Page 76 of The Home Game

“Okay,” Matty said. “I can make that happen. I know people.”

Eli giggled.

“Now go on,” Matty said with a shooing motion. “Get your stuff ready for tomorrow, then shower like your Uncle Antoni said. I’ll clean up in here later.”

“Thanks!” Eli darted off and Matty took a look at Reese, whose eyes were drooping.

“But first, we’re going to get you ready for bed after you get your bedtime bottle, mister,” he told him.

After Reese had been fed and changed and Matty read him a story and tucked him in, he went back to the kitchen and started packing lunch for Antoni.

Matty had just about finished when Antoni walked in, shirt damp and hair a little mussed.

“Sorry, that took me longer than planned. River was feeling a little wound up. Oh, you didn’t have to pack my lunch though,” he said staring pointedly at the new lunch bag he’d reluctantly bought for himself—though only after the kids talked him into it.

“I know I didn’t.” Matty tossed a bag of grapes in and zipped the bag shut.

“You didn’t have to put Reese down for bed either.”

“I know that too,” Matty said. “But what if I like to?”

Antoni sighed, tilting his head to look at him. “Then I’d really say you’re Miracle Matty.”

Matty smiled and opened the dishwasher to empty the clean lunch dishes.

They unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher in silence, working together like they’d done this a thousand times before. And sure, Matty was used to roommates, used to billet families, but he’d never felt like this around anyone before.

It was like they fit into each other’s lives seamlessly and he wondered if it could be more. He kept sneaking glances at Antoni, noticing the way his shirt molded across his shoulders and his hair fell in his eyes.

This was the kind of life Matty had always hoped for. Antoni was the kind of person Matty had hoped to be with.

Well, maybe not being with a guy. Matty had never really pictured that.

He’d come from an area in Oklahoma where being gay or bi wasn’t the norm. Where he’d never seen real-life gay or lesbian couples living their lives just like straight people did.

But once Matty had come to Toronto, he’d discovered a whole other world. The Fisher Cats were like no team he’d ever been on before.

Before Dustin and Charlie got together and before Nico and August, before Jonah and Felix, Matty might not have been able to picture wanting this.

Before Antoni, he’d never considered it for himself. But he couldn’t deny the way his stomach tightened when Antoni was close, or his chest went warm when he laughed. He couldn’t ignore how right it felt when he and Antoni worked together like this.

And yeah, this was fast. Matty felt like he was racing toward something new and unknown. But Matty just … damn it, he wanted to see if Antoni was the one for him.

He wanted to brush the hair out of Antoni’s eyes and put his arms around him and press their lips together and …

“Hey,” Matty said, his voice coming out low and rough.

Antoni turned to face him. “Yeah?”

“Antoni …” Matty reached up and curled a hand around the back of Antoni’s neck. “Tell me if you don’t want this.”

Antoni hesitated, his gaze darting to Matty’s lips. When Matty brushed his fingers across the soft hair at the nape of Antoni’s neck, he shivered and leaned in, his hands settling against Matty’s chest, warm through the thin fabric of his T-shirt.

“I …” Antoni whispered but he didn’t finish the thought, just breathed, quick and shallow.

“Hey,” Matty said lowly. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to or anything. It won’t change anything about you living here, I swear but—”

“I can’t.” Antoni’s voice cracked. “I want to but I can’t.”

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