Page 8 of Goalie Interference

“True.” Ander laughs at the same time a high-pitched barking noise comes from his feet.

Startled again, I look down. There’s a ball of soft fur staring at us with big black eyes, a black button nose, and a tiny pink tongue sticking out of its smile as it looks up. I raise an eyebrow and return my gaze to Ander. He’s holding the leash in one hand and the back of his neck with his other.

This is not what I was expecting. Someone like Ander, with a shih tzu, is a surprise. I find myself curious about how he came to be in possession of this tiny dog. And even more curious as to why, despite their size difference, they strangely look like each other. Large expectant eyes. Caramel brown hair. Giant goofy grin. The only thing Ander is missing is a tail.

I crouch down and scratch under the little dog’s chin. Then looking back up at Ander, I ask, “Who is this?”

He drops his hand from his neck and beams at me. “This is Shutzie.”

“Shutzie, the shih tzu,” I say, stroking the little dog’s fur. “I like it.” I’m rewarded with a lick to my hand. I rise again and wipe my hand on my pants, then check to make sure I didn’t leave a stain. Thankfully, I didn’t.

“Yeah,” Ander says, still smiling. “He’s pretty great.” His lips turn down and he looks at his dog. “But he did just take a shit on Ryan’s carpet, so I’m taking him for a walk before Ryan pitches the both of us off his balcony.”

“I would like to see him try,” I say. “Ryan might be able to handle the dog, but he is too skinny to lift you.”

Ander barks out a laugh, which causes Shutzie to join in. He looks at me with that damn friendly smile of his and asks, “You want to join us?”

Normally, I’d say no to this kind of offer. Especially from someone like Ander. Three months ago, I was looking for any way to beat him and his team. I would have sold my soul to do it. But right now, with the way he’s looking at me with such pure and open eagerness, it feels wrong to say no. So I don’t. It’s not like there’s a game going on right now that we are both trying to win.

“Sure.” I put my hands into my pockets. “But if he poops again, you are cleaning it up.”

Ander grins at me. “Considering the size of what he just produced in the apartment, I think I’m safe for a while.”

I smile back and turn to begin our walk, leading them down the street. There’s a park I drove past around the corner if the little dog needs some grass.

“So…” Ander says. “You’re looking at a place in their building?”

“That is the hope.”

“It’s nice to live near your teammates,” Ander says, narrowly avoiding tripping over Shutzie’s leash as the dog darts back and forth in front of us, stopping to sniff everything in sight. “I finally got Gavin…” He pauses and turns to look at me. “You know Gavin Marshal?”

“I am aware of him, yes,” I say. Come on. Even though I have never actually hung out with the man, my team did just face off against him for seven games straight almost three months ago. He is kind of hard to miss.

“Yeah, I guess you are,” Ander says, laughing to himself. “I got him to move into my building… finally. I mean, I know he only did it because Connor got traded and he didn’t want to move Connor into his old place.”

He rushes to walk ahead of me, then turns around and stops. I almost bump into him again and Shutzie gets himself tangled around our ankles. But Ander doesn’t even seem to notice. He holds both hands up which tightens the leash around us.

“It was the smart move. You should have seen Gavin’s apartment.” He sucks on his teeth and his eyes go comically wide. “It was a total shithole. Connor would have been having second thoughts about that trade, that’s for sure, if he had to live there.”

“I doubt that,” I say as I try to extricate myself from the web of Shutzie’s leash. After a few tries and some high steps, I make it out. Then, smoothing the new wrinkles out of my pants, I add, “I am sure if he had to choose between lousy apartment and his father, he would pick apartment.”

“You didn’t see it.” Ander laughs, but quite quickly his face turns serious. “But you are right. Connor is much happier now. And I mean, come on.” He steps out of the remaining loops of the leash and starts walking again. “I don’t know if you noticed, but those two are pretty heavily in love.”

“It is hard to not see,” I say, a smile tugging at my lips.

“You know how it is,” he continues. “I’m sure being around Ryan and Brandon is the same.”

I shrug. “I do not know. Your brother and Ryan are very…” I struggle to find the word. It’s clear they’re together to anyone who’s looking. But also, they do hide in plain sight, so I don’t know if a lot of people notice the truth about them. It’s nice. Easy. Private and unmessy. The opposite of what Gavin and Connor have gone through, which to me, despite the finding your soulmate factor, looks like a nightmare.

“Chill,” Ander says, supplying a word for me. “Well, Ryan is at least. Brandon’s never been chill about anything in his life.”

“That is family trait.”

He stops in his tracks again and lets out a booming laugh as his hand claps me with force on the shoulder. Much like when we collided in the building doorway, I’m taken aback by the weight of it.

When he finally stops laughing, he looks at me, but his hand stays awkwardly on my shoulder. “You’re funny. Do you know that?”

“Perhaps,” I say, as another smirk pulls at my lips. I have never thought of myself as funny. Not in Russian, and definitely not in English. “I am blunt.”