Chapter 4
CHASE WAS ABSORBED IN yet another gay hockey romance novel while he worked the front desk at Cherrywood Boulders.
The Sadenverse’s Puckboys always cracked him up, and this one was no different.
He couldn’t help thinking about the lack of supportive people in his life while reading about firefighters about to descend on a backyard party.
He ached for a found family like the ones in his books.
He’d had some friends in Pennsylvania, but they’d lost touch thanks to the distance and being absorbed in their own lives and families.
That made his mind wander to his brother.
After Chase walked out of his life fourteen years ago, Shawn started calling him this past fall, swearing he’d changed and begging to apologize for how he fucked up their family.
Chase reconnected briefly with Shawn at the soccer tournament where he met Tobias back in October, but they hadn’t had the chance to really talk before his game.
Chase wasn’t ready to hash everything out, so he left before Shawn could approach him afterward.
Chase tried so hard to protect himself from getting hurt again.
It had been fourteen years, but he’d never forgotten his brother’s words from that day.
Disgusting.
Wrong.
Immoral.
He was stronger now. Smarter. Tougher. No thanks to his big brother.
This morning, he’d received more texts from his brother begging for a chance to explain himself and apologize.
Before Chase and his mom moved out, his parents had been fighting for years.
His dad became more and more extreme in his conservative views, while their mom was doing the opposite.
His dad’s brother, Aaron, came out as gay when Chase was ten, and his dad did everything he could to keep Chase and Shawn away from him.
Chase wasn’t even sure where Aaron was at this point.
He’d tried to search for him online over the years, but had no luck.
That didn’t stop him from accepting his own sexuality, but he kept it hidden from everyone.
He even kept it from his mom so he didn’t make his parents’ relationship harder than it was.
Unfortunately, Shawn seemed to listen to everything his dad said about the LGBTQ+ community and started spouting the same shit.
The day Shawn found out about him was the worst day of his life.
He’d met Cole Durbin at a goalkeeper training and it wasn’t long before they realized they were both gay, although now Cole identified as bi.
They’d started hooking up secretly, since Cole was also in the closet.
Cole was his first, and they had lots of fun together, but it was clear they weren’t compatible for the long term.
Instead, they helped each other discover what each of them liked.
Unfortunately, Shawn had walked in on them in the middle of one of those discoveries. He was supposed to be gone for the weekend, but he’d come home early. Chase would never forget the awful things Shawn spewed from his mouth. To make matters worse, Shawn outed him to their parents.
The next week, Chase and his mom moved out, and they never regretted it.
He’d probably drafted twenty messages before he settled on one. His brain screamed at him to be careful, but the little kid in him, his heart, wanted to see his big brother again. Especially since Christmas was this week and he was feeling extra sentimental.
CHASE: We can get a coffee sometime. Just to talk.
SHAWN: I can’t tell you how happy I am to get a text from you. Coffee sounds great. Anytime and anywhere.
CHASE: How’s tomorrow morning at eight? Cherry Meadow Diner.
SHAWN: Sounds perfect. I’ll see you there!
A conversation pulled him out of his thoughts, and he remembered he was at work. “Hey, Tobias!” Hailey said brightly from her spot next to Chase behind the desk, her long brown ponytail bouncing with enthusiasm. “Haven’t seen you here before!”
“Hi! I came to learn how to climb today!” a voice that definitely wasn’t Tobias’ shouted.
Hailey flashed Chase a smile before she turned back to the small voice.
When he turned to spot who’d arrived he froze.
Tobias was standing there with a sheepish look on his face, his large frame looming over him and Hailey.
Chase was used to large men towering over him, thanks to his modest height, but it gave him a thrill to find this particular tall drink of water standing over him.
He wore a ball cap and stood slightly hunched, like he was trying to hide himself.
Chase smiled at him before looking for the source of the tiny voice.
Thanks to the height of the counter in front of him, he had to drape himself over it to see a young girl standing there excitedly, cute brown pigtails framing her face.
“Hi!” he said. “My name is Chase. What’s your name?”
“I’m Madison and this is my Uncle Oby!”
