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“Take your time,” I said.
He nodded, stepping away as he put the phone to his ear.
Alone with Isaiah, I decided to get a little braver, and I slipped my hand into his. He glanced down, surprise etched all over his face.
I raised my eyebrows. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, of course. I was just about to ask how you wanted to play this around your teammates. Friends? Boyfriends?” He held up our joined hands. “Guess that answers my question.”
I smiled up at him. “Well, we don’t have a Kiss Cam in here, so this will have to do.”
Oh, my God. I was never going to get tired of the way this man laughed.
I brought up his hand and kissed his knuckles. “Seriously, though. This will mean we’re out. Possibly publicly if someone gets a picture.”
Isaiah’s lips quirked as he gazed down at our hands. A pang of disappointment settled in. Maybe he wasn’t ready for this after all. Maybe we should—
He met my eyes, and that smile made my head spin. Squeezing my hand, he said, “No one’s going to connect us back to how we met. This?” He indicated our hands again. “Isn’t something I need to hide.”
Oh, Jesus. The things my heart was doing right then. I was already on top of the world thanks to the game. This? Fuck yes, this.
And when his friend rejoined us a moment later, I still had Isaiah’s hand as I led the two of them into the lounge.
Chapter 21
Isaiah
We were partyingwith the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets. How in the…?
Every time I glanced at Darren, I saw my own disbelief staring back, and it only intensified as Tanner introduced us around to his teammates. We knew every one of their names, but suddenly they were shaking hands with us. Suddenlytheyknewournames.
Admittedly, I had to fight a laugh when Tanner introduced us to Sven Nilsson. Darren put up a valiant effort, but he couldn’t quite hide the little hearts in his eyes. Fortunately, Nilsson didn’t seem to notice. I was so telling Darren’s wife, though. And sending her the photo I’d discreetly taken while Darren had been shaking hands with his man crush.
What really blew my mind was that some of the guys were clearly not surprised to meet me.
“Oh, soyou’reIsaiah?” Bennett shook my hand. “About time we got to meet you.”
I blinked. “It is?”
He snorted. “With as much as we’ve been hearing about you? Hell yeah.”
Oh. Wow. Holy shit.
Evidently catching on to my disbelief—I doubted I was being subtle—Bennett slung an arm over Tanner’s shoulders, almost knocking him off balance. “This guy won’t shut up about you.”
Tanner was smiling, but his cheeks were bright red, and he didn’t gainsay his teammate.
Wow. I mean, it was normal for people to talk about whoever they were dating. It was just… It was still weird that I was datingTanner Jeffries. And Tanner Jeffries was talking about me—as his boyfriend—to thefucking Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets.
How was this my life?
Apparently this was what happened when I got bored and started shitposting on social media. Damn.
Once the introductions were made, though, and we started getting lost in conversations over beers, hanging out with these guys quickly shifted to feeling like I was just at a regular party. They were all friendly and chatty—including Egorov, who spoke to us via a translator—and they clearly didn’t bat an eye at one of their teammates bringing his husband to something like this. A few wives and girlfriends had joined us, too, plus some fans.
Within an hour or two, this actually felt close to… normal. Because somehow, this was my new normal. Hanging out with pro hockey players with my arm draped loosely around Tanner’s shoulders. Talking hockey. Talking about which beers this place had on tap. Talking about the upcoming playoffs. Talking absolutely merciless trash at the slightest provocation.
The vibe in the place was addictive, too. I’d always heard hockey players could party hard, and tonight definitely proved that. They’d had an up-and-down season, with their hopes of making the postseason looking bleak a few times, and they were understandably cutting loose now that they’d secured a spot. The booze was flowing and everyone was loud and boisterous, and the mood was pure happiness.
