Page 117 of Game Misconduct

“Well,” Jesse said. “Have you talked to him about it?”

“No,” Tanner scoffed.

“You do realize that’s the best way to figure it out, right?”

Tanner shrugged.

“I promise,” Jesse said drily. “No relationship—and that includesfriendship—has ever been figured out by not talking about it.”

Tanner sighed. “It’s just … it’s complicated.”

Jesse snorted. “You think it wasn’t complicated when Connor and I started hooking up? He’s my captain. He was still wrestling with his sexuality and his religious beliefs. He was divorced, with kids,andI annoyed the crap out of him at first. That wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.”

“True,” Tanner agreed. “Do you ever miss the days when things weren’t complicated, and you were just … fucking around and having fun?”

Jesse was quiet for a moment as he navigated a rotary but he spoke a few moments later. “I miss things beingsimplesometimes. But there is no world where I’d ever pick simple over Connor and the kids.”

“Oh my God, andthenCrawford had to hold a bunny rabbit named Elvis.” Tanner laughed.

“Yeah?” Leif asked, also amused as he took a final look around his hotel room.

The Rockets were currently in North Carolina and he’d just gotten back from a small group dinner.

Listening to Tanner talk about his day had become a comforting sort of patter in his ear while he went through his evening routine. It was white noise sometimes. Not that Leif didn’tcareto listen to what Tanner said. It was simply that not all of it required input. He could just sort of turn Tanner loose on a subject and let him ramble with only a few words of response to let him know he was still there.

At the moment, he was talking about a photo shoot the team had done earlier.

“I am so bummed we can’t have pets in our building.” Tanner sighed heavily. They were on a voice call because he was driving back from HCI. Apparently, he’d left his SUV there when he and Jesse went out to lunch, then to Catherine and Declan O’Shea’s house.

It always amazed Leif how casually Tanner talked about hanging out with hockey legends like that. Sure, Leif knew plenty of big-name NHL guys too but he rarely hung out at theirhousesunless they were hosting a party or something.

Tanner was a semi-regular guest at the O’Shea home when they hosted brunches and barbecues or whatever and sometimes just dropped by out of the blue and waswelcomed.

Leif never went anywhere without an express invitation, worried that maybe he’d misunderstood. Maybe he’d read the person wrong, and they hadn’t meant to include him.

“How would you take care of a pet when you travel so much?” Leif asked, settling on the bed.

“Dude, that’s hilarious. That’s exactly what Crawford asked.”

Leif grimaced. He wasn’t sure he liked being compared to Luke Crawford in any way. Then again … “That’s whatanyonewith common sense would ask,” Leif pointed out, settling into a stretch, his left ankle pressed against his bent right leg.

Damn. He was tight today.

Tanner made a dismissing noise. “There are pet sitters, duh. And, like,neighbors.”

“Do you know your neighbors?”

“Of course I do! I hooked up with this one couple last season …”

Leif tuned it out because he didn’t want to hear about Tanner’s hookups with other people. He knew what that meant but he didn’t want tothinkabout what that meant and so he ignored it. Focused on the stretch he was doing.

“I was bummed when they moved,” Tanner finished with.

Leif gritted his teeth, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the stretch as he looped his arms around his thigh and pulled his knee toward his chest or Tanner’s words. Maybe both.

Probably both.

“So what about you? Do you know your neighbors?” Tanner asked cheerfully.