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Harvey Tuck’s grave was easy to find; it was absolutely covered in flowers. The one next to Harv’s belonged to a married couple, who Adam guessed were his parents. The thought crossed Adam’s mind that Riley would be buried here someday. He pushed it away.

“Hi, Harv,” Adam said. “I was at the funeral but I never got a chance to…” He scrunched his nose and tried to think of the least weird way to say what he meant. “As you can probably guess, your funeral was packed. I arrived right before it started and barely got a seat. And then, well, I kind of ran off. We don’t need to get into it, but Riley wasn’t thrilled to see me. Anyway. We’ve worked it out now.”

Adam glanced around to confirm he was alone. He knew people talked to graves like this, but it still felt weird. And personal. He’d been lucky enough to have never lost anyone close to him before.

He blew out a breath and said, “Okay. A few things. First, I wanted to tell you that I always thought you were the best dad I’ve ever met. I was so jealous of Riley, having a dad like you. And I tried to—” Adam had to swallow hard. “Shit, okay. I tried to be the kind of dad you were. As soon as Maggie told me she was pregnant, I thought, ‘I’m going to be like Harvey Tuck. My kids are going to get that kind of dad.’” Adam laughed. “Okay, my real first thoughts were ‘Holy shit, pregnant? What are we going to do?’ but once the shock wore off, I thought about what kind of dad I wanted to be.”

Adam picked up a carnation that had fallen and tucked it randomly into one of the arrangements. “I’m not saying I succeeded. I try to be a good dad, but obviously I wasn’t around all that much. And when I was around, I felt like an intruder, kind of. Maybe that was all in my head, though. Anyway, Maggie did a great job with them, and I didn’t get in her way. So that’s something.”

“I also wanted to thank you for inviting me to stay with your family here during those summers, way back. Summers at home were never great for me, and I think you guessed that. Well, you met my parents. And, yeah, I could have fucked off to Italy or somewhere with some of the guys, but Riley never wanted to do that, so I didn’t want to either.” He huffed out a sardonic laugh. “Probably should have figured that meant something but, you know. Hockey IQ doesn’t translate to the real world, unfortunately.”

“Which, um, yeah. I also want you to know that I love your son.” He glanced up at the sky, then back at the tiny temporary grave marker poking through the flowers. “I don’t know how you feel about that. Maybe you don’t think I deserve him, after everything, and I get that. I made a lot of mistakes with him, but I’ve been trying to fix them. I want to deserve him.”

Riley had probably never told his parents much about Adam, but Harv had been a perceptive man. “I’m going to do my best to deserve him, from now on. I don’t know what our future looks like, but if there’s a chance we can be together, I’m going to fight for that.”

Adam had to blink a few times to stop his vision from blurring. “I promise I won’t hurt him again, and I’m sorry I did before. He deserves to be so happy, and I hope I can give him that.”

He let out a shaky laugh, then said, “So all of that is just to say, yeah. Good job on raising Riley. And Lindsay, because she’s awesome. They were lucky to have you, and I know you’re proud of them both.”

“Oh, and I’m hosting the hockey banquet tonight. Maybe you heard, I don’t know. I’ve got big shoes to fill, though.” He laughed again. “I’m actually nervous about it. Although the kids probably just see me as the opening act for pizza. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Adam felt good about hosting the banquet. He liked having a chance to honor Harv in some small way and to help out the town Harv had loved so much. The town that Adam loved too.

“I didn’t bring flowers, but I thought you might like this.” He pulled the moon snail shell he’d found on the beach out of his coat pocket, then placed it at the edge of all the flowers. “It’s pretty, right?” He hoped it wasn’t a weird thing to leave.

“Okay, well. Susan said you’ll probably be in the room at the banquet, so see you tonight, I guess. But if you decide to skip it in favor of, I don’t know, playing a game of pickup with a bunch of NHL legends in Heaven, I don’t think anyone would blame you.”

Adam gave an awkward wave. “Bye, Harv.”

* * *

Riley still could barely believe what he was witnessing.

Adam Sheppard was standing at a podium in front of a yellow--and-black balloon arch, next to a screen that displayed a slideshow of photos from the most recent Avery River Minor Hockey season. He was wearing his glasses and reading the achievements of various teams and players with the same amount of grandeur someone might use in a speech for a Hockey Hall of Fame induction.

“Brady Mosher not only led his team in goals this season, he not only led the league in goals this past season, he set a new record for goals scored by a U13 player in the entire North Shore hockey system!” Massive cheers and applause broke out, and Adam applauded along with them. “That’s right. We are in the presence of greatness tonight. And Brady, that’s why you’ve been named the U13 MVP for this season. Come on up here, hotshot.”

Adam maintained this level of enthusiasm and awe for even the youngest house league players who could barely skate. It was sweet, and the kids were clearly loving it. Even from his seat at the back of the room, next to Mom, Riley could see that. This would be a memory these kids would have for the rest of their lives. And Riley didn’t think he’d be forgetting it anytime soon himself.

Because Adam was doing this. For Dad, for him, for kids he didn’t even know, for Riley’s hometown. Tomorrow he’d be back in Toronto, but tonight he was here. And later tonight, if Riley had anything to say about it, he’d be in Riley’s bed.

“He’s wonderful,” Mom whispered.

“Yeah,” Riley agreed. “He is.”

