Chapter 15
JAMIE
WHAT’S DATING?
Tyler
How was PT?
Jamie
Good. Cleared for full practice tomorrow.
Yes! Rowan says: Yay Jamie!
So sweet. Are you working on Sunday?
I’ve got the early morning shift at the coffee shop and get off around 10am. Why?
Team Christmas party at my house. I’d love for you both to be there.
What time?
Want to come over for lunch and then hang out while I get things set up? I borrowed a Pack n’ Play from Mitchy so Rowan will have a place to nap. Even got one of those salt lamps in the guest room so he can have some light.
That would be amazing. One thing, though.
What is it?
Would you be okay with waiting to tell Rowan about us? At least for a little while?
Of course. I’m happy to follow your lead.
So does that mean no touching?
No obvious touching.
So…hugs?
We can hug.
Jamie.
What?
It’s honestly suspicious.
What is?
How nice you are.
Can’t wait to see you.
The hired cleaning service was just finishing in the living room when Jamie heard a knock on the front door.
“Coming!” He shouted, his sock-covered feet sliding on the wood floor. He pulled the door open and his face broke into a smile at the sight of Tyler and Rowan bundled up for the cold weather.
“Look at you guys,” he said, not giving a shit that he was probably grinning like a fool as he beckoned them in and closed the door behind them.
Tyler was wearing his mustard-yellow coat, and his pale purple beanie was pulled low on his head. Rowan was beside him in a red and white striped stocking cap that looked handmade. Tyler almost seemed shy as he moved toward Jamie, like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.
While a part of Jamie hated holding himself back from touching Tyler the way he wanted to, he understood. Their relationship was brand new. They needed to test the waters between them, to see if the promise of chemistry meant what he hoped it would.
But fuck, he wanted to hold Tyler close. He wanted to press his mouth to Tyler’s chilled lips and kiss him until he was warm.
Instead, Jamie brushed a thumb over Tyler’s bare knuckles, flushed red from the cold. “Hi,” he said softly, feeling like something in him settled just knowing the two of them were safe and warm in his home.
“Look, Papa! A tree!” Rowan tried to wriggle out of Tyler’s grip, pointing to the Christmas tree standing in the corner of the living room. Jamie made a point to get a real tree every year, and had several large plastic totes full of carefully wrapped ornaments he had been waiting to put up.
Jamie hadn’t planned to leave the holiday decorating to the last minute, but he’d been feeling off ever since his injury.
It was a struggle to find his rhythm when he was so used to his life being ruled by the team schedule.
Despite a fairly full slate of rehab and on-ice conditioning, there were still long stretches of his days when he felt adrift and painfully aware of how lonely he was.
Onni and Ollie had offered to help him decorate the tree earlier, but the thought of Rowan and Tyler helping him had made him smile, so he decided to wait.
“Slow down,” Tyler said to Rowan, laughing quietly. “Let’s get these layers off and then you can go check it out.”
Jamie’s chest warmed when he saw Rowan wearing his jersey. “He insisted,” Tyler said with a shrug, coming to stand next to Jamie as Rowan ran over to the tree.
Loud footsteps pounded up the basement stairs, and then Onni and Oliver were rounding the corner into the kitchen. They looked ridiculous in matching Muskie holiday sweaters that displayed a rhinestone-covered fish wrapped in Christmas lights.
“Hey! Tyler, right?” Oliver came over to offer his hand. “Great to see you again. You’re dating Sully? Score, man. He’s old, but he’s a looker. Oh snap! It’s your kiddo! What’s up, little man? Isn’t this tree rad? We got to help Sully pick it out, and they had hot apple cider at the tree place.”
“Papa, what’s dating?”
Oliver raised a hand to cover his mouth. “Was I not supposed to–shit,” he whispered. “I mean, shart. Shat. Shoot.”
Beside him, Onni buried his face in his hands, muttering something that sounded like, “What am I going to do with you?”
Tyler looked up at Jamie. Jamie held his gaze, hoping his eyes said: Do whatever feels right for you and I’ll be here with you. I’m not going anywhere.
He watched Tyler’s lips part as he let out a breath. “Kiddo,” he said, kneeling down so he was eye-level with Rowan. “You know how Jamie is our friend, right?”
Rowan nodded.
“So, Jamie and I are…Really good friends. I think he could be someone special in my life.” Tyler’s brown eyes found Jamie’s. “In our life.”
Jamie thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He watched Rowan, who nodded along seriously as he listened to Tyler’s explanation.
