Page 53 of Cross Ice

Evan

I’ll see you Thursday.

Thursday could not come fast enough.

The flight home was louder than the flight out. A win did that, even when you’d split the trip. You took what you could get. Thompson had his Switch out and was deep into trying to beat his high score. Fortin was asleep before we hit cruising altitude. André sat beside me and didn’t talk much, which was its own kind of comfortable.

I texted Evan when we landed.

Nico

On the ground. See you in an hour.

Evan

I’ll be here.

I drove home, showered in eight minutes, and pulled into Evan’s parking garage before the hour was up.

I stood at the keypad beside the elevator. The roadie had been two days. It had felt like two weeks.

I pressed Evan’s apartment number.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Evan

I paced my living room.

Nico

On the ground. See you in an hour.

That text had come fifty-three minutes ago.

I forced myself to sit down, then immediately stood back up. My apartment was already clean. I’d seen to that an hour ago, working through a restless energy that needed somewhere to go. Now there was nothing left to straighten, and I was down to pacing, which at least used up the time.

I wasn’t anxious. I was just… ready. Had been ready since Tuesday, if I was being honest, which I was trying to be these days.

The buzzer sounded, and my heart kicked against my ribs.

“Come up.” I unlocked the elevator and stood in the middle of my living room and waited.

Footsteps in the hallway. A knock.

I scanned the apartment one last time, making sure everything was in place. Then my eyes caught on the coffee table and the neat stack of books there. My stomach dropped.

Ice Hockey for Beginners sat right on top.

Shit.

I’d bought it Tuesday night after watching Nico’s game against Portland, sitting alone in my apartment trying to understand what I was seeing on the screen. The rules, the positions, the terminology… I’d wanted to learn his world, understand the game that had shaped his entire life.

But I’d meant to hide it before he got here.

I grabbed it, looked around for somewhere to put it, and then the knock came again, and there was no time. I shuffled it to the bottom of the stack, crossed to the door, and pulled it open.

He looked tired, with shadows under his eyes, mouth drawn at the corners, and hair slightly damp from the shower. But when he saw me, his whole face relaxed into a grin.