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“Jesus.” Aldo frowned. “You realize you’ve only been in the sling eight weeks.”
“I’m aware.”
“What happened with Paula? Thought she might be the one.”
“No. We were cool when it was a no-strings-attached thing, but toward the end, she was hinting that she wanted more. A hell of a lot more. Something that began with a ring and ended with vows. I’m not stepping into that trap.”
Aldo rolled his eyes. “Never met a guy more averse to commitment than you.”
“Says the guy who’s five years older than me and still a bachelor.”
“It’s not for lack of trying, believe me,” Aldo insisted. “Besides, how do you know that’s what she wants?”
“For a year or so, we only contacted each other when we were horny and wasn’t like it was an exclusive thing. The last six months, she’s started texting at random times, just general chitchat. And she has this annoying talent for ‘running into me,’” Elio finger-quoted, “at all my usual hangouts.”
“So that’s it? No more hookups?”
Elio shrugged. “Yeah. I broke things off. She knew going in I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and she assured me she wasn’t either.”
“Sounds to me like she thought she could wear you down,” Aldo said with a grin. “Woman doesn’t know just how stubborn you are.”
Elio lifted his red Solo cup, toasting to the truth of that statement.
“Bet you’ll be glad to get back to work,” Aldo said, changing the subject.
Elio nodded because that was the response his older brother most likely expected, but the truth was…he wasn’t in any big hurry to return to the team. Which was probably the answer to a question Elio had been turning over in his mind for the better part of a year.
He’d signed with the professional hockey league when he was just eighteen, though he spent his first year playing in the minors before being drafted to the Baltimore Stingrays.
Eleven years—ELEVEN—spent on the ice, on the road, riding in busses and planes, rooming with other players in the big league.
Always in motion.
Constant motion.
The last two years, he’d suffered some injuries—a couple of concussions and this damn broken collarbone. After each injury, he’d been placed on the reserve list, forced to slow down.
His family, teammates, and friends all assumed he’d hated the downtime because in truth, the old Elio would have been climbing the walls, bitching and moaning and chomping at the bit to get back on the ice.
But that hadn’t been the case at all. He’d been shocked to discover he loved having the time to stay home and simply sit still.
More and more, he found himself jealous whenever he spoke to someone in his family, and they shared all the stuff happening at home. He’d missed over a decade of birthdays, holidays, picnics, fall firepits, and parties like this one tonight. All because he’d been out on the road. None of that had ever bothered him…until recently.
“I have to admit,” Aldo said, “it’s been cool having you around more the last couple of months. Going to miss you when you rejoin the team. I’m running out of single guys to hang with.”
Elio glanced around the room, acknowledging the truth of his brother’s statement. It seemed that in the last year, quite a few of his cousins and buddies had found love and settled down. Tony and Rhys had fallen hard for single mom, Jess, while Gio and Rafe had shocked the hell out of him when they admitted their love for Kayden’s little sister, Keeley.
Elio had made more than a few jaunts to Philadelphia during November and December, something he’d never had the opportunity to do before. When the team was home, he remained in Baltimore with them, working out as much as he could with his injury, but when they hit the road, he did too, traveling to spend time with his family. In a lot of ways, the broken collarbone had felt like a blessing.
He hadn’t mentioned his changing attitude toward his job to anyone, but now…it felt as if his brother had opened a door he didn’t want to close. “I liked being back here too. Been thinking maybe I’d like to come back to Philly permanently.”
Aldo’s brows furrowed, either in shock or confusion. Elio hadn’t given any indication of the idea before now. “You mean you could transfer to the Flyers? Or you want to quit altogether?”
“The latter.”
Aldo didn’t bother to mask his surprise. “Wow. I gotta admit, I didn’t see that coming. Is it because of the injuries? You are better, right? Concussions are nothing to fuck around with and if you’re having issues with headaches or—”
“I’m not,” Elio interjected. “Not at all.”
