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“Yeah, ask them. We’ll see what they say.” He slapped my ass. “I promise I won’t be mad. You guys have fun out there.” He strode away to Casey, who was still working on squats .

“Fuck.” I planted my hands on my hips, my gaze darting across the floor. I wasn’t sure I could believe JJ wouldn’t be mad. And I didn’t want to cause a rift on the team.

A big, warm hand landed on my arm. “You okay? What happened?” Eli asked in a soft voice.

I faced him. “I think you’re right. JJ is pissed that I’m dating Myles. He doesn’t want to admit it outright, though.”

“He’ll get over it. JJ can be…well, JJ.” Eli gave me a warm grin. “I know in his heart he wants what’s best for you.”

I scoffed an exhale. “Yeah, it’ll take time.” It had only been what, a week since our talk? “Hey, do you want to hit the gay bar on Mill Avenue with some of the hockey players on Saturday after our win?”

“Hockey players?” Eli hooked a brow. “They’re a little odd, aren’t they?” He snickered. “I don’t think I want to go to a gay bar with a bunch of toothless guys.”

“Oh, stop it. They have teeth. At least the guys we’d be there with will have a full set.” I chuckled. Shit, would Myles lose his teeth and not get them replaced? He was a forward after all. “A few NHL players might go too.” That would pique his interest.

“Yeah? Okay, then I’ll go.” He smirked at me. “What if we lose?”

With a shrug, I said, “I don’t know, then I guess we go home and cry in our beer.” I nudged his shoulder. “We won’t lose this weekend. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know.” With a soft snort, he nodded.

“Great, I’ll ask Casey later.” I scanned the weight room again. Casey was still working out with JJ. I’d catch him in the locker room, maybe.

Later that day, I was in between classes and strolled across a walkway between the manicured lawn in front of Old Main.

The building looked like something you’d see back east, with its reddish brick, high dormers and arched windows.

It was still pretty hot during the day and sweat beaded on my brow.

I expected it to be hot before I came down here, but not this fucking hot.

As I swiped sweat from my face, my phone buzzed in the pocket of my athletic shorts. I stopped to fish it out.

A guy on a scooter whirred by me, the wind blowing my hair. “Sorry, man.” He waved at me.

“Yeah.” Where the hell were the campus police? This path was for walking only. The dude had been pretty bold. I looked at my phone. “Shit.” It was my father. I answered the call. “Hey, Dad.” I ambled to the stairs of the building and sat on the relatively cool cement.

“Hi, Cooper. You’re not in class, are you?” He chuckled.

“Nope.” I peeked at the blazing sun. Not a cloud in the sky. It had been like this for days.

“Good. I have some news. I thought it was time for you to get an agent.” He breathed into the phone.

“What? I thought you didn’t think it was a good idea until the spring?” I lifted my brows. He didn’t like the idea of some agent talking me into endorsements while I was in college. He wanted me focused on my game and not on building a social media following.

“I didn’t, but an old friend from my time with The Bears mentioned things were changing. You should probably have someone you’re comfortable with well before the spring Combine.”

“Yeah?” Shit, wasn’t Myles talking to an agent already? But hockey was different. It was…weird.

“Yes, and I’ve got someone in mind,” he said. “I’ve already spoken to him, and he’s interested in you.”

“Dad…” He always did things like this. It was time he realized I wasn’t a kid who needed handholding.

“I know, but I have connections.” His smile carried through the phone .

“So do I.” I scoffed. Like none of my teammates had agents already.

“Anyway, his name is Mel Dirkson. You’ll talk to him, right?”

“Of course I’ll talk to him.” And first I’d ask around about the guy. I’d never heard of him, but that meant nothing. I scratched my brow. “What if I don’t like him?”

“Then I’ll look for someone else. But I think you’re going to like him. He played tight end in college too.” Dad chuckled and then sucked in a breath. “Hey, any thoughts on where you want to end up?”

The Bears? Because why not play for the same organization as Dad? But what about Myles? It would be great if we were close to each other. If we lasted that long. But why wouldn’t we? “I don’t know yet.” I pursed my lips. Knowing Dad, if I gave him a team name, he’d be putting out feelers there too.

“Okay. Well, we don’t even know what draft position you’ll have or what teams will have first pick. We’ll keep an eye out,” he said. “Hey, how’s the roommate? Did you two ever work things out?”

Shit, I hadn’t talked to my family since I’d moved. “Uh, no, we didn’t. I actually moved out.” I freed a long sigh. “His friend offered to assume my lease and there was an open room with…” Did he remember Myles? “Do you remember the hockey playing friend I had in high school?”

“Sure, Myles Cummings. His dad works for the NHL, right? Lawyer or something?”

“Yep. Well, he’s down here and he had an opening in his house.

