When he blinked wet eyelashes up at Grady, teasing the growing bulge under Grady’s trunks, Grady bent down and kissed Max slow and thorough, until Max’s nipples pebbled in the night air.
Then he pulled back and made a rueful face. “One condition.”
“Name it,” Max said immediately.
Grady pushed him toward the stairs. “Go brush your teeth.”
FOR THECup parade, Max took it easy. One, the idea of drinking more beer and turning it into foam in his stomach while he rode around shouting and high-fiving people made him want to die a little.
Two, while Grady was the MVP of managing Max’s hangovers, Max didn’t think it was super fair to put him in that role again so soon. Max wanted to celebrate—they won the Cup, so hellyeah, he wanted to celebrate—but he wouldn’t feel much like celebrating if he fucked things up with Grady because of it. Chalk it up to maturity or personal growth or whatever.
“Are you going to come?” Max had asked that morning, when Grady served everyone a breakfast of french toast, fresh fruit, and bacon. For Max he added a bowl of yogurt and granola with a side of eggs and toast, either laying a foundation in case Max overindulged again or because Max had lost too much weight during the playoffs. He was getting a lot of boyfriend points lately. Max would have to level him up again. What was he at now? Level Three?
“I would if I thought I could get away with it without people recognizing me.” He kissed the corner of Max’s mouth. “I don’t want to steal your thunder. You go and have fun. I’ll watch on TV.”
Max was skeptical. “For real?”
“I’ll take a selfie doing it,” Grady promised. “Put it on Instagram and everything.”
Well, okay. That was pretty good. Max couldn’t ask for more than that.
If Max thought lifting the Cup at the Piranhas’ home arena was surreal, it was nothing to lifting it from the mouth of a parade float shaped like a giant fish, its mouth open almost 180 degrees, the teeth the edges of the float. In the middle of the mouth was a papier-mâché Stanley Cup at fifty times life size.
The streets of Anaheim boiled over with fans, and chants of “Beware the Fish” filled the air. Max shouted himself hoarse and managed to burn his nose even though he reapplied sunscreen four times.
At three o’clock he finally remembered to check his phone and found the promised Instagram post from Grady, at home with Gru, in front of the TV. Gru had his lobster stuffie in his mouth and Grady was wearing a shirt Max recognized as one of Max’s Team Canada ones, though the picture didn’t show the logo.
Somany boyfriend points. At this rate he was going to end up with platinum status.
THE DAYafter the parade, Grady and Max took Max’s parents to the train station. “Thank you so much for the hospitality,” Max’s mom gushed as she hugged Grady goodbye. “You’ve been a wonderful host.”
Grady, who didn’t know how to talk to parents because his had died before he became an adult, looked embarrassed. “It’s Max’s house too.”
This was an abject lie; Max’s name was nowhere near the paperwork. He just lived there.
But Max’s parents didn’t know that—at least Max didn’tthinkthey did. Max’s dad just said, “I hope you’ll come out and visit us all this summer. It would be good to see you.”
They shook hands and Grady said, “I’ll be there.”
Max almost fell over. How many boyfriend points was that? Was Grady doing some kind of speed run?
“I’m flying, though,” Grady continued, gesturing at the train platform.
Max’s mom laughed and hugged him again. “I don’t blame you. We’ll see you in a few weeks, boys.”
When she wrapped Max up in her arms, she squeezed so tightly Max’s eyeballs almost popped. “I’m so happy for you, sweetheart. You deserve this.”
Max was less than 50 percent sure she was talking about hockey, but he squeezed back. “Love you, Mom. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You’re darn right.”
Then they got on the train, and Max and Grady got back in the car to go home.
“I’m supposed to do altitude training with Jess in Colorado this summer.” Grady flicked on the blinker to merge onto the highway. “Ten days in early August. You want to come?”
Max swallowed. Grady took sibling time with Jess very seriously, since they were each other’s only family. “I won’t be crashing?”
Grady glanced at him sideways, then returned his attention to the road and changed lanes. “I’m inviting you, so no.”
