Page 80 of True North
“Sorry, traffic was a mess,” JT said as Misha clambered into the passenger seat. He reached over and squeezed Misha’s knee. “How was your flight?”
Misha wasn’t settling for a knee squeeze. He leaned across to pull JT into a tight hug. “It was fine. Oh, I missed you.”
JT pressed a kiss to Misha’s hair before he pulled away. His smile leaned toward foolish, but Misha was sure his own was no better. “I missed you more. Let’s get out of here.”
They didn’t talk much on the way into the city; traffic was, as JT had said, awful, and Misha didn’t want to be a distraction. He messaged Katya and his mom that he had arrived safely, and Danny, his roommate-slash-landlord. He had moved out of JT’s house when JT left for Toronto and into a house downtown to be closer to his job at the restaurant. Danny was a wolf shifter, a quiet and nerdy guy about a decade older than Misha, and they got along great. Misha was much happier in that snug little house than he would have been spending the winter alone in JT’s huge and empty house by the lake.
He was happy in general. He missed JT, but he liked his job and the friends he had made and the fact that he had done it all for himself. He and JT had had the time and space to get to know each other better and navigate their first disagreements without being in each other’s hair all the time. All through the long, cold winter in the Sault, Misha had worked on making himself into the man he wanted to be. He wasn’t all the way there yet, but when he did move to Toronto, he was confident he would be ready.
JT’s condo wasn’t the penthouse—even a hockey player, he claimed, couldn’t afford a penthouse in Toronto, although Misha suspected he was just being cheap—but it was on one of the upper floors with fantastic views of the city to the north and the lake to the south. A huge balcony overlooked the water, wonderful to sit on in the warmer months. Misha had been a little rattled the first time he came to visit because JT’s lake house was nice but notthatnice, whereas the condo’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows screamed money. He’d adjusted, though, and now the condo was just another place to live.
“You want to eat something?” JT asked, dumping his keys and wallet on the console table by the door. “Beer? Shower?”
“Kiss me,” Misha said. Good grief, it had been a month. “Take me to bed.”
JT laughed. “Impatient, huh,” he said, but he was looking at Misha’s mouth, and Misha knew he was going to get his way.
He took his time with JT, the way he always fantasized about when they were apart. By the end, JT was moaning shamelessly into the pillow, and Misha had the wild thought that this was the best sex anyone had ever had, JT’s wet mouth open and calling out for him, JT’s hand gripping Misha’s as they moved together.
“Wow,” JT said when they were done and tangled together, sweaty, in the middle of the huge bed.
Misha laughed breathlessly. “It was good, I know. You’re welcome.”
“You’re the worst,” JT said. He pressed his smile into Misha’s shoulder.
Misha traced patterns on JT’s back as JT dozed on his chest. JT was thinner than he’d been the last time Misha saw him, worn down by a long season, and there was still more to go. Misha couldn’t stay until the end—he had to juggle shifts with the other cooks, trade favors, and beg to get multiple consecutive days off in a row—but he would be here for the first two home games in Toronto before the team traveled to Boston. After that, he would cheer JT on from afar and welcome him home to the Sault when the playoffs were over. If all went well, JT wouldn’t be home until June.
JT stirred after not too long and sat up, yawning. “Sorry. Skipped my nap today to come pick you up.”
Misha frowned up at him. “You didn’t say. I could have got Uber.”
“No, I couldn’t wait that long. I wanted to see you as soon as I could.” JT smiled and touched Misha’s cheek. “Don’t make that face at me. You know I’m a lost cause.”
Afternoon was fading into evening by the time they finally mustered the will to get out of bed. Early April in Toronto wasn’t warm, but the evenings were already growing longer, and golden late afternoon light filled the bedroom as they cleaned up and got dressed, a process that took longer than usual because they couldn’t resist repeatedly stealing kisses.
“I’ll order the pizza now,” JT said, as they drifted out of the bedroom at last. The main room of the condo was an open combined living and dining room made cozy only by JT’s habitual clutter. Misha turned on the TV and flopped into his preferred corner of the massive sectional, where he did some idle channel-surfing as JT called to put in the order. In neighboring buildings, lights were turning on as night fell. Misha wouldn’t trade any of those other lives in other buildings for his own, despite all the difficult things that had happened to him. He had ended up exactly where he wanted to be.
JT joined him on the couch when he was done with his phone call and lay down with his head in Misha’s lap. “Hey,” he said, turning to look up at Misha’s face. “I love you.”
Hearing those words sent a thrill through Misha’s heart every time. He touched JT’s cheek. “Love you.”
They watched TV in companionable silence as they waited for the pizza to arrive. Misha stroked JT’s hair and planned what he wanted to say. Even if JT wasn’t home until June, that would still give them nearly three months together in their house on the lake before JT had to return to Toronto once more. Misha would have plenty of time to talk to JT about what came next for them. There was no reason to bring it up now, except he couldn’t wait, and he was still working on learning temperance and patience. He was too excited.
“You know, I’ve been thinking some lately,” he said at last. “About after the summer, and next season.”
JT narrowed his eyes. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I think—” Misha took JT’s hand and brought it to his chest, right over his heart. “When you come back to Toronto in the fall, I want to come, too.”
“Move here, you mean,” JT said, his expression full of guarded, uncertain hope. “You’re talking about moving here?”
“Yeah.” Misha couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “If you want me.”
JT scoffed. “Of course I do. But—what about your job? And Danny—”
“I can find a new job. I can make new friends. I can see Danny at Christmas and summer.” Misha patted JT’s hand where it lay on his chest. “I can’t find a new JT.”
“No,” JT said. His own smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. “No, fortunately there’s only one of me.”
“We can talk more about it,” Misha said. “We have all summer. But right now, that’s what I think. I want to be with you.”
“Nothing would make me happier,” JT said. He slid his hand up to Misha’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss, slow and sweet. Then he released Misha and grinned. “But first, I’m going to win the Stanley Cup.”
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