Cathy had said a few words about Dad at the start of the banquet, and that had been emotional. But Adam had done an excellent job bringing the mood back up and making the night about the kids. Dad would have approved.

After the awards were all given out, Adam announced that pizza was available in the adjoining room. This led to a stampede of kids charging out of the banquet room, except for the ones who charged up to Adam for a photo and an autograph. Riley stood, but stayed at the back of the room.

“I’m going to see if they need help managing those kids,” Mom said.

“Okay. I’ll be over there in a minute.” He didn’t take his eyes off Adam.

It was probably twenty minutes before Adam was finally alone and noticed Riley at the back of the room. He smiled and walked toward him. When he reached him, he pretended to wipe his brow. “Phew, I got through it okay, I think.”

“You were awesome,” Riley assured him. He took Adam’s hand, and leaned in slightly before he realized where they were. He released his hand and stared awkwardly over Adam’s shoulder. “Um. Yeah. Good job.”

“Thanks.” Adam took a step closer. “Actually, would you mind giving me a hand with something?”

“Sure. Of course.”

He followed Adam out of the room and down the hall. The top floor of the rink housed the banquet room, a smaller meeting room, a few offices, and a storage room. Adam led him to the storage room.

“I was getting stuff from here earlier with Cathy,” Adam explained.

“And what do you need now?” Riley asked as the door closed behind them.

“This.” Adam lunged at him, kissing him hungrily against the door.

Riley huffed out a laugh, even as he kissed him back. It was pitch-black in the room, but he didn’t need to see. He grabbed at Adam’s shirt, his face, his neck, his ass, wanting to hold all of him. He loved that Adam had been wanting him as much as he’d wanted Adam during that long banquet. Riley kissed his throat, making Adam moan more loudly than was safe. They probably shouldn’t be doing this at all. Not here.

“God, Riles,” Adam groaned, just in case anyone who might be listening needed to know exactly who was making out in here.

“Shh,” Riley said, but even that sounded comically loud. They both started laughing.

“We’re going to get in trouble,” Adam whispered against his ear.

Any blood that wasn’t already in Riley’s cock rushed there at those words. “God,” he rasped. “Shut up.”

Adam was rock-hard too, and Riley really wanted to do something about it, but that was a line he wasn’t willing to cross at a youth hockey banquet in his hometown arena.

“We gotta stop,” Riley panted against Adam’s mouth after another bone-melting kiss.

“Mm,” Adam agreed, then kissed him again. He rocked his hips against Riley and pressed a thigh between Riley’s legs.

“Oh, fuck,” Riley gasped. It was so easy to rut against Adam’s muscular thigh as he lost himself in the heat of Adam’s mouth. The darkness elevated every sensation, and he knew he could easily come from this. Might possibly come from this in just a few seconds.

He forced himself to stop. “We can’t. Later, okay? Fuck. Fuck. ”

Adam stopped and took a step back. “Yeah. Okay.” For a long moment, they both breathed heavily in the dark. Riley tried to think of anything that might make his dick soft. He could not go back out there like this.

“My mom is here,” Riley said.

Adam laughed. “Okay, yeah. That’s helping. Keep talking.”

“Um… Bridgeman! Remember that guy?”

“Tyson Bridgeman? Ugh.”

Tyson had easily been one of the worst teammates they’d had. Loud and hateful, he’d also had some of the worst hygiene habits Riley had ever witnessed. “He accused me of being gay because I flossed my teeth.”

Adam scoffed. “Is washing your hands gay too? Because he never did that either.”

“Probably. And I’m guessing being good at hockey was also gay.”

Adam laughed, and it sounded like he’d taken another step or two away from Riley. “He was garbage.” He exhaled loudly, then said, “Okay. I think I’m presentable.”

Riley quickly adjusted his own wilting erection. “Same. I hope so, at least.”

They both laughed because it was ridiculous, being in their forties and making out in a storage closet. But Adam was leaving tomorrow, and Riley was feeling a little reckless.

He opened the door and made sure the coast was clear before they stepped into the hallway.

“Oh, man,” Adam said. “You look like you were getting groped in a closet.”

Riley glanced down at his clothes, then at Adam. “So do you.” Adam’s hair was a mess and his shirt was close to being untucked. His lips were swollen and his cheeks were pink, and Riley hoped he didn’t look quite as ravished.

“Here,” Adam said, and began smoothing out Riley’s hair with his hands.

“We’re too old for this,” Riley said as he attempted to make his shirt look less rumpled.

“I don’t ever want to be too old for this.” Adam’s eyes were glinting with joy and mischief, and Riley wanted to haul him right back into the storage room.

“Oh, there you are,” said Cathy’s voice from behind them.

Riley closed his eyes, as if that might make him disappear.

“Hey, Cathy,” Adam said smoothly. “Need help with something?”

“No, no. It’s just that Warren was hoping to talk to you for a minute. He writes local news stories for CBC. Is that okay?”

“No problem. I hope he’s in the pizza room because I’m starving.”

Cathy smiled. “I’ll tell him to meet you there. And Adam, you did such a great job tonight. We really can’t thank you enough. Wasn’t he great, Riley?”

“He was.”

“Can we book you for next year?” Cathy laughed and briefly placed a hand on Adam’s arm. “I’m just kidding.”

Adam looked at Riley. “I might be available.”

Riley bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grinning like a lovestruck fool.