Chapter 30
Chapter thirty
Rhys
Kilt.
"Rhys!" Duncan says enthusiastically as he shoves the man with a little salt along his temples in a grape soda can costume, who answered the door out of the way to reach me.
A tittering laugh escapes as I lock eyes with the host as the last of the spooky sounds he programmed his doorbell to play fade out.
"I’m so glad you…came." Duncan winks and my eyes flick to the man beside us. His eyes narrow and little elevens appear between his brows.
I clear my throat. "Wouldn’t miss it."
It feels strange not to be able to hug or kiss him hello. I have gotten used to how we act alone at home.
But tonight we’re not alone. There can be no touching. No winking. No inside jokes.
And it shouldn’t be difficult for me. Meeting new people always puts me in meet-n-greet mode where I don't have to remember much and can move through conversations quickly. I plaster on my stage-smile but it morphs into a grimace when Duncan pulls me through the door and into his arms.
I’m too shocked to appreciate the flash of heat I get from the brief contact before he’s pulling back and clapping my shoulder.
"C'mon, I'll introduce you to everyone. And they're cool, we don't have to do NDAs. They're not going to tell anyone you’re here and E.T. is gonna send shots to Lydia for her post so we don’t have to do any publicity ourselves." He says that last line loudly so everyone hears him.
I see two of the girls nod eagerly, clearly excited to meet me. Harper, who walked in on Duncan naked the day I moved in, brings her margarita to her lips to mask her smirk.
Duncan's hand rests in the middle of my back, ushering me forward and I lift a hand in a wave. "Hey everyone, I'm Rhys."
"We know." One of the girls says and then she snickers into her drink.
"Ivanna, be nice." Duncan scolds.
She narrows her eyes at him but smiles anyway. "I am nice."
Duncan turns to me. "You want a beer?"
"Sure." He lets his hand trail down my back and then steps away to the refrigerator.
I watch him effortlessly interact with his teammates and friends. He waves me over.
"Rhys Reid, meet Bryson, Boba Tea, Svoboda.
" I shake hands with a guy on the shorter side dressed like a can of orange soda.
Duncan continues the introductions. "This is Aiden, Young Gun, Youngren.
" I nod to the man in a cola costume. "And, Emmett, E.T.
, Turner." He’s in a lemon-lime soda can outfit.
"Crosby, Crocs, Loughty is over there with Stella who is dressed up like the best Golden Girl, Blanche.
Yo Crocs!" Duncan calls across the room and a tall, blond man in a Mountain Dew can costume lifts a hand and waves.
"And you met Felix, French Fry or Captain, Fornier. "
"Welcome to my home." His tone is warm but there’s a bit of a command to it. Like this man is used to being an authority figure.
"Thank you for having me." I shake his hand.
I'll never remember everyone's name. Especially since Duncan included all their nicknames too.
But I won't have to.
Rarely do people make repeat appearances in my life. It is a solitary, transactional business. I'll remember the names of people working with me, or for me, but with the number of fans I meet there's no way I could remember them all.
Duncan gets pulled in to help Emmett’s grandmother with the candy chute and Harper waves me over as she chats with her friends.
"Well we have already decided on the venue," Harper says as she pulls up a property listing on her phone. "It's the same villa as our engagement party."
"Felix will be thrilled." The light brown haired one says with a knowing look in her blue eyes.
"One less thing for him to chase down. I'm sure he uses the blueprints for planning." Ivanna, the tall blonde one says.
"Yes, and he already had connections with caterers and bakers.
" Harper locks her phone screen and smiles.
"Wouldn’t it be fun if you played the cocktail hour?
" She asks with a hand on my forearm. I narrow my eyes at her and she winks.
"I'm a really big fan. I mean, we all are.
Laila is going to be upset she missed this. "
"It’s really too bad she has to work again tonight." Caroline says. "I wonder if she’s banking all these holiday shifts to make time and a half before taking maternity leave."
"Not a bad plan." Ivanna says.
"But, we’re not going to brag to her or anything. Duncan was very firm with us, we couldn't tell a soul we got to hang out with you tonight." Caroline says. "In fact, it was the most serious I've seen him in a long time."
"Maybe ever." Harper says.
"So how long are you in D.C.?" Ivanna asks.
"Just through early December."
