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“Uh, I didn’t order this,” Dakota said later that evening, frowning at the pale green liquid inside the shot glass the white-haired bartender slid across the scarred wooden surface to him.

“I know. It’s from the gentleman at the end of the bar,” the man said, his Irish accent threading through his words. “A green tea shot.”

Dakota glanced over, half-expecting to see Gavin, but was surprised to see his twin instead. Thad winked, held up his glass, toasting him.

“Thanks,” he mouthed, tilted his head toward Gavin, who was deep in conversation with Connor and Jesse.

Dakota smiled and nodded, tipping back the shot. He didn’t really drink much alcohol, but the Harriers had managed to squeak in an overtime win with a spectacular comeback, and it was New Year’s Eve, so he’d make an exception tonight.

Other than being green in color, nothing about the shot resembled green tea at all. It was fruity and sort of sweet-sour. Not Dakota’s preference, and he had to chase it with a healthy swallow of water, but he appreciated the gesture.

He nodded again to Thad, then turned back to face the crowd.

The pub had been rented out for the night and was packed with hockey players, support staff, and their dates. His sister and brother-in-law were even somewhere in the mix. It was an informal New Year’s Eve celebration, and half of the people there wore party hats, beads, and silly glasses.

Dakota straightened the black and gold hat on his own head and wondered where Gavin had disappeared to. Jesse and Connor were lost in their own little bubble, kissing as they swayed to the music on the jukebox.

A quick glance around showed Gavin now holding court with some of the guys from the team, along with Finn. Everyone was laughing and Gavin appeared in his element, talking animatedly about something—no doubt hockey related because these guys never seemed to turn that off.

A moment later, Gavin caught his eye and grinned, motioning for him to come over. “Hey, Dakota! Come here for a sec!”

So Dakota went. He stepped close to Gavin, assuming he was about to announce their relationship, but unsure of exactly how he planned to proceed.

Gavin immediately wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him and laying a smacking kiss on his lips. Dakota laughed against his mouth as a huge whoop went up from the crowd along with Kady’s shout of “Surprise!”

Everyone burst into laughter and when Dakota turned to look at him, the Belarusian netminder was grinning, visibly delighted with himself.

“Good surprise!” he said, patting Dakota’s shoulder and nearly knocking him down with the force of his excitement. “Happy surprise.”

“For me too,” Dakota said, though that made a little frown appear on Kady’s forehead like he didn’t quite know what he meant. “I didn’t like Gavin much when we first met,” he explained.

The kid was picking up English quickly, but it could still be a challenge for him sometimes.

“Ahh,” Kady said. “I like Mandy from first moment we meet.” He hugged his girlfriend to his side, and she beamed.

“And this guy is so sweet,” she gushed, pressing her lips to his cheek. “I was starting to think everyone on the apps was a jerk until I met him.”

“Congratulations,” Dakota said.

“You too!” Kady’s smile was so bright and happy. Infectious. “Life is so good. I buy drinks for everyone!”

The crowd really cheered at that, and it took a few moments for Dakota to even get a word in edgewise with Gavin.

“So that’s how we’re announcing it, huh?” Dakota teased, smiling up at him.

Gavin shrugged, shooting him another lopsided grin as he squeezed Dakota’s waist. “Yep. Pretty easy, huh?”

“Thanks to you,” Dakota pointed out. He knew exactly how much behind the scenes maneuvering Gavin had done to get them to this point.

“You’re worth the effort,” Gavin said simply.

And despite the festive atmosphere and happy mood around them, tears pricked Dakota’s eyes. Because he’d done so damn much for Bryce and gotten very little in return. What he had gotten seemed almost grudging, like Bryce was keeping score and wanted Dakota to know exactly how much effort he’d put in.

Yet here Gavin was, with a much more demanding job, acting like the effort he’d made was no big deal.

The phrase ‘if he wanted to, he would’ popped into Dakota’s head as he leaned against Gavin’s shoulder and felt the brief brush of lips again his hair.

Yeah, that much was obvious. Gavin wanted to. And he was already doing it.

“Sooo,” Violet said as she approached a short while later, her eyes sparkling. “You two are official now, huh?”

“We are,” Dakota said, glancing over at Gavin who had been pulled into another conversation.

“Ownership knows?”

Dakota looked back at his sister. “Yes. They’re on board.”

“Glad to hear it. Gavin said they promised to support me as well. Not that they know who I am, but …”

“Oh good.” Dakota reached out and squeezed his sister’s hand. “I’m glad.”

She bit her lip. “I’m thinking about taking part in the Pride messaging at the upcoming game.”

“Yeah?” Dakota asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I think it’s time.” She squared her shoulders. “I’ve spent many years feeling grateful I’ve been able to carve out this life for myself. The job I love, the husband, the kids … not everyone like me who wants that life gets to have it, you know?”

Dakota grimaced. “Unfortunately, no.”

