Page 13

The morning of the first day of training camp, Jesse woke up in a great mood.

He bounced out of bed, dressed in team gear, and jogged downstairs to find Connor leaning against the counter, staring into space while he sipped his coffee.

“Morning,” Jesse said cheerfully.

Connor blinked slowly. “Uhh, morning.”

“You okay there?” Jesse asked, helping himself to a mug of the freshly brewed java. He added some cream, then nudged Connor out of the way with a bump of his hip so he could grab a spoon.

“Tired.” Connor rubbed a hand over his face. “Maura had nightmares.”

“Oh no.” Jesse frowned. “What are they about?”

“Well, monsters being in her room, mostly. But I think it’s coming from the shit from the divorce.”

“Ahh.” Jesse winced. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, we’re working on it. And it is getting better. The past few nights were fine but she’s heading to Viv’s again today, so …”

“Got it. So neither of you got much sleep last night, huh?”

“No.” Connor rubbed his face again. “I’d hoped having Evie in the same room would help Maura have fewer nightmares. Now I’m worrying that Evie will lose sleep and I don’t know what to do. Last night, Maura and Evie talked for a bit but then Evie fell back and asleep and Maura came into my room and wanted to crawl in with me. Maura kicks in her sleep, so then I didn’t get any rest and …”

“Okay,” Jesse said, both slightly alarmed and a bit amused by Connor’s sudden tirade. “You sit down. I’ll make breakfast.”

Connor glanced at the clock. “The girls will be up in like twenty …”

“Then you have twenty minutes to let your coffee do its job.” Jesse pulled out the stool and patted it. “C’mon.”

Connor shot him an amused smile, but sat, wrapping his hands around the Boston University mug. Jesse had gone for the Harriers one this morning.

“So. I’m thinking a big bowl of oats, some scrambled eggs, toast, turkey sausage, and fruit?” Jesse asked.

“Uhh, sure,” Connor said, half-rising from the stool. “But I can help you cook.”

“Sit!” Jesse pointed.

Connor sat with a huff.

Jesse took a big sip of his coffee, then started pulling out pans. Since he’d arrived a little over a week ago, he’d familiarized himself with the layout of Connor’s kitchen and it came in handy now.

“Nolan’s already gone, right?”

“Yeah,” Connor said. “My dad picked him up ass-early for practice this morning.”

“Nice. What will the girls want to eat?” Jesse asked.

“Uhh, they both like oats and fruit a lot. You can make turkey sausage for them but it’ll be hit or miss if they eat it. Maura hates eggs, but Evie could go either way. No on the toast. They never have it with oats.”

“Done.”

Jesse pulled out food and got to work, aware of Connor’s amused smile as he moved around the kitchen. He poured milk into a saucepan and let it heat while he set out skillets for sausage and eggs and got those warming.

“So, you cook, huh?” Connor asked after a bit.

“Yep. I’m not anywhere near as good as some of the Fisher Cats crew but I can hold my own,” Jesse said, grabbing food from the refrigerator. “Matty Carlson was the brunch king and I am going to miss the fuck out of that.”

“Yeah? Did he do team brunches or something?”

“Yep, and pizza parties. He had a pizza oven in his backyard. Sometimes he invited the whole crew, sometimes a few guys at a time.”

“He’s married now, right?”

“Yeah. His husband Antoni is a teacher and they have four kids.” Jesse poured some rolled oats into the pan of warm milk.

“Right. The kids lost their parents or something, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jesse frowned. “Antoni was their guardian and he and Matty started seeing each other and they wound up getting married and adopting them.”

Which was only about half the story but it wasn’t Jesse’s to tell.

“Nice. Impressive the way Carlson stepped up.”

“He’s a good guy. Total marshmallow.” Jesse turned to face Connor.

Connor pressed his fingertips to his jaw, grumbling, “Not sure if I fuckin believe you.”

Jesse smirked, assuming Matty had gotten in some good hits. “How often have you two tangled?”

“Pretty often,” Connor said with a quiet chuckle. “He’s— shit , Jesse! Your oats!”

“Fuck!” Jesse turned back to face the burner, where the milk and oats were boiling furiously. He yanked the pan off the burner, hot liquid pouring over the top of the gas range and splashing onto his hand.

“Hey, you okay?” Connor was up out of his seat in an instant, settling a hand on Jesse’s lower back. “Are you burned?”

“Nah,” Jesse said, glancing down at his fingers. They were barely pink. “Good reflexes. I dodged the worst of it.”

“Good. It can’t hurt to run them under cool water for a minute or so though. I’ll clean up while you do that.” Connor flicked off the burner, then reached for some paper towel.

