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I let myself into Isaiah’s parents’ house—they’d given me a key to use so I didn’t have to wake anyone up when I went running—and slipped down the hall to the guest room. After a shower, I pulled on an old pair of Yellow Jackets shorts and a T-shirt, moving as quietly as I could so I didn’t wake Isaiah.
His parents had told me to make myself at home, and that the only rule was that whoever got up first made the coffee. The rest of the house was still and silent, so I went into the kitchen and started brewing a pot.
Once there was enough for a single cup, I poured it, then left the coffeepot to finish filling for everyone else.
Out on the deck, I sipped the coffee and enjoyed the comfortable morning while it lasted. I loved it out here. My condo had a nice view, but I’d always wanted a place with a tree-shaded deck like this. Some of my teammates had them, and if I ever got off my ass and bought a house instead of a condo—
The sliding glass door hissed open behind me, and I jumped, spilling a couple drops of coffee onto the railing. I instantly felt like an idiot. It was probably just Isaiah—he was a morning person, after all.
But when I turned around…
“Oh. Hi.” I smiled as Laura shut the door behind her. “The coffee’s on. I, uh… I should’ve started it before I left for my run.” I paused. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
She waved her hand. “You’re fine, honey.”
I relaxed a little. Tried to, anyway. I wasn’t sure why I was nervous around her. She and Tom had been nothing but pleasant to me since I’d been here. Maybe because this was my first time meeting Isaiah’s parents. There was pressure. I didn’t want to screw up with them and, by extension, screw up with Isaiah.
Laura stood beside me at the railing, gazing down at the yard that had been full of people celebrating Ella’s graduation yesterday. Silence hung between us for a while. I tried to think of something to say, but kept coming up short. I was great at talking to reporters, fans, and cameras. I could think on my feet. Sound intelligent and articulate and even be entertaining sometimes.
But God help me, making conversation with my boyfriend’s mother scared me into silence.
How do I do this without putting my foot in my mouth?
Before I could figure it out, Laura broke the silence, almost startling my coffee cup out of my hand again.
“You and Isaiah seem to be…” She hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. Finally, she turned to me. “You seem to get along well.”
That was an odd way to put it, but okay.
“We do,” I rasped, wondering when my mouth had gone dry. “He’s… I’ve never met anyone like him.”
Her smile was faint and brief. Gazing out at the trees and the yard again, she said, “It’s unusual for someone in your line of work to be with someone like him, isn’t it?”
I took a swallow of coffee as I considered my answer. “There aren’t that many of us, no. But it’s not really a big deal anymore.”
The look she turned on me was full of confusion. “What do you mean?”
Okay, nowIwas confused. “There’s…” I cocked my head. “I think there’s like a dozen active players who are out. One of my teammates has a husband, and the head coach in Anaheim is married to a man. It’s—”
“Oh!” Understanding dawned, and she shook her head. “No, no, I don’t mean that you’re gay. Trust me, I’m the mother of a gay man who’s a fan of hockey—I’m well aware of how many men have come out in the League.” She faced me fully and pressed an elbow onto the railing. “I didn’t mean it’s unusual for a player to date a man. Just…” Her gaze drifted to the house, and deep worry settled into her features.
I watched her, completely at a loss for what to say. What was she getting at? Where was this going? Finally, I asked, “What do you mean?”
Laura moistened her lips and sighed as she looked at me again. “Let’s not be coy here, okay? You’re a young, rich athlete.”
Why did I suddenly feel like I should be ashamed of those things? What the fuck was happening here?
Evidently she’d expected me to put the pieces together, because when I didn’t, she sighed. “You seem like a perfectly nice young man, Tanner. And I don’t want to make assumptions about you or about your relationship with him. But I’ve seen two things that make me nervous about the two of you.”
My heart was thudding against my ribs now. “You have?”
“Yes. The first thing is what happened between him and that creature he almost married.” She exhaled sharply, and a murderous scowl crossed her face that rivaled the ones Coach shot at the refs after costly and stupid calls. “If I ever run into that man again, I will give him a piece of my mind, believe me.”
“From what I’ve heard about him,” I growled, “I don’t blame you.”
Jaw working, she nodded. “He was an awful man. I didn’t like him even when things were good between them, but when they started to go bad?” Laura sighed, her shoulders dropping a little. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything more painful than watching the light slowly die in my son’s eyes.”
My throat tightened. I’d seen the hurt in Isaiah’s face, heard it in his voice, when he’d talked about his ex. I’d felt the pain coming through in his words when we’d talked about it as Nick and Ian. My chest ached just imagining what Laura must’ve seen during that relationship’s slow death. Somehow, I found my breath and whispered, “It sounds like it was awful for him.”
