“So you need a new tie for today. And while you’re always welcome to wear one of mine…” He pauses and pulls one of his from his bag. Which of course, as if for emphasis, is his bright blue, purple, and cream-colored tie, designed to look like a Japanese print of butterflies. “… I know you won’t because while you like them on me, you prefer a more subtle color palette for yourself.” He loops the tie around his neck, under his collar, and steps to me again. This time, he bends forward, brings his hand to my chin, and lifts my lips to meet his. After he kisses me, he says, “Now open the damn box.”
Smiling, I do as I’m told.
“See?” he says as I pull out the dark gray tie with simple light gray diagonal stripes. The silk is soft against my skin. “It’s subtle. And will go nicely with your suit.”
“Thank you.” I loop the tie around my neck, and he crouches down to tie it for me.
“You’re welcome.”
Looking down, I watch him tie the tie into a knot. I can do itmyself, but there’s something mesmerizing about watching him do it for me. The care he’s putting into it, it’s almost too much to bear.
He pushes the knot up, then smooths the tie flat with his hand. He winks at me when he’s finished, then jostles my shoulder with his hand. “Come on. We’ve gotta go if we want to grab whatever breakfast these heathens we call teammates may have left for us.”
Ryan
After finishing breakfast, Brandon and I each grab a large cup of coffee to go and head to the bus that’s waiting for all of us outside of the hotel. We grab the seat behind Danton near the front.
Once seated, Danton turns around to face us. He’s grinning as he reaches over and ruffles Brandon’s hair. “Looking good,” he says, flicking his eyes to Brandon’s chest. “I see you added another tie into your mix.”
“Yeah.” Brandon smiles and lifts the end of it away from his shirt, looking at it with admiration. I knew he’d like it when I saw it. It’s a simple tie for a simply dressed man. Slowly, piece by piece, I can help him build his wardrobe.
Though I’ll be the first to admit, while I love the way he looks in a suit, especially the way the trousers hug his ass and thighs, I still think he looks his best in his mismatched sweats or oversized gym shorts. Casual and disheveled looks nice and natural on him. It must be his Wisconsin boy roots.
Danton nods towards me, wearing a smirk. “You get that for him?”
“I was tired of him always asking to borrow mine,” I say, nudging Brandon with my elbow.
“Bullshit,” Danton laughs. “Don’t get me wrong. I love your style choices, Rye, but they’re a bit bold for Baby over here.” He ruffles Brandon’s hair again. It takes all of my strength not to reach over and fix it.
Danton looks between the two of us. “Are you two rooming together on this trip?”
“Yeah,” we both say and shrug at the same time.
“Are you sure you two aren’t brothers?”
“Positive,” I say at the same time Brandon pulls a face and says, “Gross.”
“Are you going somewhere with this?” I ask. My heart rate kicks up as I think about mine and Brandon’s conversation from this morning. Maybe I haven’t been as subtle as I thought.
I chance a glance at Brandon. He looks nervous, as if he’s worried Danton is connecting the dots.A wave of guilt washes over me. I should be more careful.
“Nope,” Danton says, his lips pulling up into a full smile. “I’ve just never come across teammates who can spend twenty-four hours a day together like you two can. Hell, Vicky and I can’t even do that.”
“You sound jealous,” I tease. “Do you want to room with me on the next road trip?”
“Fuck, no.” He laughs and looks back at Brandon. “If he starts to drive you nuts, just give me the word and I’ll find you a new roommate.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brandon says. He hooks his foot behind mine underneath the seat where Danton can’t see it.
Okay, so we might be playing with fire. I can be more subtle when we’re around other people. But by the way Brandon’s using his foot to tug my leg closer to his, I think it’s safe to say he feels the same about not changing a thing when it comes to road trip room assignments.
TWENTY-THREE
Brandon
Back at Danton’s house after our first-round success against Winnipeg, I’m winding down. And by winding down, I mean playing mini sticks on my knees with his kids in the basement. It’s exhausting. How do they have this much energy? And don’t they know that their dad and I are supposed to be resting up to play against Minnesota in round two of the playoffs in a couple days?
“It never stops,” Danton says as if he’s read my mind. He blocks a shot that his younger daughter, Gina, takes, then sends the ball back in her direction to take another. This one he lets sneak past him.
