Page 23 of Slew Foot (Scoring Chances #3)

He’d tried to get to know Ben Estrada and the other call-ups in the locker room or when they were at practice or working out, but lately Mickey’s focus had mostly been on Rafe— “Hey,” he said, leaning forward as a thought occurred to him.

“You and Ben came to the team at the same time, right? I mean, he got called up from our AHL affiliate in Concord to fill in for losing Bobby Tucker when you came in the trade, yeah? I’m surprised the two of you aren’t closer friends. ”

Not that he wanted to pawn Rafe off on someone else, but it was surprising.

Rafe shrugged. “He’s a forward and …”

Mickey nodded. It was true, the forwards often hung out together and the D-corps tended to be pretty tight, while the goalies were off doing their weird little goalie things together.

Not clique-y, exactly. Though it could be on some teams. And maybe it had been like that in Minnesota.

“Makes sense,” Mickey agreed.

“Do you think I should try to hang out with him more? What if he’s lonely?” Rafe looked worried now.

“I mean, it couldn’t hurt,” Mickey said with a shrug. “But he seems like he’s getting along pretty well with Anker and stuff.”

“True.”

“Hey, what do you know about the new guy? Tom Bass?” Mickey asked. Gavin had made a big, splashy trade over bye week and they were all excited to see what came of it.

“Oh!” Smiling, Rafe stirred his drink with a straw, making the ice clink. “He’s a good guy. We played together in Carolina for a hot minute.”

“I wondered,” Mickey said. “When I saw he’d played there around the same time you did.”

“Yeah, I was psyched when I saw the news about him coming here. He’s an all-around good dude.

His wife is great too. They weren’t married when we played together but she was the bomb.

Really fun and friendly. Oh! And she’s bi so they’ll be cool with the …

” He waved vaguely and Mickey took that to mean the number of non-straight guys on the team.

Mickey sat back, relaxing against the booth cushion. “He’s good too.”

“I know, right?” Rafe brightened. He did that a lot, his whole face lighting up with a giant smile that made Mickey want to melt.

Which was the scary part about this. Mickey wasn’t only attracted to Rafe. His sexual appeal was undeniable, but it was the soft feelings which worried Mickey the most.

“It’ll be a good addition to our offense,” Mickey said.

“Yeah, now that we’ve got the defense covered.” Under the table, Rafe nudged him with his foot and grinned again.

Surprised, Mickey grinned back. Unlike Tanner and Jesse, Rafe wasn’t particularly egotistical. He was more of a humble guy who put the team first and always credited his teammates.

But confidence was a good look on him too.

The waitress arrived a short while later and they turned down dessert although Mickey could tell Rafe was tempted by the salted caramel apple crisp. Mickey paid for dinner, then tried not to stare at Rafe’s ass in his tailored trousers and sleek leather jacket as they left the restaurant.

Rafe was surprisingly stylish.

Mickey didn’t know why he assumed Rafe wouldn’t be—only maybe Ontario and Minnesota weren’t exactly known for being the heights of fashion. But Rafe consistently wore nicely tailored suits and well-cut clothing that looked incredible on him.

Sure, to and from the rink for practices, he was as fond of sweats as the next guy. But any time he went out to do anything else, he made an effort.

It was, to be frank, devastating.

Out on the street, Mickey tugged a hat and gloves on. It was snowing a little, soft, fluffy flakes that drifted down and landed on Rafe’s dark hair, bright for a few moments until they began to soften and melt.

“Do you want to take a walk?” Mickey blurted out.

Rafe looked surprised but nodded. “Sure.”

Growing up, Mickey had found nights like this magical and even now, a quiet, snowy city street would never get old.

They had only gone a few steps before Mickey realized what a terrible mistake he’d made. An evening stroll in softly falling snow after a nice dinner together …

Fucking brilliant, Krause, he told himself.

Someone should examine his head. Perhaps they’d find nothing at all where his brain was supposed to be, except for a mess of hockey plays and horny thoughts about Rafe.

“This is nice,” Rafe said a few moments later. “I love the snow.”

“Yeah?” Mickey asked.

“Yeah. It always feels magical. I remember playing shinny with other kids in the neighborhood and playing in the snow was the best.”

“Shinny?” Mickey asked because asking about words he didn’t recognize was easier than thinking about Rafe calling snow magical too. Otherwise, he’d start thinking about idiotic things like he and Rafe being made for each other.

Which was nonsense of course. Even if it felt like it sometimes.

“Uhh … shinny is a pickup outdoor hockey game,” Rafe said. “One of the neighbors had a homemade rink in the backyard and a bunch of us would show up there after school. It wasn’t organized or anything. Just fun.”

“I understand now,” Mickey said. “That does sound fun.”

“And sometimes we’d come out again after dinner and play for a bit. It was the best when it was dark and snowing …” Rafe slowed to a stop and tilted his head back, staring up at the sky, an expression of pure happiness on his face.

“That sounds wonderful.” Mickey suddenly ached to know what a younger Rafe had looked like. Had he been big for his age even then? Or had he had a sudden growth spurt later?