He’s living with the new Coyotes goalie, Ace McAdams.” I wouldn’t mention the boyfriend.

Myles wasn’t out back home. If Dad knew me and Myles were living with a gay couple, it might look odd.

But shit, me and Myles were now a gay couple.

I popped my eyes open. I’d have to tell my family at some point. What would they say?

“Wow, living with other athletes is good. It would probably be better if you’d found a spot with your own teammates, but I’ll take it. This means you’re focused on football this year.”

“Yes, Dad, I’m focused on football. We all go to bed early, get up early and eat healthy.” I toyed with the hem of my shorts. Okay, mostly. There were the pizza parties and occasional burgers at Five Guys. “Hey, how’s Mom?” The woman worked some long hours.

“She’s great. She has some days off right now, so she’s enjoying the last of the warm weather.” He chuckled. “We were thinking of taking a trip down there, maybe for Thanksgiving? We could come to one of your games.”

Right now, it felt like a long way off. “Sure. I think that would be fun. Maybe—” My breath caught. If I invited them over for Thanksgiving, I’d have to come out to them by then. I set my jaw. I’d do it. Myles was worth it.

“Maybe what, son?” Dad asked.

“I thought it would be fun to have you and Mom to the house. We have a decent kitchen.” Too late to take it back now. I’d have to talk to the guys about this, and especially Myles. My pulse quickened. God, I hoped Myles would be okay with this. But why wouldn’t he?

“Sure, you talk to your roommates and see what they’ve got going on. If it’s a problem, your mother and I were looking to rent a VRBO, anyway.” He snickered. “They have kitchens too.”

“Yeah, I know.” If it was a problem, I might be off the hook. I glanced at the corner of my phone, reading the time. “Hey, I have a class.” And then practice after that. These were long ass days.

“Sure. We’ll keep in touch,” he said. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Dad. Bye.” I ended the call and stood. I needed to talk to Myles about this. He wasn’t out to his family either. Could we come out to both of our families together?

Friday night, we decided to lie low and go to bed early since I had a game tomorrow and Ace was taking Zoma out for dinner.

We’d hardly seen each other with our schedules, except to cuddle on the couch at the end of our days.

Tonight, I was treating Myles to a classic steak and baked potato dinner.

I seasoned the steaks on a broiler pan next to the oven in the kitchen.

It was too hot outside to grill, so broiling was the best option.

Myles cut vegetables for a salad on the kitchen island. “So, how was your day?” He snickered.

“It was great, honey.” I chortled. We’d started doing this, pretending we were an old married couple. “And how was your day?”

“Fine. I aced the paper I did on microcontroller usage for anesthesia, eh.” He moved some cut lettuce to small plates.

I blinked a few times. “You what?” I turned around. He was studying engineering—I knew that—but seriously? He was always smarter than he looked.

“I had a paper. It doesn’t matter. I aced it.” He arranged mushroom and carrot slices over the lettuce.

“Well, I uh, I talked to my dad today.” I set the steaks in the broiler and wrapped wet paper towels around our potatoes. I refused to wait an hour for the things to cook in the oven. Microwaved potatoes were just as yummy.

“And what did your dad say?” He brought the plates to the table and set them down, one at the head and one at the place setting next to it.

“We talked about agents.” I set the potatoes in the microwave and turned it on. Should I bring up Thanksgiving now or after dinner?

“You don’t have one yet?” Furrowing his brows, he strode to me.

“No, Dad didn’t think it was necessary until later in the season.

” I switched on the light for the oven and bent over, peering into it.

I didn’t want to overcook the steaks. As I came up, Myles stood right next to me.

My breath caught. He was looking so good tonight.

And we had the whole place to ourselves.

“Do you think you’ll get signed right away?” He wrinkled his brows.

Shit, this might be hard for him to hear. “Uh, I think so.” The microwave dinged.

Myles winced and then forced a grin. “Of course, he’ll want to sign you right away. You’ll get a good draft spot.” He turned.

I grabbed his arm, spun him around and threw my arms around his neck, my heart hurting for him. Against his ear, I said, “You’ll get an agent, and you’ll get signed. I’m sure of it.” I hugged him tightly to my chest. Seeing him unhappy was the worst.

“Thanks.” Wrapping his arms around my waist, he kissed my cheek and pushed away. “I’ll be fine though, even if…”

“Myles.” As he left me, I snagged his wrist and stopped him. “We have a plan, remember?” If a superstition helped him, then I’d be sure to remind him of it. As his gaze wound to mine, I wagged my brows at him.

With a smirk, he pressed a soft kiss on my mouth. “Can’t wait to see how this works.”

I freed him. “Me neither. Friday and Saturday evenings will be fun.” I plated the potatoes and turned the steaks on the broiling pan. “Just a little more time and dinner will be ready.”