“Are you and Jamie like Mimi and Pop Pop?”
“Well,” Tyler began. “Maybe someday. But for now, we are getting to know each other better, and we call that dating.”
Rowan looked up at Jamie then, his blue eyes bright. “Jamie, are you going to hug my papa and give him kisses if you’re dating?”
Jamie smiled. “If he wants them, then yes.”
“Good.” Rowan nodded, a serious look on his face. “I like dating. Papa needs hugs and kisses.”
“This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,” Ollie whispered, grinning with his palms pressed to his cheeks.
Now that Rowan’s questions about dating had been answered, he scampered over to the living room, singing to himself. Oliver jogged behind before dropping to his hands and knees on the carpet, talking a million miles a minute with Rowan about…Apples?
“It is good he has another kid to play with now.” Onni walked more slowly, his fair blonde hair still damp from a shower. “Maybe he will take nap later and give me a break.”
“You love him,” Jamie retorted.
Onni snorted. “Yes, he is good. Good for me and good for team. Inconvenient at times, but good.”
“Rowan, have you ever played mini sticks?” Oliver asked from over in the living room. “No? Onni! We have to teach him how to play!” Oliver sprinted past them, likely going downstairs to grab the necessary equipment.
Onni looked torn for a brief second before turning to Tyler and Jamie, a grave expression on his face. “I must go. I will make sure kids are safe.”
Jamie chuckled as the two NHL players got down on the floor with a set of mini sticks and started explaining the rules of the game. Rowan was entranced, his big eyes darting between the two young men.
“If my living room turns into a non-stop hockey game, I’m blaming you.” Tyler turned, wrapping his arms around Jamie’s middle. The pink and blue striped sweater he was wearing was soft, and Jamie’s fingers brushed back and forth over the loose stitching covering his back.
“So, that happened,” Jamie said, smiling down at him.
Tyler shook his head fondly. “Yeah, it did.”
“You okay?”
Tyler leaned his cheek on Jamie’s chest. “Better than okay.”
“Can I get you something to drink? Some tea? Some coffee? I looked up a video on how to make matcha, and, I’ve gotta be honest with you, that was too much for me to figure out, but there’s delivery if you really–”
His words were cut off when Tyler pressed his palm over Jamie’s mouth. “Jamie. I’m here, in your house, because I want to be here. You don’t need to convince me to stay.”
Jamie nipped at one of Tyler’s fingers, then kissed it. “But I like taking care of people.”
“Fine,” Tyler said, tone teasing. “How about a cup of herbal tea?”
“Coming right up.”
Jamie’s heart was full, almost painfully so, as he filled the kettle while Tyler hopped up on the counter.
He glanced back at this man–his boyfriend–admiring his slender legs and the spread wings of the moth embracing the base of his neck.
The way his features softened as he watched Jamie move around the kitchen.
Nothing made him happier than seeing Tyler and Rowan comfortable in his home.
Maybe this would actually work. Maybe Tyler was different from the men he’d dated before.
Maybe their busy lives could match up, and Jamie could be a place of comfort, of connection and pleasure, where Tyler and Rowan were welcome whenever there was time.
Maybe Tyler was better equipped to handle Jamie’s long absences and devotion to the team, because he had obligations of his own.
Maybe they could build something just for them.
They hung the ornaments on the tree while a playlist of greatest Christmas hits played.
Rowan’s attention span quickly waned, but he occupied himself with a plastic nativity scene while Jamie, Tyler, and the rookies finished up.
Tyler, who’d seemed almost subdued when they’d first met, now badgered him for the backstory of every one of his childhood ornaments.
He loved how easy it was to make Tyler smile. He loved that he now knew Tyler kept little sparkly clips in his pocket for when his hair got in his eyes. He loved the gentle way Tyler spoke to his son.
Tyler moved through Jamie’s house like it was already familiar, and Jamie kept having to check himself to make sure he wasn’t smiling too much.
Later, Onni and Oliver made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch while Jamie heated up tomato soup, and soon they were all gathered around the table.
Rowan sat happily on a booster seat between the two rookies, who he’d declared were his “most favorite buddies,” and Tyler scooted his chair close enough to Jamie’s that their thighs could press together under the table.
When they were finished, Jamie left the rookies to do the dishes, and led Tyler and Rowan upstairs to the guest room. Rowan clambered up onto the bed, leaping and rolling over the pillows, while Jamie showed Tyler the Pack n’ Play, salt lamp, and an outlet where he could plug in the baby monitor.