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He had regrets.

Nolan in profile was as sexy as Nolan head-on. Brown hair that curled around his ear, a sharp jaw covered in stubble, a strong nose. Eli wanted to card his fingers through the hair at the base of Nolan’s neck, then use those fingers to turn Nolan’s head his way, giving him direct access to Nolan’s lips so he could capture them with his own.

Nolan side-eyed him with a one-sided smirk. “See something you like?”

“As a matter of fact.”

Grinning, Nolan jerked his chin at the computer screen. “Get your head in the game, Parker. So? What were you thinking, exactly? Type Freddie’s name in the search bar and hope something comes up?”

Eli looked away from him and forced himself to pay attention. This had been his idea.

“Can we filter by section?” he asked. “I figure we want the sports sections of Vermont newspapers. Then we specify the date range. Then type in Freddie plus Trailblazers and see what happens.”

Nothing was what happened. Absolutely fucking bupkis. The search did bring up several articles that featured Assistant Coach Friedle in his Trailblazer days—because apparently the database thought Friedle and Freddie was close enough.

“Fuck.” Eli groaned. “That’s disappointing.” He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe Friedle is Freddie,” he said mulishly.

“Have you asked him if he knows a Freddie from back then?”

“No, but if neither Cotton, Zanetti, or Roman remember one, I doubt Friedle will. Damn. I thought we’d at least get a clue.”

“What were you hoping to find?” Nolan asked.

“I don’t know. A team photo with first name “Freddie” last name listed in the photo description? You know, like how CC’s always listed as Colter “CC” Clarke?” Eli stood and glared at the computer. “Sorry, Nole. I really thought we’d make some headway for you.”

“That’s all right. It was a good idea.”

Eli looked around for Cody as they headed out, but he was deep in conversation with someone, so Eli waved his thanks instead of interrupting. Outside, they headed for Eli’s SUV—he and Nolan had carpooled rather than drive separately—but instead of getting in, Nolan pursed his lips and looked at Eli over the car.

Eli lifted an eyebrow in question.

“I had an idea the other day,” Nolan said, squinting against the sun. “But I’m not sure it makes sense.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember the notebooks that were in Freddie’s messenger bag?”

“Uh . . . no?”

Eli had a very vivid memory of the storage room, and none of it included letters or bags or notebooks or even the water bottles Nolan had been looking for. All of it included Nolan catching him when he’d stepped on a pen and lost his footing. The feel of Nolan’s chest against his and Nolan’s hands at his waist, steadying him. Nolan joking about choosing a better location for their tryst than a storage room the size of a shoebox.

Eli should’ve kissed him in that storage room. Clearly his brain had malfunctioned.

“They’re course notebooks,” Nolan said. “Pretty sure Freddie was a UVM student—I found a UVM Bookstore receipt in the bag too. The course codes are written on the notebooks, and I thought maybe you could track down the professors.”

“I can do that,” Eli said. “Maybe,” he quickly amended. “Finding out who teaches those courses will be easy enough, but there’s no guarantee those professors taught the classes fifteen years ago.”

“Hence why I said my idea might not make sense.”

“Can’t hurt to try, though.” Eli opened the driver’s side door and got in the car. “What are the courses?”

“One’s history,” Nolan said, getting in on the passenger side. “The other is psych. I’ll text you the course codes when I get back to my place. I already looked up their corresponding names, so I’ll send you those too. How often do you think course codes change names?”

“Beats me. I guess I’ll find out when I track down these professors. Actually, speaking of professors . . .” Eli slid a quick glance Nolan’s way as he exited the parking lot. “What happened with yours? Zanetti mentioned you broke up.”

That was twice now Eli had found out important information about Nolan only after the fact—his and Amber’s breakup and the job with the Trailblazers.

Was there something wrong with Eli that made Nolan not want to confide in him?