Page 64 of The Best Parts of Him

[eye roll emoji] I’m the only normal person in this family.

Dad:

That’s probably true.

Brie:

Says the guy whose wedding song was “Another One Bites the Dust.”

Dad:

Gave everyone a laugh, didn’t it?

Dad:

All joking aside, great game tonight, Ry. It’s good to see you back in the thick of it.

Ryland:

Thanks Dad and Jase.

Brie:

What about me??

Ryland:

You can give Dad his dollar.

Brie:

*gasp* The audacity!

He chuckled and set his phone aside, ignoring the social media notifications. In fact, he was going to take a page out of Dabbs’ book and turn them off altogether so the noise around their relationship didn’t taint what they had.

Rising, he went over to the sign-up sheet he’d tacked on the wall earlier, then raised his voice to be heard over the music. “Hey, assholes. Why do I only have two participants for the escape room?”

Herriman blinked owlishly at him. “Because you just put up the sheet today?”

“Yeah, chill,” one of the rookies said, a kid who tried too hard to fit in.

“Guys, it’s playground themed,” he told them. “There’s a literal jungle gym and those colored balls found in bouncy castles. Channel your inner child and sign up.”

“Playground, you say?” someone behind him said.

“That does sound fun,” Herriman admitted. He hobbled over, wearing only one skate, and used the pen Ryland had attached to the sheet to sign up.

That was more like it.

Ryland was no Roman Kinsey—not that he wanted to be. Just that Roman’s comments about forming bonds and working through difficulties and committed players showing up for each other had struck a chord. Like Kinsey had said, hockey teams could be cliquey, and the Pilots were no exception. They showed up for each other, sure, but there was a connection missing.

He and Des had talked about escape rooms in the summer, and now that he was back at a hundred percent and ready to roll, he was finally putting the idea into action. The playground-themed room had capacity for twelve people. Ryland had hoped for seven, and by the time he removed his game-day uniform, there were eight.

He just had to mention playgrounds then? Maybe he should’ve led with that.

Miles sat next to him and stretched out his long legs. “You look pleased as fuck.”

“Moi?” Ryland played dumb. “What could I possibly be pleased as fuck about? Maybe the fact that people actually want to go to an escape room with me?”