He took his time stealing a T-shirt. Anything team-branded might inspire a repeat of last night, which normally he’d be in favor of, but if he wanted to have a serious conversation, neutral was better. He picked a plain black shirt and pulled on his jeans from the night before.
Jordy was in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar, hunched over a pad of paper. He had a coffee cup at his elbow, and he didn’t look up when Rowan entered. Lost in thought, apparently. Rowan allowed himself a moment to fantasize that Jordy was making a list of all the reasons they should throw caution to the wind and make their relationship something more than physical.
He stopped on his way to the pour-over set to press a kiss to Jordy’s cheek. “Morning. Kaira still in bed?”
“Mm. It’s a miracle.”
Rowan took down his favorite mug—God, he was an idiot; he had a favorite mug in Jordy’s house and he’d been telling himself he could avoid entanglement—and spent a moment going through the routine of filling it with life-giving caffeine. “Breakfast plans?” he asked. He wanted to get a feel for the morning schedule—Kaira was still in bednow, but that could change anytime. When was the best window for this conversation?
“No, I’m just—” A sigh.
Rowan turned around.
Jordy still had his head down to stare at his piece of paper, but after a moment he looked up. “Distracted.”
Rowan was a light sleeper. He knew for a fact Jordy hadn’t spent last night tossing and turning, because he’d have woken up. So the dark circles under his eyes were not from lack of sleep.
So something else was bothering him. Rowan knocked back half his mug—it looked like he’d need it—and braced himself. “What’s going on?”
“My agent called this morning.”
At ass o’clock on a Sunday? Rowan put down the mug and placed his hands on the counter for support. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. “That sounds ominous.”
“Yeah. It’s—it could end up being nothing. But….”
“But,” Rowan repeated.
Jordy dropped the pen. He flexed his fingers a few times and then stretched out his arm toward Rowan, almost like he wanted to take his hand. He pulled it back before he could. “The team asked for my list.”
“Your list.” Rowan sounded like a stunned parrot. He forced his mouth to shape meaningful words this time. “I’m assuming this isn’t a list of groceries or top-ten Toronto nightclubs.”
Jordy didn’t laugh. “It’s a list of teams they can’t trade me to.”
Did that mean what it sounded like? Rowan shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Jordy’s serious, pinched mouth suggested otherwise. “I’m guessing this isn’t a routine thing.”
“It is when you’re looking to trade someone.” He rubbed his brow. “They might be looking at options, and they might be shopping around me and other defensemen hoping to sell one of us for more forwards. So it could all come to nothing. But the rumors aren’t wrong. It makes sense to trade me over most other guys.”
“Do—” Rowan cleared his throat. He just had something caught in it, was all. And not emotions. “Do you think you’ll get traded?”
Jordy sighed. “Honestly? They don’t need me as much as they need kids who can get the puck in the net.”
“But they sent you to New York,” Rowan argued, floundering. How could a team spend so much on a player when they wanted him gone?
“They also sent Brady. And they could have had a million reasons to send me that weren’t about me being a billboard face or a good defenseman.”
“Like?”
“Like proving my capital to other teams.”
Which was an especially mercenary view of things, but also probably not the worst thing sports management had ever done in the name of bettering their team.
“How long?”
That got another unhappy sigh. “Who knows? It could be tomorrow or it could be never. Just because Toronto wants to offload me doesn’t mean other teams will want me.”
Before Rowan could open his mouth and say something totally sincere and epically stupid, like “Who wouldn’t want you?” Kaira walked into the kitchen and saved Rowan from himself.
Jordy flipped over his notepad, shot Rowan a pleading look that managed to conveyPlease don’t say anything to my child, and brightly asked what she wanted for breakfast.
