Page 23

The bottle of wine was slippery in Gavin’s hand as he carried it toward the townhouse where Violet, Jeff, their kids, and Dakota lived. He’d been surprised by the invitation to join them for Christmas Eve, and even more surprised when Dakota had suggested he spend a few days there and then promptly tried to talk him out of it.

“Well, I mean, we’re supposed to get a big snowstorm, so it makes sense for you to stay. But we’ll have to share a really small bed,” Dakota had said apologetically. “And my room is tiny. This is weird, right? Maybe we should?—”

But Gavin had kissed him, shut up his words with a press of his lips at the thought of not being alone for the holidays. At getting to spend it with a happy family. At the joy of knowing Dakota was willing to see where things could go between them.

“It sounds perfect,” Gavin had murmured.

Dakota had kissed him back before pushing him away, gaze darting around because they’d been in his studio and they really shouldn’t have been kissing here at work, but he’d been smiling too.

And now, Gavin’s heart rested somewhere in his throat as he knocked on the front door of Violet and Jeff’s townhouse.

He was relieved when the door swung open to reveal Dakota, wearing a hesitant smile, jeans, and a soft-looking green sweater. “Hi,” he said, wetting his lips. “Come in.”

“Hi.” Gavin swallowed, stepping into the townhouse. He was hit by warm air and the scent of cookies baking. He leaned in, brushing their lips together.

Dakota reached up, curling a hand around his neck, turning the kiss more heated, but a small voice broke through.

“Unka Dak-Dak!”

They broke away with a laugh and Gavin glanced down to see a small blonde girl tugging at Dakota’s sleeve.

“Who’s dat?” she whispered as he scooped her up.

“This is Gavin,” Dakota said quietly. “He’s my friend.”

“Your boyfwend?”

“Uhh, yeah.” Dakota shot Gavin a little look through his lashes before he glanced back at his niece. “He’s going to spend Christmas with us, Daisy.”

“Yay!” She clapped her hands and Gavin smiled at the warm welcome.

“Well, let the poor man in the place, Dakota!” Violet said with a laugh as she approached. “Hi, Gavin.”

“Hi, Violet.” He handed over the bottle of wine. “Dakota said you like red wine, so …”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. Unnecessary, but I’m not mad about it.”

They all laughed.

“Please, take off your coat. You can hang it on the hooks by the door there and leave your wet boots on the mat.”

It had started snowing last night and the snowplows had been working nonstop all day. Gavin couldn’t remember the last time they’d had a white Christmas and he was looking forward to it.

Gavin did as instructed, then followed Violet, Dakota, and Daisy into the living room.

A pretty artificial tree glowed with bright lights, a gas fire roared in the fireplace, and Christmas music played in the background. The room was homey looking with lovingly collected décor, plus a playpen in one corner, toys strewn on the floor and rumpled throw pillows scatted across the couch. Everything looked beautiful, lived in, and comfortable.

It made a little of the tension in Gavin’s shoulders ease, like this was the kind of place where he could let his guard down and relax.

Violet must have caught his glance because she gave him a rueful smile. “Excuse the mess.”

“Nothing to excuse,” Gavin assured her. “You have a beautiful place and, from what I understand, kids and messes seem to go together.”

“Are you interested in having children someday?” she asked.

Dakota groaned and dropped onto the sofa. “Jesus, Vi, give the man a chance to sit down before you start interrogating him.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Gavin assured her, though he did take a seat next to Dakota. “Uhh, honestly, I’m not sure if I do or not. My job, well, it makes it difficult.”

“I would imagine.” Violet took a seat in a chair nearby, curling her long legs up under her.

He’d never noticed how much she and Dakota looked alike.

“My ex-husband wasn’t interested in kids, so …”

“But you’d be open to the idea if your partner wanted them?”

Dakota covered his face with his hands. “This was a bad idea. I regret everything.”

Gavin laughed, resting his hand on Dakota’s thigh. “I don’t mind, I swear.”

Dakota squinted at him through the gap between his fingers. “What if I do?”

“Oh, cut it out,” Violet said with a laugh. “You act like I’m applying thumb screws or something.”

“You would if you had them available,” Dakota said darkly. But he did drop his hands, threading the fingers of one through Gavin’s and squeezing tight.

“He’s so melodramatic, isn’t he?” Violet whispered.

Gavin laughed, knowing he was going to enjoy the next few days with Dakota’s family.