It seemed Madison was happy to do the talking for both her and Tobias. Chase glanced at Tobias to see him smiling adoringly down at Madison. Swoon. He shook off that thought before turning back to his newest client.
“I’ll be working with the kids today. You said you want to learn how to climb?”
She squealed in delight. “Yes, please!”
“Great! Do you want Hailey here to sign you up for the class?”
“Yes, please!” she shouted as she turned to Hailey. “I’d like to climb with Chase, please.”
“Well, of course you do. He’s the best,” Hailey responded, and Madison nodded excitedly.
Hailey was familiar with Tobias thanks to him filling in on her soccer team when they needed extra players.
She pointed to a small sign on the cluttered desk displaying their prices.
“Tobias, do you just want to buy a pass for today’s class or do you want to get one of our packages?
We’re taking a break for the holiday, so after today kids’ classes will restart in February.
The gym is too crowded in January with all the people coming in for their New Year’s resolutions, but the crowd is normal by the next month. ”
Tobias took a moment to read over the different packages. “We’ll take a ten-pack, please. And I filled out the waiver already online.”
“Got it,” Hailey said as she completed the sale. “Thanks again for joining us for the soccer tournament. We couldn’t have won without you. How’s everything going?”
Tobias kept shifting his weight between his feet. Apparently, he wasn’t up for chatting, but it wasn’t like Hailey was a stranger. She played soccer with the guy and was close friends with Cole, Riley and Josh.
“Uh, good,” Tobias said awkwardly. “All good. You?”
Chase was starting to think Tobias’ nerves were a bigger hindrance for him than he’d initially assumed. Hailey responded with niceties, but it was obvious Tobias wasn’t up for small talk, so Chase steered the conversation to his tiny client instead.
“Are you excited to climb today?” he asked Madison.
“Yeah, at the playground, there’s a rock wall I really like, so I wanted to try a bigger wall. I saw you have a fort and I want to climb that! I think I can do it, if I try really hard.”
“That’s a great attitude to have. And even if you don’t climb it this time, you can keep trying until you get it.”
“My uncle says the same thing!” she said as she pulled at Tobias’ hand. “Right?”
“That’s right, Maddie,” Tobias said as he gazed down at her, a soft smile on his face.
It turned out the awkward grump had some soft spots, at least for his adorable niece. Why is that so hot?
Hailey interrupted Chase’s equally soft thoughts about Tobias. “We still have about ten minutes until your class starts, and Chase will meet you at the kids’ area when it’s time.”
Tobias nodded his thanks to Hailey and glanced at Chase before pulling Madison away from the desk.
“See you soon, Chase!” she said, and he waved to her.
When they were out of sight, Chase turned on Hailey, her hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.
“What’s so funny?” Chase asked.
“You couldn’t keep your eyes off your boss. Oh my God, are you crushing on him?”
“Okay, it’s not…” Chase trailed off, unsure of where he was going with that thought. He started over. “Have you seen him? Who wouldn’t have a crush on him?”
Hailey chuckled. “Um, I don’t.”
“Psh, that’s because you’re already happily married to your own dreamboat.”
A beaming smile took over Hailey’s face and her eyes lost focus. “Yeah, I really am.”
Chase sighed. Hailey was so lucky to have found love with her best friend, Avery, and Chase could only hope he’d have a love like hers one day.
Hailey recovered her focus. “I’ve never heard about him dating anyone. Do you think you have a chance with him?”
“Who knows?” he sighed. “I should ignore any temptation from him because I really want to keep the job at his gym. I think it could turn into something great.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you,” Hailey said. She went to say more but the front desk phone started blaring and Hailey answered it. “Cherrywood Boulders, how can I help you?”
She shot him a sympathetic smile and turned to the computer screen to help whoever was on the other line.
Chase needed to forget about how hot Tobias was and focus on the kids’ class. And making sure Madison had the best time ever. As if his job—maybe both of them—depended on it.
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Thirty minutes later, he was surrounded by hyper children, all of them itching to get on the wall behind him now that he’d made it through the lesson on safety and falling correctly.
