Epilogue
ROWAN
Later that summer
Calgary was beautiful in the summer. Rowan had never spent enough time at home to feel like he was a hometown guy like some guys claimed to be, but he still had wanted to have his Cup day here, with his family, the youth hockey players in Calgary, and some of the other NHL players from the area who happened to be home in July.
Felix and a couple of Victory guys also came to celebrate with him.
He got catering from a local sandwich place, and hosted a street hockey tournament in his parents’ neighborhood. The Stanley Cup was on a table, and he and Theo had to tap in and out of games so they could go take photos with people.
It felt a little like a graduation party, but that fit. His mom even bought a sheet cake with the Stanley Cup on it, which was cheesy, but made the day feel as light and happy as it was.
From the moment they won the Cup, Rowan and Theo had been inseparable.
Rowan felt a deep need to catch up on lost time.
Since things started feeling more solid with Theo, Rowan had taken probably three thousand photos of him.
He never wanted to lose Theo again, and he was aware of the desperation of that urge every time he hit the shutter button.
He wasn’t going to stop, though. The photos of Theo playing street hockey with kids were maybe the cutest photos of anything or anyone ever, and he made sure to give his mom his camera so she could take photos of the two of them playing on opposite teams.
By the end of the afternoon, the two of them were exhausted and a little sunburnt.
Felix and the other players headed out to a bar, but Rowan’s celebration at home wasn’t over.
He and Theo headed back to his parents’ house, where he promptly kicked Theo and his dad out of the kitchen so he could cook a meal with his mom.
Theo gave him a weird little eyebrow, used to him being clingy by now, but he followed Rowan’s dad down to the basement where the big TV and Rowan Foley altar were.
His mom had graciously grocery shopped for him. He had a plan, and he knew, from direct experience, that he couldn’t do it himself.
“We’ll impress him this time, don’t worry,” Christine said, as she pulled pork chops out of the fridge and started preparing them.
He didn’t know why it felt like such an important deal to him, but he wanted to show Theo that even when he fucked up, he would always work to make it better. And the things he was deficient in, he would ask for help with.
His mom taught him how to get a nice crust on the chops, and to add a little sour cream to the potatoes to make them taste rich. She also taught him restraint with the salt. Things were starting to make sense.
Rowan remembered deciding young that his brain was for hockey and nothing else.
Well, now he had achieved The Hockey Goal.
The reason to be as good as he could be was to win the trophy that was currently sitting in his living room with the keeper of the Cup, Daniel, who was reading a novel and babysitting it.
Maybe now he could stand to clear out a little space in his brain and learn how to do some other shit. Now that he had Theo, he wanted to learn how to be a good partner, because he was never going to let go of him.
Dinner took longer than it would have without Rowan learning some basics along the way, but by the time they plated it up, it looked…perfect.
“He’s going to love it.”
“I, unfortunately, set the bar pretty low.”
His mom laughed. She saw the photos and listened to Rowan’s disappointment. She knew it had been bad.
Rowan yelled down the stairs for Theo and his dad to come up and eat, and brought a plate to Daniel, who had assured him, his mom, and his dad, more than once, that it wasn’t rude to leave him out here.
He wanted to give them their space. He helped them put the Cup in the middle of the dining table though.
Rowan made sure to get a few photos of that.
Theo was already sitting at the table, talking to his dad about baseball, when Rowan and his mom brought the plates out.
It only took a moment for Theo to realize what he was looking at. “Seriously?”
“You deserve to have the meal I tried to make you.” It was a little intimate to do this in front of his parents, he was now realizing.
“I love it,” Theo said, grabbing his hand under the table for a little squeeze. If they were alone, Rowan knew Theo would have him pressed against a wall. They’d save that for later.
The stakes felt high. He wanted Theo to like the meal because it was good, and not because Rowan had tried hard.
It would kill him if Theo humored him. Theo took the first bite, a little pork chop, and a little mashed potato on his fork, and his eyes fluttered closed in enjoyment.
He was probably hamming it up, because he could tell this was important to Rowan, but Rowan didn’t care. Relief flooded his body.
He took his own bite to verify that Theo wasn’t just being kind to him. The pork was moist and flavorful, the mashed potatoes were a buttery cloud, the asparagus had some lemon zest and parmesan on top. It was the best meal he had ever cooked, even if he had been, at best, the sous chef.
They realized having the Stanley Cup in the middle of the dining table meant they couldn’t see each other as they talked, so they nudged it down to the end of the table, and Rowan listened to his parents catch up with Theo, as Theo told them as many (appropriate) embarrassing stories as he had about Rowan from that year.
His mom refused to make dessert when they still had half a sheet cake left over, so Rowan and Theo took slices up to Rowan’s bedroom so he could grab a few things before leaving for the night. They would stay in Rowan’s condo, in a bed that fit both of them.
“This was where the Theo shrine was,” Rowan said, pointing out the part of his wall that still had tape residue on it.
“And this is the Rowan shrine?” Theo pointed to the wall behind Rowan’s desk, the one with all of the sports memories.
“Nah, that’s downstairs in the basement.” His parents had framed important jerseys and important photos. He knew there were already a few of the two of them, and also knew there would now be several more.
“You didn’t have to do this tonight,” Theo said.
He set his cake down on the desk, and took Rowan’s slice as well, so he could pull him into a real hug.
Rowan sighed against his chest. His parents knew they were together, but they had spent all day being public figures.
He just wanted to be Theo Lane’s boyfriend right now.
Theo rubbed his back and kissed his forehead. They should have showered after they came inside from playing hockey, but they could when they got back to Rowan’s place.
“I wanted to do something nice for you,” Rowan said. “And to show you I know you’re worth the effort.”
“This isn’t coming from a place of guilt, is it?”
“No. Just…I want to take care of you sometimes, you know?”
Theo smiled at him. “I know.”
“Closing is in a week.” Rowan was excited to have a new/old/same house, and he and Vic had figured out a fair price for it.
It helped that Rowan’s house in Texas finally sold.
He and Theo decided it would be easier to just have the house in one of their names, but it would be just as much Theo’s house as his.
“I think we should decorate now. I’ve been living in a guest bedroom for too long.”
“Can we hire someone?”
Theo laughed. “Yeah, we’ll fuckin’ have to. But then it will really be our place.”
“And next year, it will be the two of us against the world.”
Theo’s warm hand found his cheek to tilt his face up toward his. He pressed a little kiss to his mouth. “It’s always been the two of us against the world.”
And it always would be.
* * *
Thank you for reading Offensive Edge!