Page 118 of Two for Charging

Top comments:

sealionsfan82: fellas, is it gay to watch romcoms together, surrounded by strings of fairy lights? And is that a scented candle on the table? Asking for two hockey players.

calabreezy: look, I love Breezy and Luca, but next time can we get an apartment tour from someone who spent their NHL $$ on a kick-ass place and not on twinkly lights?

(From “Italian D-man Bach Pad Tour,” posted in The Rookery, the direct-to-consumer streaming service of the San Francisco Sea Lions and all associated teams, on 11/25/2025)

Luca took a deep, steadying breath. It was December first. He had been dating Chris for about three weeks, and he never wanted to date anyone else ever again. A full year of being in love with someone would do that to a man. Everything was good.

Well, the team still struggled to put together two wins in a row, and while Howie had deigned to speak to Chris after they came back from Canada, he hadn’t stopped keeping everyone at arm’s length. But in terms of their private relationship, Luca had never been happier.

He just had one piece of unfinished business to settle.

If only Chris would finish up with therapy and get to the locker room.

He checked Chris’s stall again, making sure his Secret Santa gift was where he’d put it, and no one had decided it would be a funny prank to hide it or exchange it with something else. They had agreed to do one gift per day leading up to the Christmas break, and he had pulled day one. His leg bounced up and down.

“What’s got you all riled up?” Vanderbilt asked.

Luca had last seen him warming up in the weight room, with baby Lily crawling around inspecting all the gear, while Cheryl hung out in the PR office. Luca had to get off the spinning bike several times to stop her from grabbing at the moving wheel. He didn’t mind her being at the practice rink, but he did mind being forced to look after her because her father couldn’t be asked. Whoever he was.

He squinted at Vanderbilt. Better to change the subject than admit weakness. Hayes might be marginally less awful than Luca had assumed, but the jury was still out on Vanderbilt. “Weren’t you taking care of an infant?”

“Oh, I left her with Dmitriyev for practice,” he said, nodding in the direction of the trainer’s offices where Dmitriyev was getting PT for his hip.

“You just gave him your baby?” Luca asked, aghast. He clenched his jaw shut, but he could hardly take the question back.

Vanderbilt rolled his eyes. “Yeah, man. He loves the kid.”

Luca had to bite his lip to say nothing at all.

“And yes, I know about him and Cheryl.”

“You do?”

“You’re a judgmental ass, you know?”

Luca blinked. “Yes, actually, I do know. What did I misjudge this time?”

“Calling me out on the team plane for sleeping around?”

Luca winced. The very last thing he needed was to be reminded of that plane ride, Lindy’s stupid compliment game, and how badly he’d fucked it up.

Vanderbilt continued regardless. “Bro. Majorly uncool teammate move to start with, and it’s not as if Cheryl doesn’t know.”

“She does?”

Vanderbilt paused. “Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure she does. Like, how could she not? Anyway, she has Dmitriyev; it works out.”

Luca couldn’t help the way his left eyebrow raised on its own.

“What?”

“You think she knows? And how does Dmitriyev feel about…” Luca had no idea what Dmitriyev’s role was. Did he want to play the affair partner in a dubiously ethical polyamory situation? The way he doted over baby Lily raised severe doubts in Luca’s mind about his satisfaction with the status quo.

“Eh.” Vanderbilt shrugged. “Not my business.”

Luca tried to make a nonjudgmental expression. Unfortunately, his face didn’t work that way.