He couldn’t blame them for their excitement. Kids loved climbing, and the gym’s climbing wall included a mini fort and a slide to get down from the top. Sometimes Chase played on it after hours when Bridget let him.
As the kids started climbing, his newest student hesitated, biting her lip like she was nervous.
He took a knee by her side so he could be closer to her height.
“Hey Madison, do you think you want to try climbing?” he said, trying to hold in his smile as the little girl sighed in exasperation.
“I want to try, but first I have to make a plan of attack,” she asserted.
“That’s smart. Most climbers figure out the path they want to take before they ever touch the wall.”
“Yeah, and if I want to do well, I have to do what the pros do.”
Chase wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen a kid take their first lesson so seriously, and it made him curious. He kept his gaze on the other kids climbing, making sure they were being safe and following the rules, as he continued talking to Madison.
“Do you want to be a pro climber one day?”
“I’m not sure, but Oby says that’s the best way to get good at somethin’. To listen to the experts.” She turned to Chase, her gaze narrowed. “Are you an expert?”
He couldn’t remember the last time a girl made him blush, but this six-year-old managed it.
“Well, I’m not a professional climber myself, but what I’m good at is teaching kids the basics, and that’s where you have to start. When you’re ready to climb on the big walls, then we can get you listening to those experts.”
She nodded decisively, and Chase kept his face serious. “Okay, where do you think I should start?” she asked.
Letting his smile loose, he explained the path he’d take if he was her.
“Okay, I’ll give it a try,” she said as she stepped forward and began climbing, her little brown ponytail swinging with her movements.
He took a peek toward the wall where parents usually watched from and caught Tobias’ eyes on him, his gaze immediately snapping to Madison.
After Madison made her way down the slide after climbing over the roof of the fort, she ran awkwardly along the padded floor until she reached him.
“I did it!” she gushed. “You were right about where to start. Thanks, Chase. Am I ready for the big walls yet?”
He chuckled, and again went to his knee so he wasn’t towering over her. At his height, he rarely towered over anyone, but kids were the obvious exception.
“How about we make sure you’re really comfortable with the little walls first before you move to the big ones? There are tougher paths you can try before you move up. Safety first, right?”
“Right! Okay, I’ll keep practicing.”
Before she returned to the climbing wall to give it another go, she turned toward the back wall and gave a wild wave to Tobias, who smiled and awkwardly flashed her two thumbs up. She giggled and then jumped on another climb.
Chase had never seen Tobias smile so big, and he was mesmerized by it.
Even after winning the Stanley Cup, the man did little more than smirk.
Chase had to drag his eyes away even though something in him fought against it, like his soul was pulling him toward Tobias.
He had to shake away that thought. This wasn’t one of those paranormal romances he read from time to time.
He was busy with four children at the moment and couldn’t spend the time losing focus.
Kids were like the ocean, completely unpredictable, and he couldn’t turn his back on them.
As if to prove him right, one of the boys in his class stood on the top of the fort with his shoes in his hand, not on his feet where they should have been, threatening to throw them at his brother, who was making faces at him from the padding.
And back to work he went.
It wasn’t long before the hour was up and he said goodbye to the kids, congratulating them on a job well done. When he reached Madison, she beamed at him.
“Did you have fun?”
“Yes, and I learned, too! Oby says learning is fun ’cause it makes you smarter and then you know how to do more things.”
“He’s right. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I hope you’ll come back, because getting really good at something takes lots of practice.”
“Oby says that too!”
“He sounds like a smart guy.”
Madison lit up. “He’s the smartest! So it’s okay if I come again to learn more?”
“Of course, you can! If it’s okay with Oby or your parents.”
“My mommy is away right now training for the ’lympics, so I’m staying with Oby and Gigi. I’ll come if he says it’s okay.”
“Wow! So that’s where you get your athletic skills. If anyone has any questions about climbing, I’m here to answer them.”
She shot forward and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing harder than he’d thought a six-year-old could, and there was a small pang in his heart.
After all his time working with kids, he’d learned they were brutally honest. And if Madison felt comfortable enough to hug him after just one class, that meant she liked him and he’d gained her trust.
It was something he’d never squander, especially after years of rejection from his own family members.