“But maybe it’s time I speak up more.”

“You shouldn’t have to?—”

“Maybe not,” she agreed with a sigh, toying with the stem of her wineglass. “But I think I need to do it anyway. I just have to figure out who in the organization to talk to about it, you know? I don’t want to make it a huge deal or anything, just let the right people know I’m interested in taking part.”

“I thought you knew everyone in the organization,” Dakota teased.

“Not everyone ,” she said with a laugh.

Dakota frowned thoughtfully, trying to decide who would be able to help before the obvious solution smacked him in the face. “Actually, I know the perfect guy,” he said. “C’mon. I’ll introduce you.”

Thad looked surprised when they appeared in front of him, though his smile was polite. “Hey, Dakota.”

“Hey,” he said. “I don’t think you’ve met my sister, Violet, yet. She works in the accounting department. Violet, this is Gavin’s brother, Thad. He’s in the PR department.”

“Charmed.” Thad held out a hand, shooting Violet a flirtatious smile.

“My sister would like to talk to you about the Pride event coming up. Staff members usually record little video messages about why Pride is important to them, right?”

“Yes,” Thad said, sitting up straight like he was switching to work mode. “And you want to do that in support of your brother?”

“Ahh, not quite,” Violet said. She laughed softly, pushing her hair behind her ear. “It’s a little more personal actually.”

“Got it,” Thad said, glancing between them. He shook his head. “ Damn , has anyone ever told you two that you look alike?”

Violet shot an amused glance at Dakota. “Yeah, we’ve heard that once or twice.”

“You’re not twins like me and Gav though, right?”

“Nope, two years apart,” Violet said, eyeing the bar stool next to Thad. “But funny you should say that. That’s actually what I want to talk to you about. We used to look more alike than we do now.”

Thad looked puzzled but he nodded and pulled out the stool, gesturing for her to have a seat. “Go on.”

“Well …” Violet said, sliding in next to him at the bar.

Smiling, Dakota faded into the crowd, confident Violet could handle it from here.

Jesse fluidly swung himself up onto a table and popped to his feet, letting out a piercing whistle to get the crowd’s attention.

Gavin glanced up at him, wondering what was about to come out of his mouth. With Jesse, one never really knew.

“Alright, people,” the goaltender shouted. “It’s New Year’s Eve, we’ve got ten minutes to go until midnight, and I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about all the new changes happening around here! I think we need to do some shots to celebrate!”

Connor, who had a slightly pained look on his face as he stared up at his boyfriend, held up a hand. “Liam and his crew were nice enough to arrange a variety of them on the bar there. Some have alcohol, some don’t, so grab whichever you’d like. And remember, if you need a ride home tonight, talk to Liam. He’ll get you taken care of.”

The white-haired man behind the bar held up a hand and called out, “That would be me. There will be no drink driving tonight on my watch.”

“ Drink driving?” Gavin said, frowning as servers began to weave through the crowd with trays of shot glasses. “Isn’t it drunk driving?”

Pat shrugged. “Not if you’re Irish.”

“Huh. Well, I’m pleased to see the team takes it seriously, whatever they call it.” Gavin picked up one of the non-alcoholic shots.

“Yeah, much as I hate to admit it, Con does a good job watching over this crew,” Pat said with a sigh, like it physically pained him to give his brother a compliment.

Once everyone had their shots in hand, Jesse cleared his throat. “So, first of all, I’d like to say welcome to our newest Harrier. Glad to have you here, Rafe!”

Their new defenseman grinned, lifting his glass in the air in acknowledgment. “Glad to be here!”

He was handsome, in a rugged sort of way with a strong jaw, dark wavy hair, and sad eyes. The smile transformed those eyes though and Gavin was hopeful he meant what he’d said. It was never easy recovering from a broken heart, but this was a good team.

A good place for a fresh start.

He thought of Jesse with his tarnished reputation and how brightly he shone now. He thought of his brother, who had settled into his role with the team and the reunion they’d had.

He thought of himself and of Dakota and their own journeys to get here and smiled. Yeah, this was definitely the right place for wiping the slate clean and getting a second chance.

Jesse deftly plucked a second shot off the tray of a passing server and lifted it high. “I’d also like to say congratulations to our brand-new president of hockey operations, Finnegan O’Shea!”

“Glad to be back with the team!” Finn gave a brief wave, then threw back his shot to the sound of raucous cheers.

“And it turns out we have one more thing to celebrate!” Jesse called out, reaching for his third shot. “Congrats to Gavin and Dakota for their relationship!”

Gavin wrapped an arm around Dakota, throwing him off balance enough to dip him and press a kiss to his lips.

Dakota clutched at his shoulders, then pulled away laughing, lips still slick from Gavin’s mouth. “Don’t they say whatever you’re doing on New Year’s Eve, you’ll do for the rest of the year? We’re off to a great start, huh?”

