Page 50 of Breaking the Ice

It had been. The way Mal had tipped him the puck, barely even glancing in Elliott’s direction before it had connected to his tape, Elliott sniping it right into the upper right of the net.

That was going to end up on some highlight reels, for sure.

The horn sounded, the game ending officially.

Elliott gave him one more delighted look, before shooting off the bench with the rest of the team for the handshake line.

“Well, that was delightful,” Gavin said as Zach followed him down the tunnel towards the locker room.

“I’m trying to think of how it could’ve gone better,” Zach agreed.

“Ivan could be snappier on his faceoffs,” Gavin said, scratching his chin. “Work with him on those this week?”

“Yeah, we’ll do that.”

“And the penalty kill—”

“Yeah.” They could tighten that up a bit. The Cougars hadn’t scored, but there had been a handful of dicey moments. IfRamsey hadn’t deflected a shot off his skate at the last moment, they definitely would’ve gotten that one in.

“But Finn was solid. He recovered from that and got the shutout,” Gavin said under his breath as they walked into the locker room.

Zach nodded. “Hey . . .” He shouldn’t even suggest it. But how many breakfasts and lunches had they shared over the last six weeks? So many. Zach was learning patience, in a way he’d never have imagined he might when Gavin had first come to Portland. The late night phone calls were now a staple—but they almost never did it in person. Occasionally, there were later nights at the office, but that was the office.

Zach told himself he was being smart. Giving Gavin the time he needed to adjust to the idea of Zach being more than just his assistant coach.

But in the last week or so, he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t frustrated at how slow it felt. How little progress it felt like they’d made.

Maybe Gavin would be perfectly happy to keep things exactly as they were, but Zach knewhewouldn’t be.

He wanted more. And Zach believed that if he could shift them out of this rut even a little, Gavin would want more, too.

“Yeah?” Gavin was distracted and didn’t look at him, bumping fists as the guys trailed into the locker room.

“We should grab a drink after this. To celebrate.” Zach couldn’t quite form the words to add,at my place, where we’d be all alone.

But he was thinking it.

He waswantingit.

Gavin actually looked disappointed. “Ugh, Sidney cornered me this afternoon and said there’s some booster get-together tonight, after the game. At Sullivan’s?” He named one of the upper end restaurants right on the edge of campus. “You should come with me.”

Zach didn’t want to spend his evening glad-handing with boosters and watching as Sidney dragged Gavin around, showing him off to every single person who’d ever given money to the university. But it was also better than sitting in his empty apartment, waiting for Gavin to call him so he could lie in bed, make meaningless small talk and wish that they were there together.

That he could roll over and Gavin would be right there, easy to touch. Easy to kiss.

“Sure,” Zach said.

“I’m sure it’ll be—good job, Finn,” Gavin said, abruptly interrupting himself to greet their goalie. Finn’s helmet was pushed back, his hair sweaty and looping in dark curls over his ears and forehead, but he was smiling.

“Thanks, Coach,” Finn said.

He looked just about as light as Zach could remember seeing him, and he thought,maybe this’ll all be okay.

It was too early to know that for sure, of course, but it was a nice thought.

Nicer than spending his evening with Sidney Swift anyway.

Music started playing, guys shedding pads and equipment and heading towards the showers.