Violet’s husband Jeff arrived home a short while later, and he greeted Gavin warmly with a handshake and a back-slapping hug. “Thanks for joining us! It’s so great to have you here.”

“Thanks for having me,” Gavin said sincerely.

Jeff grinned. “Honestly, the more the merrier.”

His voice was filled with sincerity and Gavin was touched.

Dinner was a casual affair of root vegetable soup, hearty bread, and a salad. Violet must have seen the look on Gavin’s face when he was offered the salad, because she smiled at him. “Not a fan of leafy greens?”

“Well,” he said, trying to figure out how to word it politely. “A salad gave me food poisoning once. And at a very inopportune time. I still hold a grudge against raw vegetables.”

“Oh dear.” Violet smiled at him. “That sounds unpleasant. I won’t be offended if you skip it, I promise.”

“No,” Gavin said with a sigh as he put a small portion of greens on his plate. “I am under orders to, and I quote, ‘diversify my diet’.”

“Ahh. After your health scare?” Jeff asked.

“Yes,” Gavin agreed. Dakota had told him he’d mentioned their trip to the hospital to his family, so Gavin wasn’t surprised by the question. “Along with changing my diet, I’m making some changes to my work life. This isn’t public knowledge yet, but I’ll also be stepping down as president of ops as soon as a replacement is found. Not ideal, mid-season, but …”

“Important though,” Jeff said thoughtfully. “Stress can be a killer.”

Gavin winced. “In my case, that could be quite literal, if I don’t make some changes. Besides, this will give me more opportunity to spend time with Dakota.”

Dakota reached out, touching his thigh under the table.

“After the girls are down for the night, I’d like to talk to you about something, Gavin,” Violet said, smoothing her hand over Daisy’s hair. The little girl had soup smeared across her cheek as she shoveled more in.

“Yes, of course.” Gavon glanced at Dakota, a little puzzled, but he nodded too, so clearly, he knew what was going on. It left Gavin feeling curious, but Lily fussed, and the conversation moved on as Jeff got up to fix her a bottle.

Gavin practically had to arm-wrestle Violet into letting him help clean up after dinner, but after, when the girls had been tucked into bed, the adults gathered in the cozy, warm living room.

Violet opened the bottle of wine, offering some to Gavin. The doctor had also advised he cut down on alcohol consumption, but red wine was supposed to be good for the heart, right?

When they were seated and Dakota and Jeff were enjoying sugar cookies cut out in Christmas shapes, liberally covered in frosting and sprinkles, Violet gave Gavin a tentative smile. “I’d like to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” he said, wondering if this was one of those ‘treat my sibling well or I’ll bury you’ speeches he’d heard about but never experienced, because Rory hadn’t been particularly close to his family.

“I’d like it to be … separate from work.”

Gavin frowned, not sure he understood. “As in, you want this to be a conversation with the guy your brother is dating and not someone you work with?”

“Sort of.” Her gaze darted to Dakota before returning to him. “I like you as a person and colleague, Gavin. If I take away the thought that you’re Dakota’s boss, I like the idea of you two together. But I have some reservations that have nothing to do with him at all.”

Gavin sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. “I know I don’t have a great track record with relationships and?—”

A startled expression crossed her face. “Oh, no. Not that. That’s … that’s between you and Dakota. This is about me , actually.”

“I don’t understand,” he admitted.

“I know.” She glanced down at her wineglass and took a deep breath. “Gavin, I’m a trans woman.”

He blinked. “Okay?”

Dakota reached out, touching his thigh lightly.

When Violet didn’t continue, Gavin looked around the room. “I’m sorry. I … I still don’t understand. I’m happy you feel comfortable sharing with me, I’m not quite sure what you want me to say.”

She smiled softly. “I get that.”

He glanced at Dakota. “Is this a test? I mean, I know people in the gay community aren’t always as supportive of trans people as they should be, but that’s not me. I hope you didn’t think learning this would change how I view you, Violet, or anything of the sort.” He looked back at her.

“No,” Violet said with a quiet laugh. “It wasn’t a test. Though, I think if it had been, you’d have passed it with flying colors. A non-reaction is perfect. I wanted to tell you because—because I haven’t always been as outspoken about it as I could. Truthfully, I’m very happy in my quiet little life with my family, doing a job I love. I like to think that my gender is the least interesting thing about me, and I’d rather not be the poster person for trans rights but I’m beginning to think it might be necessary to speak out about it more.”

