Page 87 of Yard Sale
“Are you done taking the photos?”
He laughed. “No. I haven’t even started. The camera’s set up on this auto mode that will take several images of the sky. Then we can look at them later.”
I let out a small breath as he leaned against me. “I have an appointment tomorrow.”
“For what?”
“My knee. I need to get a scan. It’s been feeling better, and this is going to determine whether or not I can start PT, and then training for next season.”
“Oh.” His voice sounded a little off. “I didn’t know you’d decided to keep playing.”
“Do you…I mean…are you uncomfortable dating a hockey player?”
Aravind made a soft choking noise. “No, oh my god. I don’t care about that. It’s just…” He hesitated. “It’s not important.”
Twisting my body to face him, I found his hand in the sand between us and picked it up. “If it’s important to you, I want to know.”
He was quiet, but he played with my fingers, so I knew he was thinking about his words. “I don’t know what the rest of my life is going to look like. After I graduated, I kind of threw myself into the idea of following Leon around—foolish, I know,” he said as though I was going to be cruel enough to rub his nose in a bad choice. “By the time I was finishing up my degree, I wasn’t even really focused. It was more like a goal I needed to accomplish. I got so caught up in what my personal life was going to look like, I forgot to consider that things might change.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “So why does hockey bother you?”
He squeezed my fingers. “It doesn’t. I promise. It’s just something I want to take into consideration when I get home.”
“No.”
He stiffened. “Uh…what?”
I pulled him closer, my fingers trailing up his arm so I could tip his chin up. I palmed his cheek, and I could feel the heavy weight of his gaze on me. “I don’t want you to consider me going back to the Legends. I want you to consider yourself. Take time and do what makes you happy outside of us. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. And if I do go back, you know what the roadie schedule is like.”
I could feel him swallowing against my fingers. “I know. It kind of scares the shit out of me.”
“Aravind…”
“It’s not your fault. There’s just pain that I have to deal with from Leon. It turned out I couldn’t leave him in a closed fucking office on the campus I worked at without him straying. And I don’t think you’re going to go stick your dick in whatever hole is willing when you’re on the road, but I can’t help but feel…afraid.”
“You do know that roadies aren’t weeks-long fuck fests, right?” I asked.
He snorted. “Yes, I do. Because my dad never cheated on my mom, as far as I know, and there are plenty of guys in both leagues who aren’t fucking around on their partners. I get that. Like I said, it’s not a you problem. It’s a wound I need to heal.”
Leaning in, I took his mouth in a soft kiss. “I can be patient for that, you know?”
“Can you?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I go crazy? Like, even if I demand that you give me all your passwords and…I don’t know, let me go through your phone anytime I want?”
“I will teach you how to use voiceover like a pro so you can go through my laptop, my phone, watch all my porn…”
He burst into a fit of laughter. “What kind of porn?”
“I can always go for a classic pizza guy,” I told him, and I basked in the sound of his giggle. “And Micah and Jonah are always sending me weird shit. Like anime, hentai stuff.”
“Oh my god,” he whispered.
“If they ever invite you to a group chat,” I warned, “just say no.”
“Don’t worry, DARE prepared me for peer pressure. I’ve got this.”
