Chapter Eighteen
Beau
My bruises healed. My nose started to look normal again, and Boston started a winning streak like never before.
Jackson was unstoppable between the pipes.
Blocking every puck, stopping them like they personally offended his mother, brother, and entire family.
The rumor mill was wild. Whispers of us winning the Stanley Cup were heard near and far.
It was something that we all wanted. Something that Boston hadn’t done since I had been on the team.
And if we did it, I could retire a happy man.
But we didn’t talk about it. Or mention it aloud.
Because we didn’t want to curse ourselves.
After a grueling practice, one where I had worked myself harder than I needed to, I dragged myself home.
I pushed open the front door of the apartment to find Cole sitting on the couch, his face in his phone.
He wore a big smile and a blush on his cheeks.
He had gotten over whatever was happening between Dean and me better than I had anticipated, but I was still curious if he had a crush on him.
“Who has you looking like that?” I teased. I dropped my bag on the floor and flopped onto the sofa next to him.
Cole’s cheeks burned even brighter. “No one.”
“Does this no one have a name?” I raised my brows.
During the past couple of weeks, Cole had probably texted Dean nearly as much as I had texted Dean.
But I had also had hot, sexy phone sex with the guitar player.
Phone calls that had left him a blubbering, whiny mess and covered in his own release as he begged me to let him come.
Where I called him a good boy. I loved those little moments with him.
They were something only I got to experience, and Dean had promised me, when he was ready, that he would let me fuck him.
His tight little virgin hole belonged to me, and no one else.
Cole rolled his eyes. “I met someone,” he murmured. If his skin turned any pinker, he would resemble a strawberry. “Don’t make a big deal out if it.”
“Too late. I’m already hearing wedding bells.” I grinned as he dropped his head back onto the couch. “But now you have to tell me about them.”
Cole sighed and dragged a hand through his curls. “He’s not from around here. School is making us do this pen pal thing.” He chewed nervously on his bottom lip. “He’s cute.”
“Can I see?”
I was curious, yet excited for my son. I wanted him to meet someone, fall in love, and have all those experiences that came with first love.
But I also knew that along with first love came heartbreak, tears, and sadness.
Those were things I wasn’t ready for Cole to deal with yet.
If I had it my way, my son would never have to deal with any of that.
Cole held out his phone. “His name is Reed Kelly.”
In the picture, the boy was dressed in some sort of ballet uniform. He was tall and flashed a smile at the camera as he held onto the barre against the next to him. He had blond hair and dark eyes as he balanced on his pointe shoes.
“And where does this Reed live?”
“North Carolina.” Cole tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Don’t look at me like that, Dad. It’s nothing serious. We’re just talking. I’ll probably never meet him in person, anyway, so I shouldn’t even have said anything.”
I raised my brows. “But it’s a pen pal thing for school?”
“Yeah, we’re writing actual letters, too.
Sent through the mail. Like in the olden days.
We didn’t exchange numbers, but our teacher said we could exchange social media accounts.
Reed gave me his IG, and now we’re following one another.
His dad is big in NASCAR or something.” Cole smiled. “Oh, and his dad knows Killian.”
Wait, what? “What are the odds?” I asked. “Who is his father?”
“Uh...” Cole unlocked his phone again. “Hutch Kelly.”
I quickly searched his name. Apparently, he was the crew chief for NASCAR driver Rand Shepard. “What are the odds?” I mumbled again. “So, when you say you met someone, what does that mean?”
“He’s gay. He knows I’m bi. I don’t know. We’re just talking. We’re friends.”
“Is there some reason you can’t meet someone around here?”
Cole groaned. “Dad, seriously. Everyone here sucks. I’ve known them since I was a kid, and I don’t want to date them. Reed seems cool, you know? Like, he doesn’t care that you’re this big hockey star because he’s used to famous people.”
“Ah, I see.” That made a lot of sense. “Just be careful.”
He rolled his eyes. “How’s Dean? You miss him?”
“Don’t think I don’t see you’re trying to change the subject.
” I climbed to my feet. “And that is not a conversation I’m going to have with my sixteen-year-old right now.
” Like I didn’t know he talked to Dean regularly.
“I’m going to change. Then we’re going to Aunt Sam’s.
” I was almost to my bedroom when he called after me.
“Dean misses you!” Cole called out to me.
The little shit.
SAM WAS ALMOST WORSE than Cole when it came to questioning me about Dean. If Cole hadn’t brought up the whole pen pal thing, I was terrified she wouldn’t ever stop talking. I sank onto the couch in relief, a beer in my hand, and listened as Sam asked a million questions about Reed.
“He’s my age, but we’re just friends. That’s all this whole thing is meant to be,” Cole answered. He pushed her hand away when she tried to ruffle his curls. “Stop.”
My sister smiled. “Sorry, you just need a cut, that’s all. Unless you’re growing it out.” She glanced over at me. “You okay? You look tired.”
“Thanks for pointing that out.”
I felt more than tired. I was exhausted. And I felt it deep in my bones. It had me thinking more and more about retiring these days. I knew I couldn’t play hockey forever, even if I wanted to. I was terrified of an injury that might take me out. Or worse.
Sam dropped onto the sofa next to me. “And how are things with your guitar player?”
“Things are fine.” Which was true, but what I really wanted to say was that I missed him. I wanted Dean to come home. South Korea seemed so far away, and the time difference was horrible. When he called me, I was sleeping, and vice versa.
Cole shoved his phone in my face. “He did some talk show with a popular K-Pop band.” I had no idea what that even meant. “Look.”
Dean was sitting on the couch with a handsome Asian man, both of them smiling at one another. The green monster of jealousy crawled inside my brain.
“And?” I growled. “It’s his job to do stuff like this.”
“They weren’t following one another on IG before. Now they are. They did a photoshoot together, too.”
Cole wasn’t trying to start anything, I knew that.
He was just pointing things out, but it still bothered me.
I was too old to care about things like this.
And this is why I shouldn’t get involved with Dean.
He was a huge star, and I was just me. I could walk down the street without getting mobbed, while Dean would get noticed in a heartbeat.
Only it was too late to let him go now. I liked him.
And so did Cole. He was a part of our lives. Not just mine.
Sam slapped playfully at Cole’s shoulder. “Don’t start rumors. They’re both musicians. It’s probably in their contracts. Must follow one another on social media.” She nudged my arm. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Of course it doesn’t,” I assured her, but it didn’t stop me from opening my own phone and scrolling through the K-Pop star’s account.
He was cute, with purple hair and big dark eyes.
He wasn’t my type, but maybe Dean wanted someone like that?
Someone younger, closer to his age. He had posted a picture of the two of them backstage at the show, their shoulders pushed together and bright smiles on their faces.
Their cheeks were flushed, and they looked happy.
But since the caption was written in Korean, I couldn’t read what it said without translation.
“Don’t do that to yourself, Beau,” Sam whispered. “Dean likes you. I saw it in the way he watched you with hearts in his eyes. He’s just being nice.”
I nodded but didn’t take my eyes off the picture. I should break it off now before it got out of hand. It was part of why I didn’t date anymore in the first place. That, and Cole. That way, neither one of us would end up getting hurt.
“We should go,” I announced. “It’s a school night, and we both have an early practice in the morning.” I climbed to my feet. “Thanks for dinner,” I told my sister.
Sam wrapped her arms around me. “I’m here if you need to talk,” she said. “About anything.”
But by the time I fell asleep that night, I had convinced myself I should break it off with Dean.