Click.
Well, that went well. Aubrey sighed at his phone and winced when his breath fogged in the cold air.
Nowwhat?
WITH AUBREYtechnically on vacation for the week, Nate spent Tuesday filming with Paul Mitchell, a guest star they’d had booked since the preseason.
Nate liked Paul. They’d never played together—Paul had retired a few years earlier than Nate, and they’d never been on the same team—but they’d met several times over the years, and he was easygoing and personable enough to run a successful web series of his own.
Maybe Nate had gotten spoiled filming with Aubrey, because it took him and Paul the first half of the show to find their rhythm, and even then, it felt lacking. Nate would leave the airspace open for a quip, line it up perfectly for Aubrey, but Paul would miss it entirely or go in a direction so unexpected it left Nate floundering.
But it was the last show he had to do until Saturday. Thursday Kelly was hosting a combination clip show and commentary with Caley while Nate spent the whole holiday with his family. He hadn’t been able to do that in years.
Of course, this year would be a little different.
By the time he returned from the studio, his stomach was growling. He waved to the concierge and got into the elevator, vaguely hoping there was something left in the fridge. If not, maybe he could sneak upstairs and raid Aubrey’s cupboards.
But when he pushed open the door, he found the apartment rather more occupied than he expected.
Before he could do much more than say hello, Aubrey got up from the couch, leaving Nate’s parents alone in the living room, and tilted his head toward the master bedroom. Nate followed, bemused. “What’s going on?” he asked. “I thought they fixed the heat at your place this morning.”
“Yeah, they did.” Aubrey looked wild around the eyes. “I ran into your parents in the lobby when they were on their way back from the Art Institute. They insisted on inviting me up for dinner and a show.Ourshow, except without me.”
That sounded even more awkward than Nate’s evening. He winced. “Sorry.”
But Aubrey shook his head, some of the manic brightness receding from his face. “It was mostly fine. Well, no, your mom wanted to make your ‘favorite’ for dinner, but I convinced her you’d mentioned a craving for sushi this morning, so we ordered takeout. Your spicy tuna roll and whatnot is in the fridge.”
Nate’s stomach growled on cue. “Thankyou.” He’d loved his mother’s spaghetti growing up, but now the idea of white pasta in a sauce that was mostly ketchup made him consider a hunger strike. “How was the show? From the outside, I mean. It felt like a train wreck from where I was sitting.”
“Eh.” Aubrey waggled his hand back and forth. “It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad. I could tell Paul missed a lot of the cues you were feeding him, but it went smoother when you both just stuck to the teleprompter.” He scratched at his nape, looking sheepish. “Your mom kept commenting on how much better we are together.”
“Well, she’s not wrong about that, even if she is wrong about why.” Nate wondered if the change of pace would have an impact on whether they got canceled. It didn’t seem fair, but that probably wouldn’t matter to the execs.
Then again, a more serious, less banter-driven show might have appeal with the market they’d alienated when John got fired. It could go either way.
“Anyway, I’m starving,” Nate said, which Aubrey would know because Nate was always hungry after a show. “So I’m going to eat. You want to stick around? Four’s the right number for a game of euchre.”
“God, I haven’t played since high school.” Aubrey grinned as though reminiscing on a fond memory, but then he cut his gaze back to the living room, where Nate’s parents were studiously ignoring a commercial break via their cell phones. “You’re sure you don’t want me to get lost? I don’t want to, I don’t know… crash your family time.”
“My parents literally invited you to family time without me,” Nate said wryly. “They like you fine.”
Aubrey’s grin dimmed a little at that, and he shook his head like he couldn’t quite believe it. But then he said, “I guess I understand. I mean, I never brought a boyfriend home. Mom would probably cry tears of joy. She was always trying to pair me off with a society boy. You’d do in a pinch.” He raised a hand and traced a faint scar on Nate’s cheek, a remnant from a stray Zdeno Chara slap shot. “You’re a little rougher around the edges than those guys, but you clean up nice and respectable.”
Nate fought not to shiver at the unexpectedly intimate touch, not to mention the level of personal sharing. Aubrey didn’t talk about his family much. “You say that like it’s an insult.”
The moment broke as Aubrey shook himself and winked. “Well, I do prefer you disheveled and debauched.”
That, Nate decided, did not require a response. “So, are you in or what? We always play at Thanksgiving, but Emily’s visiting Jurgen’s people this year, so we’re stuck without you.”
And anyway, in the quick glimpse he’d caught when he first came in, Aubrey seemed to be enjoying himself, sitting opposite Nate’s dad on the sofa, engaged with his mom in a discussion of something that had them both smiling. Aubrey was certainly more than capable of turning Nate’s parents down when they asked him to come for dinner. Maybe he was getting something out of this.
Maybe he was just humoring Nate.
“All right.” Aubrey lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Where are the cards?”
Chapter Fourteen
TUESDAY NIGHTAubrey lay awake in bed for two hours, staring at the ceiling. It was a weird inverse repeat of the night before, when he’d gone to bed with Nate without the obvious pretext of having sex with him, because his apartment was a deep freeze.
