Chapter Fifteen #2
Brandon shoved his hands in his pockets once the door closed. “So. Not gonna lie—that was trippy, finding out all that stuff.”
“Right.” Jake shifted uneasily, tugging anxiously on the hem of his T-shirt. “I can imagine.”
“You know what’s funny? Denise wasn’t even surprised.” He shook his head with a little smile. “She said she thought maybe that was it, but she was so pissed after I was traded that she didn’t care anymore.”
“I don’t blame her.”
Brandon’s shoulders hitched up as he sucked in a breath and blew it out. “Look, man. It really sucks that you never told me the truth. And it’s weird to think of you being, like, in love with me. Wanting to get with me. It’s hard to wrap my head around it.”
“I know. And I don’t feel that anymore.” Standing there with gorgeous Brandon almost in arm’s reach, he realized it was true. There was still a nostalgic tug of affection, but that soul-scouring need, the bittersweet yearning, was gone. “I really don’t.”
Brandon nodded. “Okay. I’m glad, because you know as pissed as I was at you all these years, fuck, I hate thinking about you in pain because of me.
I hate it. You were hurting back then and I never knew a damn thing.
” Shaking his head, he put his hands on his hips.
“Shit, Jake. I really hate that.” He pressed his lips together, tears glistening as he groaned and wiped his eyes roughly. “Now you’ve got me cryin’. Shit.”
Jake tried to laugh through the swell of emotion. “Jesus, don’t make me cry too.” Then they were both laughing, Brandon’s brown eyes shining, and God, Jake had missed his friend so damn much. “I missed you, B.”
“Yeah, I missed your dumb ass too.”
Jake laughed again, tension seeping away. “Has it been good? In Toronto? Denise and the kids? Is it…are you good?”
“Yeah. I’m great. It’s a quality city, good ball club.
Awesome fans all across the country. You get that too in Ottawa, I bet.
And my family’s the best. Have you seen them?
The twins? We did that one magazine photo shoot when they were babies.
They’re walking now. Shit, running. Every-fucking-where and shoving their fingers every place they shouldn’t put them.
” He pulled out his phone and tapped. “This is from the other day.”
Jake stood beside him and leaned in, smiling at the picture of two curly-haired toddlers grinning at the camera with what looked like chocolate smeared all over their hands and faces. “Wow. They’re adorable.”
“Right? I know, I’m supposed to be modest, but shit, those are some cute kids.”
“They really are.”
Jake’s bagel and coffee arrived, and he poured Brandon a cup from the carafe. Brandon plucked an apple from a fruit bowl and sat across from Jake at the small breakfast table.
“So if you’re not into me anymore, who is it? I realize I left some big shoes to fill.”
Laughing, Jake smeared cream cheese on his bagel. “As humble as ever, I see.”
“Hey, it’s just reality.” Brandon kept a straight face as he indicated his body. “God made me this way, Jake. Don’t hate the player.” He cracked, a bark of a laugh getting through. “But seriously. You have a boyfriend?”
There was the million-dollar question. Jake wished he knew the answer. “Boyfriend” sounded juvenile on one hand, but “partner” was too serious at this stage. “I just started seeing someone. It’s…complicated.”
He’d never missed anyone like this. It had only been a couple days, and he was anxious to get back to Ottawa.
But his mom was coming down for lunch and shopping since Midland was only a two-hour drive, and Nico would be in Chicago for another day anyway. Despite all the logic his brain coughed up, Jake itched to see Nico, to kiss him and wake up in his arms again.
After swallowing a mouthful of apple, Brandon asked, “Complicated how?”
Jake took a deep breath. “Complicated because he’s a teammate.”
Brandon’s jaw dropped. “For real? Yeah, I’d say that’s a little complicated. I can’t see Skip Jankowski approving of monkey business in his clubhouse.”
“We don’t do anything there.” Jake flushed.
“Okay, once. The first time. It wasn’t planned!
” He was glad Brandon couldn’t read his mind, because the memory of Nico sprawled across his lap, loving what Jake gave him, then on his knees begging, swallowing Jake’s cock was…
Clearing his throat, he shifted in his chair. “We definitely won’t again.”
Laughing, Brandon took a bite of his apple. “Mmm-hmm.” He swallowed. “Now you have to tell me who it is.”
“I don’t think so. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s not for me to tell anyone he’s gay.”
“I get it, man. That’s cool.” Brandon took another bite. “Is it Lopez? No wait—Crowe. That’s what’s hot these days, right? That bullshit lumberjack thing?”
Laughing, Jake shook his head. “It’s not them. And stop guessing.”
“All right, all right.” He toyed with the apple stem, twisting it off.
“You think people will care? Nowadays? Maybe I’m too optimistic, but I don’t think they will.
Wouldn’t bother me. Might bug a few guys, but I bet they’d keep their ignorant traps shut.
Times are a-changin.’ But I know that’s easy for me to say.
Hey, next time the Caps are at Toronto, you should come for dinner.
Bring your mystery man if he’s cool with it. ”
The thought was both exciting and terrifying. “Are you sure Denise would be okay with that?”
“Absolutely. She’s not big on grudges. And you know, maybe it’s a cliché, but having kids really helps you see what’s important and what’s bullshit.
And holding grudges is crap. All that shit’s in the past, and we can’t change it.
But I can give my kids an awesome Uncle Jake.
Those kids are what matters. Everything’s black and white to them, you know?
If I told them about you, and that we’d had a big fight, they’d look at me with those serious eyes, and they’d say something like, ‘Daddy, is he good or bad?’ And I know what the answer is.
So come the fuck over for dinner, all right? ”
The lump in Jake’s throat took a moment to swallow around. “All right.”
It was later that day when Jake’s phone lit up with a message from an unknown number.
Knock, knock
His heart in his throat, Jake typed back: Who’s there?
Little old lady
Thumbs clumsy as his hands shook, Jake sent back: Little old lady who?
Dude, I didn’t know you could yodel!
The laughter was sweet relief, like rain in August. Jake texted back a smiling emoji before creating a new contact in his phone.