Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“I didn’t think you played hockey.” I gave him a sideways once-over, trying desperately not to linger on any body part for too long. Not easy to do. He was in great shape.
Bryson smiled. “I didn’t.”
“Well, I still don’t think you get a say in your kid’s mistakes. He’s going to make his own, whether you approve or not.”
“Did you make mistakes?” He coughed and flicked his wrist. “That was weirdly personal. Sorry, I—”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Of course, I did. And I have a lot of regrets that can be tied directly to my profession.”
“Oh.”
“That’s me, though. I’ve never been great at compartmentalizing, you know? I’m all in. That’s what every coach wants to hear. My ex-wife liked that sentiment too, but…” I sighed. “I’m still playing hockey and I’m no longer married, so you can see how that went.”
“I’m sorry. Divorce is…awful.”
Shit. This had definitely gotten too personal, but I was the one who was curious now.
Okay, fine. There was nothing sudden about it. I’d been curious about this man from the moment he’d shoved his hand at me, thanking me profusely as if I were some kind of savior. Me. What a fuckin’ joke. One good deed did not a savior make. Confucius? Nah, don’t quote me.
“You’re divorced?” I modulated my tone to casual bordering on vague disinterest.
Bryson nodded, his lips twisting as he rubbed his thumb along the stem of his empty glass. “Yeah, I married my college sweetheart and…fucked things up by belatedly realizing I wasn’t going to be able to pray the gay away.”
My jaw dropped.
“You’re gay?”
He chuckled softly, his eyes bright with easy humor. “Don’t worry. It’s not contagious.”
“No, no. I-I’m not…” I took a sip to shut my mouth and give my brain a chance to catch up. Unfortunately, when it did, I blurted, “Gay is good. It’s all good, man.”
Okay. Wow. That was uninspired, but it was better than telling the truth.
Bryson knew who I was. Not that I was famous—I wasn’t. However, as a soon-to-be retiring AHL defenseman who’d been in the league for years, news about my sexual orientation being blasted from the dad of the kid who’d taken a swing at me wasn’t how I wanted to end my career.
Whatever. I was suddenly itchy and uncomfortable, unsure what to say, yet aware that on some level, I’d been…flirting with him. Not well, mind you, but the fact that I was here at all instead of in my room channel-surfing indicated that I was interested in Bryson. And he was gay.
Didn’t matter. I had no intention of doing anything about it. But still…
Bryson tilted his chin. “Thanks. I think so too.”
“Do you—are you…married or dating or…” Awkward, awkward, awkward.
His eyes twinkled as he shook his head. “Nope. I’m single. Very single.”
“Me too. And I like it that way,” I added hastily. And then…overshared with gusto. “I haven’t been on a date with anyone in forever. Don’t need the complications. That’s probably a bad attitude, but I’ve been married, divorced, and now I’m dealing with chronic pain and…I really don’t venture outside of my hockey bubble anymore. Just as well. Relationships cloud my focus.”
Jesus, was I a good time or what? The crazy thing was that I never talked about my nondescript sex life or my grueling regimen with pain management. And I never ever talked about the D word.
Yet here I was.
Bryson seemed unbothered.
“I understand. My focus has been Jake for so many years that I barely remember who I was before I became a parent.” He shot a searching glance my way. “Do you have kids?”
I shook my head and slugged down the rest of my beer. “No.”
“Hmm. Becoming a father was the best thing that ever happened to me. It’s an incredible honor to teach and help mold this little person into a human who’s so much more talented than his mom and I put together.”
“I bet,” I replied. “Are you friendly with your ex?”
“Oh, yeah. Piper and I are good friends.” He made a funny face. “It took a while to get there, but we decided early on that no matter what was going on with us, Jake came first. And the only way to ensure we were doing a decent job of it was to communicate. If we’d done that earlier on in our relationship, we could have saved ourselves a lot of trauma. Then again, if we’d done anything differently, we wouldn’t have Jake, I wouldn’t have moved to Elmwood and gotten immersed in hockey, which means I wouldn’t be sitting here telling you way more than you ever wanted to know about my life. So thank you, Grey Goose.”
“Cheers.” I chuckled and tapped my glass against his. “Look at you…drinkin’ the good stuff. Real estate must be a sweet gig in Oakwood.”
“Elmwood, smartass. And yes, I do pretty damn well there, if I do say so myself.” He flashed a smug grin, gesturing to the bartender that he was ready to close the tab. “It took the town a couple of years to warm up to me, though. I was the big-city realtor they assumed was a huckster. Piper is from Elmwood so that helped, but the fact that we were divorced put me back to square one in their eyes. I had to prove myself.”