“Sorry,” Jesse said, sticking his hand under a stream of cool water. “I was trying to help! Just made a fucking mess instead.”

Which was, honestly, the story of his life.

Connor grinned over his shoulder as he lifted off the burner grates, then mopped at the milky mess on the range top. “It’s okay. I know you’re naturally a chaos demon.”

“I don’t mean to be,” Jesse said with a sigh.

“Hey, I know that too.” Connor was still smiling as he carried the sodden paper towels to the pull-out trash bin. Jesse nudged it open with his toe and Connor dropped the towels inside. “You can’t help yourself.”

Jesse made a face but it was kind of true. He was impulsive and chaotic but he never meant to cause disasters.

“How’s the hand?” Connor touched his back again, fingers dipping underneath Jesse’s tee and skating across his bare skin.

Jesse shivered.

“Good.” He held his hand up. “See?”

“Good. Now, how about I handle the hot things and you deal with the rest?” Connor asked teasingly.

“Probably for the best,” Jesse said, turning off the water. “I forget how fast things heat up with a gas range. I am sorry about the mess though.”

Connor smiled, his fingers still warm on Jesse’s skin when he teased below the waistband of Jesse’s shorts. “I know. But you were trying to do something nice for me and I appreciate the attempt.”

“Hey,” Jesse said softly, turning to face Connor. He was now boxed in against the counter, their chest and hips pressed together, feet tangled. “So, I know we’ll probably be wiped out tonight after camp, but do you want to hook up later?”

“Hell yeah.” Connor’s voice turned husky. “I’d love that. Maybe we can?—”

“Daddy!” The thunder of little feet on the steps made them spring apart.

Connor had a guilty expression on his face as he hastily turned away, grabbing more paper towels. “Hey, Maura-girl,” he said roughly when she joined them in the kitchen. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good. What’s for breakfast?” She walked over and tugged at his sleeve.

“Oh, all kinds of things,” Connor said, smiling down at her. “How about some oatmeal?”

It was all business after that, and Jesse cut up some fruit and whisked eggs for Connor to cook. Evie joined them a few minutes later and it wasn’t long until the food was ready. The four of them sat around the dining table eating and Jesse spent most of the time he wasn’t shoveling food in his face watching Connor and the girls interact.

He was very patient with them and Jesse had a sudden fleeting thought that it was probably just as well Connor was used to the disasters kids caused or he’d never be as calm as he’d been this morning with Jesse.

But then it was time to make sure they were dressed and their bags were ready and Catherine appeared, ready to take Maura to preschool and Evie to first grade. She gave all of them hugs, then said, “Have fun at camp! Hope it goes well!” and she was out the door like a whirlwind.

“Wow,” Jesse said, dropping onto the couch when she was gone. “She’s a helluva woman.”

Connor shot him a dirty look. “Don’t perv on my ma, you creep.”

“I’m not!” Jesse protested. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s hot, but?—”

Connor loomed over him, scowling. “Don’t call my ma hot either!”

“Well, she is!” Jesse protested, laughing. “But I was talking about her efficiency. She’s got this shit down to a science.”

Connor continued to look peeved. “Why do I feel like you’re still being weird?”

Still laughing, Jesse reached out and hooked his finger into the waistband of Connor’s sweats. “I’m not! I swear. You’re the only O’Shea I want to fuck right now.”

“ Right now .”

“Well”—Jesse grinned—“I do like to leave my options open.”

Connor made a huffing noise but he let Jesse tug him forward until he had one hand braced on the back of the couch. “What are you doing?” he asked, though amusement played at the corners of his mouth, nearly hidden by his beard.

“Do we have time for a blowjob?” Jesse licked his lips. “Because I’d love to blow you before we leave.”

Connor cupped his cheek, pressing his thumb against Jesse’s lower lip. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. That’s the idea.” Jesse sucked his thumb in, swirling his tongue around the tip before he released it with a pop.

Sighing, Connor let go, then straightened. “No. We don’t have time. And even if we did, I’m already exhausted. We’ve got testing this morning and I’m already running on fumes. You suck me off and I’ll fall asleep mid-pushup.”

“Damn. Later?”

“Later,” Connor agreed, holding out a hand to pull him up off the couch. “Now, c’mon, Webs. We’ve got camp to get to.”

Jesse was itching to get on the ice, but unfortunately, the first day of training camp was mostly boring stuff.

Physicals and fitness testing came first, both of which Jesse breezed through, then a team meeting. He followed the guys into the room and took a seat next to Tanner, nodding at Gavin who stood at the front of the room.

