Fabian grinned.Can we get together sometime soon? I work tomorrow night.
Ryan: I have a game the nightafter that. Busy both days too.
Fabian: And the party is Friday, right?
Ryan: Yeah. Yours too?
Fabian hadn’treallyexpected Ryan to go out dancing with them on Friday night, but he hated knowing that he definitely wouldn’t make it. He would love to see what Ryan was like when he loosened up a little.
Fabian: Yes. How about Saturday?
Ryan: Ok.
Fabian: LATE Saturday. I’ll be hungover.
Ryan: haha ok.
Fabian: Did you score any goals tonight?
Ryan: No. That only happens when you’re watching.
He added a winky face emoji, which Fabian found charming. He liked flirty Ryan and he wanted to see a lot more of him.
Fabian: You’re just trying to get me to watch hockey. It won’t work.
Ryan: I know.
Fabian: Good night, Ryan Price.
Ryan: Good night.
Chapter Fourteen
“Holy shit. Who the fuck are you?” Wyatt made a show of whipping off his sunglasses as Ryan climbed into the passenger seat of his Range Rover.
“There’s no chance you’re not going to make a big deal about this, is there?” Ryan grumbled.
“What? About the fact that you suddenly look like bearded Captain America instead of, like, the dad inHow to Train Your Dragon?”
Ryan rolled his eyes, but he secretly appreciated the ridiculous compliment. “I got a bit of a trim.”
“That’s not a bit of a trim. That’s like a full-on reality show makeover. You could have warned me!”
“It’s just a haircut. Drop it.”
Wyatt looked like he had more to say, but he just put his sunglasses back on and pulled away from the curb. Ryan furtively glanced at his reflection in the side mirror and had to admit it: he looked good. The stylist, Guillaume, had talked to him extensively about the importance of product. The small-town boy in Ryan had suspected Guillaume of trying to sell him a bunch of expensive stuff he didn’t need, but the part of him who wanted to maybe present himself as a sophisticated, metropolitan man of style decided to take the stylist’s advice. All of it.
And thus Ryan had spent more than he’d ever spent in his life on a haircut, and had left the salon with a bag full of hair and beard products. He’d even been talked into buying a new (absurdly priced) hairbrush because apparently there was a difference between hairbrushes. Guillaume didnotlike it when Ryan told him he usually bought brushes at the dollar store.
So now Ryan had a tidy, lightly oiled beard that smelled like hazelnut, and hair that wasn’t quite long enough to tie back. His hair also had some fancy cream in it that actually made it look carefully styled rather than plopped on top of his head.
He couldn’t help but wonder what Fabian would think.
“You can’t stop looking at yourself,” Wyatt teased.
Ryan jerked his gaze away from the mirror. “It’s just weird, is all. Not used to it yet.”
“You got a man you can invite to Kent’s party tomorrow night?”