"Make Duncan give you his family pass. He always says he's saving it for his parents but they're living the retired life in Arizona and only meet us when we play out west." Caroline says as she starts typing something into her phone.
"Umm, sure." I shrug and force a gulp of beer down my throat.
"It would be fun to have you at the games. Although we might need additional security if you're going to be there. I think fans would go wild." She says.
"Sometimes I can fly under the radar." Harper and I make eye contact and I try to convey my gratitude for her discretion. "But yeah, I probably need to clear it with the organization." I shrug basically confirming what we did last time. "But my publicist, Zara, handles that for me."
"Why are you wearing a skirt?" A small voice asks.
"It isn’t a skirt, it’s a kilt." I say to the little girl with a gold and white outfit and purple hair in a bubble braid.
"What’s a kilt?" She asks before popping a lollipop in her mouth.
"It’s a traditional clothing item for Scottish people. I’m Scottish."
"Hi Scottish, I’m Tilly." She holds out a sticky looking hand.
I shake it tentatively as a woman dressed in a similar outfit to her daughter’s slides up. "No Till, this is Rhys."
The kid looks between her mom and I trying to puzzle it all together.
"Tilly, do you want to go find Stella with me?" Harper asks as she holds out a hand inviting Tilly to grasp it.
The kid shrugs and saunters off. "Sorry about her."
"Don’t be." I wave it off.
"She’s all hopped up on sugar and I need to get her home to bed. Good thing there’s no school tomorrow." She bounces the toddler on her hip and holds out a hand to me. "Danielle Bradford, Coach Bradford is my husband."
"Rhys Reid."
"I know." She smiles warmly. "I’m going to go check on Tilly. She’s six and thinks she should have the independence of a sixty year old."
I laugh and turn back to the circle of wives and girlfriends.
Conversation has come to a stop and we each take a sip of our drinks.
A heat flashes through my body at the embarrassment that I am somehow letting them down with my lack of dazzling conversation.
I can navigate well enough for a few initial interactions and then I stall out.
If people aren't gushing about my work, or my show, or how much they love me, I'm lost.
Fuck, am I a narcissist?
"So, Rhys, how do you feel about being a mole?" Caroline says as she looks past me. I turn around and see Duncan throwing his head back and laughing with his teammates and a small smile cracks my lips.
"A mole?" I ask as I turn back to her. "I'm not exactly your guy for going undercover."
"No, I mostly need you to feed me information."
My brows furrow, "about what?"
"Okay, so I have a lot on my plate, and we all know soon Laila and Crosby are going to take some of my attention off the rest of the guys." She gestures to the girls as Harper rejoins the circle. "I know they'll tell me what's happening in their guy's lives but I don't have a source for Duncan."
"You want me to spy on Duncan?"
"I want you to tell me if I should be worried about him. He's going to start the new year with his linemate and best bud out for a few paternity leave games and I'm worried he's either going to go totally bat shit crazy or he's going to hermit."
"I'm not really sure I should do that." I don't feel right about it. I glance over at Duncan again and he's looking at me. He mouths "you okay?" and I nod so he smiles.
When I turn back to the girls their eyes are wide and Caroline looks like she wants to say something but doesn't. Ivanna shifts her weight to one hip and crosses her arms as her eyes narrow on me.
I glance to Harper, hoping to find some answers or some solace there because I have a feeling these girls all just shipped Duncan and I and are planning our engagement party.
But Harper only has the biggest heart eyes I've ever seen in real life.
Yeah, one look at her and they’ll know we're together.
But like, also, not together.
Before I can say anything or try to change their minds, Ivanna reaches into her purse. She pulls out a green ball and hands it to me.
"This is my own formula." I glance down and on the outside it says "Kiss Like Vodka Burns" and I open it to find a lip balm.
"It's the best lip balm ever." Caroline says as she eyes her husband from across the room.
I'm not sure what's in this lip balm but Harper is licking her lips.
"Uhh, thank you." I slide it into the sporran I’m wearing around my hips. It’s the traditional bag worn over a kilt, and mine is a family heirloom. "I'm going to go talk to Duncan."
"Great meeting you Rhys Reid!" Harper says loudly as the other girls say nice to meet you and bye.
I rub my sweaty palms down the flannel fabric of my kilt as I cross the kitchen to where Duncan and his buddies are standing in the living room.
