Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Jesus, I’ll never be so thankful for a random, out-of-town hookup again. “Let’s do this.” I tug his chair closer, and Hayes pulls out his phone, making a video call.
A woman answers—she looks a little like Hayes, only with sharper features.
“Hayes. Hi. We’re heading out soon, and—oh,” she adds when she sees me.
I give her my most charming grin.
“Mom. Can you grab Dad real quick too?”
“Sure, honey,” she tells him, but her gaze doesn’t leave mine. It very much says, You fuck with my son, and we’re going to have a problem. It’s a look that says how much she loves him even if they don’t have a close relationship or she doesn’t show it in the ways I’m most familiar with. “Philip, can you come here?”
“Coming,” he calls back, and a moment later a gray-haired man pops into view. Hayes definitely looks a lot more like his dad. “The hockey player?” he asks. Apparently, his mom must have told him.
“The one and only,” I reply.
“He’s more than just the hockey player. He’s my boyfriend…my partner…and I’m in love with him.”
Okay, so there’s a small chance I have to hold on to my chair so I don’t float away. I fucking love hearing Hayes talk about me that way. It feels better than I imagine even winning the cup will. “Rylan Pierce. Nice to meet you both. I want you to know I love your son. I would never hurt him. He’s fucking incredible. Shit. Should I say fucking? Goddamn it.”
Hayes laughs. “You’re twenty-six. You can say fucking. But I must admit, it’s fun seeing you be the awkward one for a change.”
I place my hand on his nape and pull him closer. “Baby, I promise you, I’ll make a fool of myself a million more times just for you.”
He laughs and presses a kiss to my lips, before we’re interrupted by his mom clearing her throat. We both freeze, and I’m fairly certain Hayes forgot they’re there too.
My cheeks heat. There’s a first time for everything.
When I make eye contact with his parents, there’s a softness in both their gazes that wasn’t there before. “I’m Philip, and this is Martha.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say again because I’m not sure what else to say.
“So, tell us a little about yourself, Rylan. It’s so lovely to meet the man who has our son so smitten,” Martha says.
“Oh God. Don’t tell him that. It’ll give him a big head,” Hayes teases.
“Actually, I’d like it if you could say it one more time. I like to record these things and play them back for Hayes when he’s giving me a hard time,” I joke, and the four of us laugh.
“Ignore him.”
“Hey, is that any way to talk about the love of your life?” I tease, and the smile Martha gives Philip tells me I just earned some more good-son’s-boyfriend points.
We talk for a while longer, and again, though you can see that the three of them aren’t incredibly close, there’s a lot of love between them.
“We have to head out for the airport soon,” Martha tells us. “But maybe we can do this again? And we’d love to have the two of you out to see us or maybe we can come to LA.”
“You’ve never come here to see me before,” Hayes says. “Well, except when I graduated from college.”
“We haven’t?” Philip asks.
My boyfriend shakes his head.
“We’ll have to change that,” Martha adds. Just like the rest of us, they’re a work in progress. We all are, but somehow, I know, everything is going to be okay.
We end the call, and I immediately pull Hayes to my lap. He comes easily, straddling my thighs, his arms wrapping around my shoulders.
“Of course you had to charm my parents too.”
“Would you rather they hate me?”
“No.” He shakes his head, leans in, and kisses me.
*
The playoffs have been brutal and grueling, but I love every moment of it. Hayes has been sitting with my parents every home game so far. No one has noticed, and I must admit, I love knowing he’s there. Knowing that he’s watching me and cheering for me, wearing a Pierce jersey and everything.
While we’re trying to keep us a secret for now, we’re not totally hiding. Neither of us wants that. I want to share my life with him, and hockey is a huge part of my life. I deserve to have my guy watching me.
And he spoils me after each game even more than he did before. He gets into protective-boyfriend mode and has beef with quite a few hockey players now.
Donovan and Anthony have been to one game with him too. We’ve met quickly, but with the schedule during hockey season, we haven’t gotten to hang out with them. Right now, my head has to be completely in the game.