He was glowing, looking so light and happy Gavin could hardly contain himself.

“I think it’s actually New Year’s Day ,” Gavin said with a smile. “But, oh well, I guess I’ll have to kiss you tonight”—he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Dakota’s lips again. “And tomorrow”—another kiss—“and the day after that. And the day after that …”

Dimly, in the background, he heard the group begin counting down to the New Year.

“Ten … nine … eight … seven … six …”

Gavin slid a hand into Dakota’s hair and deepened the kiss.

“Happy New Year!” erupted around them but Gavin was lost in his own little world. For tonight, he wasn’t going to worry about the team.

Spending time with Dakota was all that mattered.

Half an hour later, Dakota sidled up to a flushed-looking Leah. “You might want to, uh, do something about your hair,” he muttered.

“Shit.” She smoothed it down. “Is that better?”

“Better,” he said, although it was still a little wild. “So, you and Danny rang in the new year together, huh?”

She bit her lip. “I mean, we figured Jesse and Connor are together and you and Gavin are together … maybe we could get away with a little bit of something tonight.”

Dakota arched an eyebrow. “Just tonight?”

She shrugged. “For now.”

“Well, good luck.”

“Thanks.” She scowled at him, crossing her arms. “So, how long has this been going on with you and Gavin?”

“Since Thanksgiving,” he admitted.

“Since—” she lowered her voice. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I …” He sighed. “I was trying to be careful. I mean, up until a few days ago, Gavin was my boss. We could have gotten into deep shit if anyone found out.”

“But they didn’t.”

“Just Gavin’s brother, but he … he had our backs,” Dakota said, belatedly realizing he’d actually had two enormous things he could have held over their heads but and chosen to keep silent about. Huh, maybe Dakota owed him more than he realized.

“Well, I suppose you can be forgiven,” Leah said. “If you promise to dance with me.”

“Happy to,” Dakota said, setting his glass of water down. “Lead the way.”

An hour later, the party was still going strong. Non-alcoholic or not, the shots had hit Gavin hard—at least where his bladder was concerned—and he wove through the crowd toward the bathrooms at the back of the pub.

He reached the door to the men’s room as Connor and Jesse were coming out. They looked … a little disheveled. Jesse’s hair fell in a messy tumble over his forehead, his zipper was undone, and Connor’s lips were unusually pink and swollen.

For a moment, they all stared at each other in silence. Connor made a strangled noise and flushed under his auburn beard, but he didn’t let go of Jesse’s hand.

“Umm,” Jesse said.

Gavin held up his hands, palms toward them. “I don’t wanna know. Just do up your fly before you go back out there, Webby.”

“Right.” Jesse had the grace to look mildly embarrassed as he fumbled to do it up. “Sorry. We?—”

“Not your GM tonight,” Gavin said, pushing past them. “Enjoy your evening. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, boys.”

“Why do I feel like that still leaves us with plenty of options?” Jesse called after him as he stepped into the bathroom.

Gavin shot him a grin and a wink over his shoulder, but didn’t reply verbally, letting the door swing closed behind him.

After he’d done his business and washed his hands, he returned to the party. If anything, it had only increased in volume and intensity. Dakota was talking to his brother-in-law, Jeff, so Gavin headed for the bar to grab glasses of water for them both.

There was a small line, so while he waited, he glanced around the space and spotted his brother, deep in conversation with Graham Pennington.

Their heads were bent together and for once, there wasn’t a trace of Thad’s typical charming, slightly smug smile on his face. He seemed unusually serious, nodding as he listened to something Graham had to say.

It was nice to see Thad making friends with people on the team.

A few moments later, Graham and Thad got their drinks. When they turned to face Gavin, Thad looked surprised.

“Hey,” Gavin said. “Can I talk to you for a sec, Thad?”

Thad held up his free hand. “We were just talking, I swear.”

Gavin glanced between Thad and Graham with a raised eyebrow. “Uhh, I didn’t think otherwise. That wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Graham shot Thad a tight smile. “Uh, thanks for the drink, man. I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, later,” Thad said, still staring at Gavin. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Gavin stepped out of line, motioning for Rafe to go ahead. Thad followed suit.

“Do you want to skate with me tomorrow?” Gavin asked when they were no longer in the way.

“Skate with you?” Thad looked startled.

“Yeah,” Gavin said, swallowing past a lump in his throat. “I’ve missed it.”

Thad’s expression softened. “I have too. I’m pretty rusty now, but, uh, yeah, I’d love to skate. Not too early though, okay?” He held up his drink.

“Not too early,” Gavin promised with a soft laugh. “I’ll text you on my way over. We should be able to get some ice time at HCI no problem though. I know a guy.”

He winked and Thad shot him a grin.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“To a better year than the ones we’ve had before,” Gavin said softly, lifting his glass.

Thad clinked his glass against Gavin’s. “To a better year.”