Rafe dropped his chin, turning a devastating smile on him. “It was. I never wanted to go inside. My dad used to have to come drag me home so I could warm up with some hot cocoa and get to bed.”

“You haven’t mentioned your family a whole lot,” Mickey said carefully, because he wasn’t sure if it was a tricky subject or not. He had gone home for bye week to see them and talked about knitting his new nephew a hat so presumably they got along well but …

“Oh!” If possible, Rafe’s smile brightened even more. “They’re great. My parents and sisters are all in the Windsor area so I got to see everyone on the break.”

“Are they older or younger?” Mickey asked, starting to walk again.

“Younger than me.” Rafe fell into step beside him.

“Mine too. Clara is fifteen and Lena is thirteen.”

“Oh. Mine aren’t that much younger,” Rafe said. “Brianna is twenty-seven, Lauren is twenty-six, and Sophia is twenty-three.”

“So my age,” Mickey said drily.

Rafe looked surprised. “Oh yeah. I always forget you’re actually younger than Tanner and me. You never seem like it.”

“My parents divorced when I was a kid,” Mickey said slowly. “And I was an only child until then. I had to—I had to grow up a little fast then. And then my dad re-married and had the girls.”

“Did you not see him anymore?” Rafe asked, glancing over, a little frown creasing his forehead.

“Oh, no, I definitely did,” Mickey said with a smile.

“It wasn’t like he forgot about me or anything.

We spent plenty of time together and he was there whenever I needed him.

He still is. But he was busy with his new family a lot and I was getting more serious about hockey then.

And then I moved to Munich to play when I was fifteen and so I was away from my mom then too and … ”

“You had to take care of yourself,” Rafe said.

“Exactly.” Mickey was glad Rafe understood. “I had a host family I stayed with and they were very good to me, but it was my job to be sure I was up and ready for practice and getting the nutrition I needed and doing my own laundry and keeping my room clean and all of that adult stuff.”

“Ahh.” Rafe scratched the back of his neck before he stuffed his hands in his pockets again. “See, my mom did all that for me until I left home.”

“I suspect Tanner’s did too,” Mickey said drily.

They made a slow circuit of the block as they talked about their families and early playing careers. When they were back in front of the restaurant, Mickey turned and headed for where he’d parked the car.

It took a little while for the car to heat, but as they headed back to the apartment, Mickey cranked up the fan.

Rafe moaned, “Ooh, that’s good,” when the warm air hit in a way that made Mickey clench his jaw because really, how much was he supposed to endure?

But when Mickey glanced over, Rafe was rubbing his hands together, then flexing his fingers.

“Well, maybe you should have worn gloves ,” Mickey teased, looking back at the road. But he adjusted one of the center vents so more of the warm air would blow on Rafe.

“My dad used to yell at me about that,” Rafe said with a sheepish look. “Well, not gloves, because I had hockey gloves on obviously. But not wearing enough layers or coming in when I started to get cold. But my mom always had hot cocoa waiting for me when we got home.”

Mickey smiled because it seemed like it was a good memory for him. Hot cocoa would certainly warm Rafe’s cold hands now. An idea popped into Mickey’s head and rather than turn left to head back to the apartment at the next light, he turned right.

“Where are we going?” Rafe asked, sounding confused as he craned his neck to look around. “Maybe I’m wrong but I thought we lived back that way.” He pointed behind them.

“We do. I’m going somewhere else to pick up something,” Mickey explained. “If you don’t mind.”

He should have asked.

“Okay.” Rafe settled back, apparently content with that explanation.

When they pulled into the parking lot in front of the market, Mickey turned off the ignition, but before he got out, he glanced at Rafe. “How are your hands?”

“Still cold.” Rafe touched his fingers to the back of Mickey’s hand.

They were downright icy. “Give them here,” Mickey said firmly.

Rafe looked a little confused, so Mickey reached for his hand, then sandwiched it between his own, rubbing briskly to get the blood flowing.

It would have been easier if Rafe’s hands had been smaller than Mickey’s, instead of the other way around, but he made it work, feeling Rafe’s hand slowly warm and trying to ignore the flood of images in his head about how those big, calloused hands would feel on his body.

Mickey did the same to Rafe’s other hand, then pressed them together between his own for a moment. “Better?” he asked when he finally, reluctantly, let go.

Rafe nodded. “Getting there. Thanks.”

In the dim car, lit only by the light a few parking spaces over, Mickey couldn’t see him that well, but he could see Rafe smiling at him.

He lifted Rafe’s hands to his mouth, intending to blow on them to warm them with his breath but he froze, his lips scant inches from Rafe’s skin and felt a bolt of need go through him.

It tore through his gut and left him breathless.

He wanted so badly to tug Rafe to him and curl a hand around the back of his neck. He wanted to haul Rafe closer and press hot, bruising kisses to his mouth. To bite at his lip and suck on his tongue and …

He shivered at the thought and Rafe frowned, pulling away.

“Now I’m making you cold,” Rafe said. “Let’s get whatever you need at the store and head home.”

Home , Mickey thought as he got out of the car. Not the apartment. Because fuck, Rafe lived there too now.

Mickey was so screwed.