Page 90 of Breaking the Ice

“You too.” Jacob gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“Where’s Finn?”

“Dominating Ivan and a bunch of the rookies at foosball,” Jacob said, sounding proud as hell.

“We were reminiscing,” Gavin said.

“I didn’t realize you two knew each other before,” Zach said, glancing between Gavin and Jacob.

“I coached him once. The Four Nations tournament.”

It took Zach a moment, and then he realized what tournament Gavin was referring to.Thattournament. The one where Morgan and Hayes had played together, Hayes scoring the winning goal in the championship game. The one that had sent his best friend tumbling down a black hole of misery that he had yet to drag himself out from.

“Didn’t realize you and Reynolds ever played on the same team,” Zach joked.

“Honestly, we avoided each other,” Jacob admitted. “Which was better for everyone.”

Gavin chuckled under his breath, like he agreed.

Zach tipped the rest of his beer down his throat, uncomfortably aware that he was the only one who knew what hadreallybeen going on at that tournament.

“Hey, another round?” Jacob said, gesturing with his bottle.

“Sure,” Zach said, and Gavin shrugged his agreement.

He was gone in a minute, leaving him and Gavin alone. Of course, Elliott and Malcolm were only a dozen feet away, at the pinball machines, but they were so wrapped up in their own world it was like nobody else existed.

Zach slipped closer to Gavin, nudging his shoulder against Gavin’s. “How’re you doing?” he asked in a low voice. Not that anyone was paying attention to them.

A bomb could’ve gone off right now and Elliott and Mal probably wouldn’t have noticed. Elliott was gazing up at Mal, and he was looking down, like Elliott was the best thing in the entire world.

Zach wanted to say he didn’t know what that felt like, but goddamn it, he did.

“Oh, fine,” Gavin said. His eyes cut to where Elliott and Mal were laughing together. “Just keeping an eye on those two.”

“Amazing at the beginning of the season that they didn’t like each other.”

Gavin made a scoffing noise. “I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t had to witness it. You’re later than I expected you to be.”

“Hayes called,” Zach said. “It’s after midnight where he’s at. Boston? Toronto? I can’t remember.”

“I don’t really miss those days,” Gavin said. “A different hotel room every other day.”

“Me either,” Zach agreed.

After Christmas, they’d gone back to their regular routine like nothing had happened. They’d talked last night and thenight before and the night before that. Every night since it had happened.

But Hayes was right that this was different. The first time they were together in the same room, and it wasn’ttechnicallyfor work-related reasons.

Gavin looked hesitant, too, kind of like Zach felt. Like he was trying to figure out if they should talk about it. Or if they should pretend that Gavin waking up in his arms wasn’t a thing they both wanted.

“I . . .” Gavin swore under his breath. “I don’t love the holidays.”

“Really?” Zach teased with faux earnestness. “I had no idea.”

Gavin shot him a glare, and the heat of it crawled under Zach’s collar and slid down his spine.

“I know you can see it, but I want to tell you that this year was . . .better. Better than I expected.”