Well, fuck. Jordy had always liked Justin Hill. He was pushing thirty-five, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that the GM had sold him to another team for a younger prospect. Still, he was the kind of guy everyone always called “good in the room”—he kept the rookies on an even keel and was unflappable in the face of all sorts of bullshit goonery.
Even if Jordy felt like he could skip out on such a team event, he wouldn’t want to. Usually trades happened midseason and fast. Players often had to be in their new city the next day for a practice or a game. Sometimes they flew out in the morning to hit the ice that night. Or they happened in the off-season when players were scattered around the world, on vacation, or visiting home. Teams couldn’t often gather for a farewell party after the news hit.
Sighing, Jordy gave a thumbs-up to the group to show he’d be there and headed off to break the bad news to Rowan.
KAIRA ANDRowan had one last day to themselves on Labour Day. Jordy, however, had no such luck.
“Bye, Daddy!” Kaira said that morning as he left for training camp. She wrapped her arms around his knees. “I love you! Skate hard!”
Jordy leaned down so she could kiss his cheek.
“Bye, Jordy,” Rowan echoed dutifully. He felt like he should add something else, but he didn’t know enough about hockey.
Fortunately Kaira came to his rescue. “Rowan, you gotta tell him you love him and give him a kiss for luck.”
Jordy looked up, startled, met Rowan’s eyes, and then quickly looked away. After a beat he cleared his throat. “Peanut, it’s just training camp. We should save the luck for when I’m playing games.”
Rowan was impressed he could hear anything over the pounding of his heart in his throat.
Kaira made an exasperated noise. “Daddy, kiss luck doesn’trun out.”
“Maybe Rowan’s does,” Jordy said, voice admirably even. Why did Rowan feel like there was a whole second conversation going on here? “We wouldn’t want to use it all up before the season starts.”
Before Rowan could formulate an answer or even decide if he could kiss Jordy on the cheek in front of his kid, Jordy went on. “Besides, I don’t make you hug anyone you don’t want to, right? So we can’t make Rowan do it either.”
Rowan couldn’t believe he was going to be alone with Kaira the whole day with no time to himself to have a breakdown. “What about if I blow him a kiss instead?” he suggested.
Or I could just blow him, but not with you standing there.
Kaira accepted the compromise, and Jordy pretended to catch the kiss and put it in his shorts pocket.
He was such a dork. Rowan was going to die.
“Home in time for dinner,” he promised Kaira with a kiss to the top of her head. Then he winked at Rowan and blew him akiss back, picked up his gear bag one-handed, and slung it easily over his shoulder. “See you guys later.”
You do not have time for this crisis, Rowan reminded himself. He and Kaira still hadn’t had breakfast, and a special one would provide a welcome distraction. He turned to his charge and asked seriously, “How do we feel about waffles this morning?”
Kaira felt great about waffles. Her enthusiasm extended to a walk to the park and a picnic lunch in the backyard with Clem.
Then he left, and when she fell asleep on the floor in the living room, the panic Rowan had successfully kept at bay by cramming his brain with responsibility rushed in to fill the sudden void.
What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he think sleeping with his friend/roommate/boss was any kind of good idea? Especially when he knew he was destined to catch feelings? Rowan had taken one look at a hot sweet dad and his heart had screeched DANGER, WILL ROBINSON. But then he’d not only moved into Jordy’s house, he’d done the equivalent of shoving a block of kryptonite into his mouth like an alien squirrel.
He lay on the floor next to Kaira, who was sound asleep with her mouth open and drooling on the carpet, and breathed.
Okay, Chadha. Walk back the panic. This is actually fine. You can handle this.
If you thought about it, he was doing pretty well, considering. Tomorrow he’d start a new job—acareer—with good pay and benefits that would let him start putting down the roots he’d longed for and start building ahome. He’d find a nice apartment—an above-ground one, even!—and get a houseplant he couldn’t kill, and….
And he’d get over Jordy eventually.
He was just drifting off when his phone vibrated on his stomach.
Gem:Dinner tonight. My treat. 8pm at La Trat.
Rowan had two options. One, decline the invitation on the chance that he and Jordy could find some time together after Kaira went to bed, and then deal with Gem’s intrusive questions tomorrow when she inevitably showed up at his workplace.
Two… he once more pushed back having his brains fucked out in favor of an emergency crisis intervention.
