say something.”
“Hey, Ty.” Seated beside Phil on the bench in front of their lockers, Gio waves at the screen. “Everyone in the house is on board. You can stay as long as you want, whether that’s a few weeks, or a few months, or the rest of the season.”
Phil finishes buttoning his shirt. His wedding band, a twin of the one on Gio’s finger, gleams in the light. “Fair warning, Remy’s pet gets loose sometimes, so you could find a bearded dragon in your bathtub, but that doesn’t happen too often.”
“We’re all here, so you won’t be navigating an unfamiliar city on your own. We can carpool to practices and games, and we’ll steer you to all the good food places,” Soren adds, walking to stand behind the pair.
I can’t believe they’re offering to open their home to me. More than a home, an instant group of people who’ll have my back. I’ve felt alone for so long, and this is like being thrown a life preserver at the moment of exhaustion. “That’s really generous. You’re sure I won’t be in the way?”
Gio links his hand with Phil’s. “Positive. There’s always room for friends, Ty.”
I swallow hard and nod. “Thanks. I’d like to stay.”
“Good. That’s settled.” Holding the phone, Soren returns to his locker. The room’s din has grown quieter as guys leave. “Bax’s band is playing a show tonight. We can check it out after we get you settled. Support him, and celebrate you coming to the team.”
My leg bounces and a flush creeps up my neck at the thought of seeing both Soren and Bax. “It’s a date.”
Distance isn’t a barrier anymore. Being in the same city means we can explore whatever this is brewing between us.
If that’s something Soren and Bax want to do.
Soren seems unflappable about my moving in and about the three of us, and I’m not sure what that means.
I’d hoped what we shared wouldn’t be a one-off.
I wish I was as sure that everything will be okay as Soren seems to be. Whether I’m ready or not, I’m getting a fresh start. If it’s my last, I need to make the most of it.
The cab turns onto the quiet, tree-lined street, the final one before I reach my new home. Nerves pulse, quivering my insides, and I can’t still my tapping fingertips and bouncing knee.
We come to a stop in front of a massive, three-story Victorian house with lots of windows, a few balconies, and a turret.
There are four cars in the driveway. Holiday decorations dot the snow-covered lawn, and twinkling lights wind through the trees and bushes.
Light gleams from several windows. The front door has a stained glass pane, and I count a few more on the second and third floors.
With a thanks to my driver, I grab my bag and climb out into the icy air.
The hoodie I bought at the airport isn’t much protection from the cold.
Standing on the brick-lined path, shivering in the early evening chill, staring up at the house that will be my home, my nerves kick into high gear. First-day jitters all over again.
The front door swings open. Soren steps outside and gives me a wide smile. The wind tousles his hair and presses the black sweatshirt printed with Flame Shade’s logo against his chest. “You made it.”
Phil and Gio are right behind him. “We came to help with your luggage. But I forgot they caught you on a road trip.” Gio beckons me with a raised arm. “Feel free to borrow whatever you need.”
Remy, Morgan, and Sage spill onto the front steps. They echo Gio’s words, then Remy adds, “Morgan and I are the closest to you in size. We left some clothes in your closet.”
“I stuck some things in there too.” Soren meets me a few steps from the house. He slips his arm around me and grabs my bag.
An odd sensation burns the back of my eyes and thickens my throat. I don’t think I’ve ever had a welcome like this. “Thanks, guys.”
Remy holds the door open for all of us. “We’ll give you a quick tour so you can get your bearings.”
The entryway has dark wood and white walls. The rooms flanking it continue the style. A piano sits in one room, and the other has bookshelves, couches, a small fireplace, and a Christmas tree in front of the window, twinkling with white lights and multi-colored balls.
“The house was a mess when we bought it.” Phil links his hand with Gio’s.
“We just finished the renovations over the summer. It originally had nine bedrooms and six baths. We knocked down some of the walls, changed the flooring, wallpaper, and light fixtures, had to do some rewiring, fixed the roof… It felt like a never-ending project.”
We trek down the long hall. Gio points to a few doors. “Those rooms are Phil’s and mine. Remy and Sage have suites on the second floor. Morgan’s in the attic. And Soren has the basement. Your room is on the second floor.”