He looks comfortable where he's perched on the end of the sofa in his Ginger Ale Can costume.
He's so at ease I get the sense he's never had a conversational lull.
No one would ever think he's not as dazzling as he seems.
He is simply brilliant all the time.
Our eyes lock and he stands as I approach. Even though he is dressed as a can of fucking soda, my mind runs with our first meeting in Scotland on the side of the road, his easy banter and immediate flirting. Then, god, the way he looked washing the mud off his body.
My knees almost give out remembering him behind me stroking my cock. Our more recent activities become less visual memories and more a feeling of warmth that pumps through my veins.
"Hey Rhys." He says with a playful tilt of his head. Does his mind play our times together on an infinite loop like mine does?
"Hey." I reply with a sandpaper tongue.
"Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm good."
His friend turns around. "Hi Rhys, Felix Fornier."
"Hello." I shake his hand.
"Glad Pay Day could convince you to join us."
"Pay Day?" I ask, turning to Duncan.
"There are a lot of nicknames in hockey, and mine is Pay Day."
"But he bestowed it on himself which you're not supposed to do.
" Another friend says. "I'm Emmett, or E.T.
," Felix and Duncan point their fingers out in front of them like that creepy-as-fuck-but-sort-of-cute-alien from the 1980s.
"Yeah yeah, phone home." Emmett says with a laugh and an eye roll. He looks at me . "That never gets old."
"I bet."
"Has Duncan given you a nickname yet?" Felix asks as the other guys sort of break off and head across the room to talk to their dates.
I try not to shift on my feet or, for fucks sake, blush, but hearing Duncan's rough voice calling me Charming is the only sound in my head. "Umm."
"I think I need to spend more time with my new friend before I give him a nickname." Duncan says.
"But you gave Aiden one on his first day in the locker room?" Emmett challenges.
"Well, yeah, but Cap here was insistent on getting him involved with the team." Duncan throws a thumb and Felix.
"We have a rookie this year, Paulie. But he might get sent back down to the minors next month." Felix tells me like I understand what they're talking about.
"I see." But really I don't.
"We're boring you with hockey talk." Felix says before he turns to me. "How have you been enjoying D.C. so far? Do you head home to Nashville often?"
"Not too much lately. D.C. has been great. I haven't gone out and done much because work at Elliston keeps me busy but it's beautiful. Historic in a way Nashville isn't."
"Are you into history?" Emmett asks.
"He grew up in this ancient castle, you should see the place." Duncan chimes in and starts gesturing wildly with his hands. "A gigantic marble staircase and like multiple kitchens and rooms just for eating."
Glaring at Duncan, I try to cut off his words but I’m too late. I can see questions forming in Felix’s eyes.
"How interesting." Felix says to me but he keeps his eyes on Duncan. "Is your home still a home or has it been turned into an event space?"
"It's still a home, my parents live there." I turn back to Emmett, "And, yeah, I am into history. But mostly in a way that proves everything has happened before in a different time period."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, like all of today's great movies and shows could all be derived from Shakespeare or Jane Austen. I mean, maybe not all of them, but a lot of them. We're at a point in history where everything is a retelling."
The boys are quiet for a minute and the flush of embarrassment returns except instead of letting conversation fall flat because I don't know how to open up to people I have opened way too far up and they're freaked out.
Shit.
"That is fascinating." Emmett says. "My grandmother,"
"G.T. for Grandma Turner," Duncan tacks on.
"Yes, G.T., well she's a former MIT physics professor and she was involved in some new discoveries but she always harped on the foundational discoveries. She has all these old textbooks from when she was in high school and they're her most trusted references."
"Oh wow, that's cool." I almost struggle to recover from my spiral of missing the casual interaction mark from both sides.
Quiet is only safe when I’m home, alone. Every other part of my life is meant to be loud. Concerts, shows, festivals, even driving on the bus from one place to the next are full of my bandmates and management team chatting.
I’m sure I can recover this and reconnect with Duncan’s friends, for his sake.
I just need to figure out what to open with.
"Should we fire up a round of brUNO?" Duncan asks.
"What's BrUNO?" I ask.
"Nobody talks about BrUNO." Felix whispers before he turns around to tell the group to gather around.
Emmett leans in as Duncan walks away. "It's Uno but with a few different rules, you'll catch on."