Page 3 of Tough Guy (Game Changers #3)

Fabian wondered if he could pull off the Stila Enchantress Glitter & Glow liquid eye shadow. It was really fucking pretty.

He brushed a little of the tester on the back of his hand.

So pretty.

He tilted his hand under the florescent lights of the store and watched the eye shadow shimmer. The color really worked with his olive skin.

He set the tester bottle back on the shelf and returned to his stool behind the cosmetics counter.

He perched himself on the edge and swivelled back and forth, bored out of his mind.

There were only forty minutes left in his night shift at the Savers Drug Mart, but the store had been mostly dead for the past hour and Fabian was beyond ready to go home.

He checked his own makeup in the mirror that sat on the desk in front of him. Everything was still totally on point. He’d done a particularly good job on his liquid liner today.

He was, he supposed, grateful he had a job that allowed him to wear some pretty wild and experimental makeup looks to work.

He wore a black button-up shirt and black pants—the uniform for all Savers beauty department employees—but he could get creative with his face.

The job was far from glamorous—it wasn’t even mall cosmetics store glamorous—but there were jobs that would have been far more soul-crushing. At least here he could be himself.

The automatic sliding doors opened, and Fabian glanced up.

It was his job to warmly greet as many customers as he could when they entered the store, but he had a feeling this guy wasn’t here to buy cosmetics.

He was an enormous man, with a full bushy beard and long red hair sticking out from under his gray toque. He looked like an autumnal Santa.

“Good evening,” Fabian said cheerfully. The man looked startled, and glanced around until his eyes landed on Fabian. “Can I help you fi—?”

Holy. Shit.

“Ryan?” Fabian blurted the name out before he could stop himself. Even if it was Ryan Price, it’s not like he would recognize Fabian. Probably wouldn’t even remember him.

The man who was possibly Ryan Price stared at Fabian, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. “Yeah?” he said finally.

“Sorry,” Fabian said quickly. “You probably don’t recognize me at all. It’s—”

“Fabian,” Ryan said, barely above a whisper.

Fabian beamed. “You remember!”

Ryan nodded. “Fabian,” he said again.

Fabian walked out from behind the counter and stopped a couple of feet in front of Ryan. Ryan didn’t move at all.

Ryan. Fucking. Price.

“Look at you,” Fabian said. “You look...humongous.”

He was even taller than Fabian remembered.

Obviously he probably had grown since he was seventeen, but so had Fabian.

Sort of. Fabian still had to be a foot shorter than Ryan.

And the beard—his whole look, really—gave Ryan a rugged biker/Viking vibe.

When Fabian had last seen him, his red hair had been short and his face had been smooth.

Ryan’s face finally relaxed into a shy smile.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said quietly.

It then occurred to Fabian that Ryan might be a little weirded out by his (flawless) eye liner and shadow.

The thought alone, whether warranted or not, made Fabian stand a little straighter, daring Ryan to say anything about it.

But all Ryan said was, “You look good.”

Oh.

Fabian relaxed his shoulders, since it seemed there wouldn’t be a fight, and said, “So what brings Ryan Price to Toronto?”

Ryan’s smile widened, and his eyes grew warmer. “Hockey. I play for the Guardians.”

Well, that’s embarrassing. “I probably should have known that,” Fabian said. “Sorry. I’m still not a hockey fan, I’m afraid.”

Ryan laughed. “S’okay.” For a moment, they just stood in awkward silence, and then he said, “You still play music?”

Fabian lit up. “Oh yes. This,” he gestured at the store around him, “is just my side hustle. Music is my main thing.”

“Like...your own songs? Songs you wrote?”

“Mostly, yes.”

“That’s awesome! Do you play shows?”

“I do. I play here in the Village a lot. But all over town. Sometimes in other cities. I have a show at the Lighthouse next Saturday.”

Ryan frowned. “There’s a lighthouse here?”

Oh no. Ryan Price is still adorable. “No,” Fabian laughed. “It’s a bar, just in the neighborhood here.”

“Oh.” Ryan’s face turned pink. “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

“Yes. The show is a fundraiser for a shelter, and it’s a big venue. It should be good.”

“Oh. Cool.” Ryan looked at the floor. Then up at Fabian. Then behind him. “Uh, I have to pick up a prescription, so...”

“Right! Don’t let me stop you!”

“Yeah. So, um...it was nice seeing you again.”

“You too. And congratulations? For playing for the Guardians? I understand that is a very big deal.”

That earned Fabian another warm smile. “Thanks.” Then Ryan turned and headed for the back of the store.

Fabian hugged himself because suddenly he felt very exposed and weird. He hadn’t expected to ever see Ryan again, but suddenly he was transported right back to being seventeen with a confusing and ridiculous crush on the hockey player who had lived with his family for less than a year.

Fabian’s parents had housed members of the Halifax Breakers junior hockey team for years.

Young Fabian had always resented it, and had actively avoided interacting with the obnoxious jocks who’d invaded his home every winter.

To be fair, the hockey players hadn’t seemed at all interested in Fabian either.

Except Ryan.

Ryan had been different, and it had completely thrown Fabian off balance.

Teenage Fabian had been all thorns, unable to hide his queerness, so he’d guarded himself by being a self-important grouch.

Mostly, he’d just kept to himself, practiced his music, and dismissed anyone who’d tried to talk to him.

A big dumb hockey player couldn’t hurt him if Fabian didn’t give a shit about him.

Which was why Ryan had been so fucking dangerous.

Ryan, who was in Fabian’s store right now.

Something occurred to Fabian: if Ryan was picking up a prescription at this pharmacy, it meant he probably lived in the neighborhood, which was not only where Fabian lived, but it was also Canada’s largest queer village.

Which didn’t necessarily mean anything. But it was interesting. Maybe.

Fabian spotted Ryan as he was leaving the store, a small paper bag in hand. Just as he was about to step through the doors, Ryan paused and looked over at Fabian. Ryan gave him a bashful little smile and a wave, and then he was gone.