“Because of something happening within the Harriers organization?” Gavin asked, concerned.

“Oh, no.” She looked startled. “Just the general state of the world around us.”

“I understand,” Gavin said, relaxing a little. Because for all of the forward progress there’d been in his lifetime, there was an obvious backlash happening as well. But he didn’t have any control over that.

He did have control over what happened in the organization. And there would be hell to pay if someone had made her feel unwelcome in any way.

“When I initially realized you and Dakota were involved, it upset me. Not because I don’t like you, but because I was concerned it threatened my peace and stability. If it came out you two were hooking up, I thought perhaps—perhaps people might do some digging around and find out about me. I’m not ashamed of who I am in any way?—”

“Nor should you be,” Jeff said, fiercely.

She smiled at her husband, leaning into him. “But I had concerns about my continued employment within the organization. Concerns that they wouldn’t be as supportive of me as they would, well, a cis gay man.”

Gavin startled. “Well, I can’t imagine?—”

“Perhaps you can’t, but I can.” She held his gaze. “Because it happens. It happened to me in a previous job, and it’s happened to friends of mine.”

He nodded, because that was fair. Just because he couldn’t picture it happening with the Harriers didn’t mean she didn’t have every reason to be cautious.

“I believe,” Gavin said slowly, “the ownership group is more open-minded than you might think. However, if you would like me to speak to them on your behalf—anonymously of course,” he added, “I’d be happy to. Get out in front of it, so to speak. Which is also what I plan to do about my involvement with Dakota.”

“Truthfully, I’m not sure,” she said. “I’ll have to think about that.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “Just know I’m happy to advocate for you, if you’d like.”

“I appreciate that.”

Gavin leaned forward. “And not because you’re Dakota’s sister. I’d have done the same if you’d come to me six months or a year ago and told me. Because it’s important we hire, recruit, and draft people with DEI in mind.”

Not that he was doing so well on the ice. The team was appallingly white. Still, he’d keep working on it.

Violet’s shoulders softened. “Thank you. I do believe that.”

The conversation soon segued into easier topics and Gavin found himself laughing when Violet began gently teasing her brother about his lack of skating skills. “You’re going to have to learn if you’re dating a former hockey player.”

“Pretty sure it’s too late for me. I didn’t play like you did!” Dakota protested.

“Oh, you were a hockey player?” Gavin asked, leaning forward, intrigued.

She nodded. “Yes. I switched to a co-ed soccer team once I began to explore my identity.”

“Ahh, yeah,” Gavin shot her a rueful smile. It was unfortunate, but not surprising. “I can understand that. Hockey isn’t exactly the most welcoming sport to marginalized communities.”

“I did take up playing hockey again in college though,” she said.

“Thankfully!” Jeff said with a grin. “Because that’s how we met! Do you want to hear the story, Gavin?”

He grinned back. “I’d love to.”

“So,” Jeff said, his eyes lighting up, like this was his favorite story to tell. “I was part of the figure skating club at university and Violet played club hockey. They did some joint events throughout the year and the first one I attended was a skills night. The minute I arrived I spotted this stunning woman.”

Jeff glanced at Violet, his whole face soft, so in love it was palpable from across the room. “I used every opportunity I could to try to impress her. I was attempting to show off my jumping skills when I managed to catch my toe pick and trip. I ended up on the ice at her feet.”

“He likes to say he literally fell head over heels for me.” The look on Violet’s face said she found it cheesy but the warmth and affection in her voice totally belied the teasing.

“She held out a hand to help me up and I was a goner,” Jeff said. “I knew she was the woman I was going to marry.”

“It took me a little longer,” Violet said. “I had to be sure he was—he was the right guy for me.”

Gavin nodded.

“But here we are. More than a decade and two children later …” She leaned over and kissed Jeff’s cheek.

He glowed, pulling her close, murmuring something in her ear that made her laugh.

A small ache of want pulsed through Gavin. That was the kind of relationship he needed. The mutual affection and years of history together. The respect and support and depth of feeling that had been missing with Rory.

Gavin glanced over at Dakota. He’d hardly call their introduction a meet-cute the way Violet and Jeff’s had been, but Gavin was still happy Dakota had been willing to give him a chance.

“What’s that look for?” Dakota murmured a moment later, leaning in.

“Just glad you invited me to spend the holidays with you,” he said quietly, brushing his thumb across Dakota’s cheek. “It’s the first Christmas I’ve looked forward to in a long time.”