Sage takes over as the tour director. “The communal rooms are the kitchen, laundry room, the piano room we passed at the front, and the sitting room across from it.”
After turning two corners, and a quick peek at the laundry room, we arrive in the kitchen. It’s huge and painted yellow. Late afternoon sunlight spilling through the windows warms the room even more.
On a large table laden with enough place settings for all of us, rests a set of keys with a purple keyring in the shape of the character I always choose when playing Soren in Gargoyles Gateway, our favorite video game.
“I picked out the keyring.” Soren hands them to me with a smile.
Swallowing against the thickness in my throat, I pocket them.
He threads our fingers together tugging me with him. “Come with me. I’ll show you to your room.”
The steps creak under our feet. When we reach the landing, he points to a door on the left side of the hall. “That’s Remy’s suite. He faces the backyard. Sage’s is on the right side, facing the front yard. Your room is right here.”
He opens a door in the center of the hallway, and we step into a large room that’s double the size of my bedroom back home.
It has hardwood flooring, tall windows, deep blue walls, a bed and dresser on one side, a couch, a coffee table, and bookshelves on the other, and a flatscreen TV hanging on the wall.
The blue theme continues into the adjoining bath, with ceramic tiles in an art deco pattern.
“This beats a hotel, and any generic apartment I would have found.” I move to the closet and open it.
Sure enough, sweatshirts, sweaters, and two pairs of jeans are on hangers, welcoming me.
A stack of sweatpants sit on one shelf, sneakers and boots are on another, and the top shelf has brand new packs of socks and boxer briefs in shades of gray and black.
“Whatever else you need, just say the word.” He sets my bag at the foot of the bed. “I’m glad you’re here. Are you doing okay? You’ve had a lot of change thrown at you.”
“Part of me still can’t believe it.” I sink onto the mattress and trace my hand over the puffed pattern on the comforter.
“Being traded is tough. You feel like your team was glad to get rid of you. On the one hand, I’m a little hurt and disappointed that I wasn’t able to accomplish what I set out to do in Calgary.
But on the other, the Metros think I can help them… if I can regain my speed.”
Soren sits on the bed next to me. The warmth radiating from him is better than the goose-down parka hanging in my coat closet in Canada. “We’ll help you find your footing.”
“Be honest, was my staying here your idea or Gio and Phil’s?”
“Mine.”
I bump his shoulder. Sitting with him feels natural, easy, like we’ve been friends forever. “Your teammate joked this morning that you were averse to change. Inviting someone to live in your home is a big change.”
He shrugs and his cheeks turn pink. “I like the idea of you being here. Maybe I don’t love change, but when I want something, I go for it.”
“And you want, what? Me?”
He tips his head, but there’s a challenge in his gaze. “If I do?”
“And Bax?” I chew on my bottom lip, unsure of what he’ll say, but wanting him to say yes.
The warm glide of his fingers against my palm as he links our hands together scrambles my brain. “Don’t you?”
Desire flares, warming through me like a current of fire. “I want you both.”
“Good.” His free hand settles on my shoulder and his expression shifts a shade more serious.
“I go for what I want, but I’m also patient with the things that matter.
You’re living here now and that’s a big change.
So is us being on the same team. What happens between us will go at your pace, as slow as you want or need.
You being comfortable is the most important thing. ”
“Thanks for saying that.”
Nodding, he withdraws his hand from my shoulder. “Not just saying it. I mean it.”
“My pace.” Savoring the words and the happy feeling fluttering through my chest, I use our joined hands to draw him closer to me.
Leaning in, I lift my free hand to cup his stubbled cheek.
The short blond hairs tickle my fingers and palm.
My pulse beats in the pattern of his name.
I’ve wanted him for a while, but never thought we’d be on the same team, in the same city, at the same time.
“Slow is good while I get my bearings. But, kiss me?”
The tips of his lips lift in a smile and he angles his head down, closing the inches separating us, gazing at me like the world could fall apart around us and he wouldn’t notice or care.
The smile stays as our lips touch. I’m steeped in the softness of his mouth, the taste of him, sweet with a hint of something salty, and the anchoring weight of his hand in mine.
A slow exploration, so different from the rushing frenzy of feeling on the dance floor.
A flurry of message notifications buzzing from my phone and his interrupts the moment.