Okay, so it didn’t matter if it was a year or six months. That was all in the past anyway. Grady was looking to the future now, and it was filled with Max—Max’s dumb bets and infuriating smirk and the sweet voice he used when talking to Gru.
He couldn’t imagine any future Max might want that Grady wouldn’t enjoy more because it had Max in it. If he had to spend the rest of his life buying Max fancy shampoo because he’d buy crap from the dollar store if left to his own devices, so be it. Did Max want kids? Grady didn’t know. DidGradywant kids? He didn’t know that either. But he liked Max’s brother’s kids, so if Max wanted them, he’d be fine, and if he didn’t, then Grady would spoil the niblings. Problem solved.
Oh Jesus. Grady wanted to marry this idiot. He wanted it maybe more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. More than he wanted the Cup.
He wanted Max Lockhart to be his husband.
No, worse than that.Hewanted to beMax Lockhart’shusband.
He let himself sit with that for a few minutes while Max breathed steadily on top of him, totally oblivious to what was going through Grady’s head.
Ego aside, it wouldn’t be the worst. Max was kind and bright and funny and made being a person bearable. Plus Grady bet he could totally get Max to cry in his wedding vows, and that would be fun to tease him about.
If Grady was going to be a husband, he was going to be the best at it, after all.
Which brought him back to his earlier musings. It was probably too soon to ask, right? If they’d only been together six months? There had to be some kind of etiquette guide for this. Surely Grady didn’t have to ask Max’s parents’ permission or anything, but he should probably talk to them about how much he loved Max and—
Nope. He forced his mind away from that minefield. There was no sleep in that direction. He’d get all maudlin about his own parents, and he didn’t want to get his feelings all over Linda and Big Max when they barely knew him.
He’d have time to fix that later this summer. He had months to figure out how to con Max into marrying him, a grumpy asshole with a soft spot for Max and his dog.
So resolved, he pressed a kiss to the top of Max’s head and closed his eyes.
IF GRADYwas tired when they landed in New Brunswick, he couldn’t imagine how much worse it was for Max, who still hadn’t totally recovered from playoffs and Cup celebrations. But it was later on the East Coast than in California, so at least they’d be able to go to bed early. Grady didn’t understand how he could travel for work eight or nine months a year with no problem and then suddenly suck at it once the off-season arrived.
Of course, it could have something to do with how late they’d been up the night before, or with their early-morning LA flight. Or with his non-zero anxiety about meeting Max’s extended family in the next two days. About the only one who was completely relaxed on the flight was Gru, who curled up at their feet and didn’t even move until they changed planes in Toronto.
But Max hid it well. If he hadn’t been watchingPride & Prejudiceagain, Grady might not have known.
When the flight attendant came by to ask if they wanted coffee, Grady shook his head and ordered Max Canada Dry instead. Max stuck out his tongue, but the last thing he needed was caffeine.
Finally they landed in Moncton. Max took Gru to the rental car counter while Grady collected their luggage, which didn’t take long as theirs was the only flight scheduled to land for another three hours.
Then they were stepping outside into green.
After Vegas and LA, New Brunswick gave Grady a bit of whiplash. He could smell salt on the air—that, at least, was familiar—but the temperature was cool, maybe 65 or 70. He switched jobs with Max so he could load the car while Grady found Gru a spot to relieve himself. There was a lot of green, so he didn’t try to choose; he just peed on every bush—and one of them twice for good measure. Grady watched with half an eye so he didn’t eat something horrifying, but most of his attention was on what else feltdifferenthere.
Oh yeah. He wasn’t jonesing for ChapStick after thirty seconds of being outside, because it had probably rained at some point in the past year, if not the past twenty-four hours. Underneath the salt, the air smelled green and kind of muddy.
Grady hoped the rental car had all-weather floor mats too.
“Good to go?” Max asked as Gru trotted back toward the car, Grady following dutifully behind him.
“Good to go,” Grady confirmed, meaningplease take me somewhere people aren’t.
Max smiled and nudged him toward the passenger’s side. “Go have a nap, grumpy. I’ll wake you when we get home.”
Home.
Was that where Grady was going? Maybe it was.
He meant to ignore Max’s advice, partly on principle and partly because he wanted to look out the window and get his first real glimpse of the place that had shaped Max’s childhood. Unfortunately, the weak early afternoon sun slipping in the window warmed him just enough to make the lure of closing his eyes irresistible.
When he opened his eyes again, his first impression was that he must’ve slept for a while, because the warmth of the sun had disappeared. Then Max turned left into a driveway, and the sun returned, and Grady realized he’d only been out for maybe half an hour—the sun had simply been hiding behind the enormously tall trees that screened his property on all four sides.
“We’re here?” His voice rasped a little.
Max put the car in Park as Gru started going apeshit in the back seat. “Nah, thought I’d stop at my parents’ first.” He smirked when Grady widened his eyes in panic. “Kidding. Yeah, we’re here. Yes, Gru, baby, I promise you can get out in just a second.”