“How’d it go earlier for you?” Jesse asked Tanner, knocking their knees together.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Connor’s glare when he took a seat on the other side of the room. Dude needed to chill. Jesse had agreed that he wasn’t going to fuck anyone else. That didn’t mean he was never going to touch another human being, for fuck’s sake.

“Fuckin’ nailed it, man.” Tanner’s eyes sparkled.

“I knew you would.” Jesse pounded fists with him. “After camp is over, let’s go out a grab a beer to celebrate. Uhh, not today though. I have plans.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Awesome. I’m in.” Tanner leaned in closer. “How’s O’Shea been?”

Jesse hid a smirk when he thought about the sex agreement they’d made. “Oh, you know, bit of a hard-ass but we’re making it work.”

“Welcome, gentlemen,” someone called out and Jesse glanced up to see Hoyt Kent standing at the front of the room. “If you don’t know who I am and why we’re here, I’m going to assume you’re in the wrong place. This is Chem. 101.”

Everyone in the room gave the head coach a polite laugh.

Hoyt grinned. “Kidding, guys. We’re here for training camp and we all know it. I’m not gonna lie, we have a challenge ahead of us this season. Our roster is depleted right now, but that’s good news for some of you. It means you’ll have the opportunity to prove yourself. Prove to me that you deserve to be here and I’ll reward you with a spot.”

Jesse wasn’t in a prove-it position the way Tanner was. He wasn’t battling it out with other netminders for the slot of starting goaltender. The organization had made it clear that was what they were expecting him to be. But he still wanted to be his best. He still wanted to prove that he deserved the spot.

Hoyt Kent was stocky, in his mid-sixties, with graying dark hair and a beard gone nearly white. Whenever he laughed, his eyes creased at the corners and dimples appeared on his cheeks. He looked relaxed and at ease now in khakis and a black team polo with the Harrier hawk logo in red, orange, and yellow but Jesse could easily imagine him barking orders from the bench and commanding respect from the guys.

Jesse only half-listened while Hoyt introduced the staff. He’d already met most of them, except the associate coach, Aksel Rasmussen.

Rasmussen was a former player from Norway, one of those “holy shit, that guy’s in the Hall of Fame” types. He looked unassuming now in his slacks and team fleece, but Jesse had seen his highlight reels and wondered how any goalie had ever stopped him.

If Jesse remembered right, Rasmussen’s son was a player for New York and looking to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Danny Foley was introduced next. He was the team’s goalie coach and the guy Jesse would be working with closely all season. Foley was balding, so he’d shaved his head and the overhead lights gleamed off it. The dude had great energy and Jesse was itching to get to work more with him.

Hoyt introduced the training staff and other relevant people, then finished with, “our new yoga and Pilates instructor, Dakota Crane, will be joining us tomorrow.”

Hoyt went on to talk about what would happen over the next few days and Jesse kinda let that wash over him too. Connor would definitely go over it again anyway and training camps were more or less all the same.

They’d be divided into groups and spend the next three days practicing and scrimmaging, showing off their skills and allowing the coaches to see who the skaters had chemistry with.

There were five goalies, including Jesse, and he was looking forward to getting to know the other four better. One guy was a restricted free agent, while the remaining three had NHL contracts. Depending on how it all shook out, one of those guys would end up as Jesse’s backup, while the others would go down to the team’s AHL affiliate in Concord.

The meeting ended shortly after that though and Jesse stood, Tanner falling into step beside him as they left the room.

“Hey, so I wonder if the new yoga and Pilates instructor will be hot,” Tanner said under his breath. “Dakota Crane sounds hot but I have no idea what she looks like.”

Jesse laughed. “I guess we’ll see.”

There was lunch available for them after the meeting, and Connor tried not to glare as he watched Jesse and Tanner sit together, heads bent together while they talked.

Connor was being stupid, he knew that, but something about their interactions got under his skin for some reason.

“So, what do you think?” Graham Pennington asked.

Connor looked over at his center. “About what?”

“About the prospects.”

“Cautiously optimistic?” he said with a shrug. “We won’t know much until we see guys on the ice though.”

“Yeah, I know. Seems like everyone was in shape and ready to go for the season. Although I noticed that you were looking gassed by the end of testing there. You getting too old for this shit?”

“Ahh, shut up,” Connor said. “Just tired. One of my girls had a rough night last night.”

Graham’s expression softened. “Sorry to hear that. For both of you.”

“She was okay this morning,” Connor assured him. “And I’ll take a nap when I get home.”

Well, after he and Jesse hooked up.

Connor willed himself to not glance over at Jesse. Fuck . He normally loved hanging out with the team, but right now, all he wanted to do was get home and get naked with Jesse.