Page 142 of The Home Game

Antoni tried not to stare at Matty’s ass in swim shorts but, apparently, he wasn’t that subtle about the sidelong glances because Nico shot him a knowing smile as he plopped down in the empty lounger next to Antoni’s. “Matty’s stacked, no?”

Antoni shot him an embarrassed look. “Uhh. Well …”

Nico laughed. “Oh come on, we all know he has the best ass in the NHL.”

“It’s uh, pretty impressive,” Antoni admitted.

Though there had been no shortage of great asses on display today. But to have people know he was checking Matty out and comment on it made him feel weirdly exposed.

Nico laughed. “All I’m saying is that you’re a lucky man, my friend.” He lightly punched Antoni in the arm, rings gleaming on his fingers.

“You’re not unlucky,” Antoni said, darting a glance at August who had switched from ping-pong to swimming. He’d gotten out of the pool a few minutes ago and was standing there all wet and gorgeous looking, seemingly unaware of how damn attractive he was.

Not that Antoni was seriously checking August out or anything. But, well, the view was nice.

Nico smirked. “Oh trust me. I know. My Auggie could be a model if he wanted.”

The conversation veered away from the guys after that, meandering into discussions about Nico’s modeling and how excited he was to resume playing with the team soon, which made Antoni relax.

It wasn’t that he minded the comments. He just wasn’t used to them. His friends discussing guys’ assets? Sure. They did that all the time.

But Antoni had never expected it from professional hockey players.

Colton walked by with a plate of food and he grinned as he passed Antoni. “Hey, that oldest of yours is lethal with the chirps, dude. She’s going to be a hell of a hockey player someday.”

“Thanks?” Antoni said because he was pretty sure that was a compliment. The last part certainly was but he wasn’t sure about the first half.

When Colton was out of earshot, Antoni leaned in. “So, this probably sounds dumb but what exactly is a chirp?”

Nico snickered. “An insult. Trash talking. Whatever you want to call it, Colton’s right. Alexis is clever and creative with them. She was going after Jonah earlier and he was loving it.”

Antoni grinned. “Good. She’s smart and insightful. I’m not surprised.”

When Antoni finished his beer, Nico held up his own empty bottle. “Hey, man, you want another one? I’m going to grab one for myself.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Antoni said. “I could probably do one more today.” He was walking home so why not?

As Nico walked off to grab the drink, Charlie settled gracefully onto the lounger he’d vacated. “I’m stealing Nico’s seat for a minute. Just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing.”

“Good,” Antoni said truthfully. Everyone here was friendly and welcoming. He’d already talked to Elena Makarov and Kayla Jensen. They’d assured him they’d be at the game next weekend and that they’d help keep an eye on the kids. So had Birdie, Natasha, and August, for that matter.

Dom had been suspiciously absent, but otherwise, everyone had been great.

“I hope you don’t mind that this is so informal,” Charlie said. “It’s rather casual for a wedding celebration but Dustin said you and Matty wouldn’t want anything big or fancy.”

“Oh yeah,” Antoni assured him. “He’s right. This is perfect. The kids get to have fun and it’s low-pressure for Matty and me. Neither of us are really looking to have people make a big fuss about stuff.”

“I get that,” Charlie said with a thoughtful nod. “So, are you excited about the upcoming game?”

“I am,” Antoni admitted. “It’ll be interesting. I guess as a kid I went to a few hockey games but I don’t remember much. Everyone says I was miserable and spent the whole time reading so after that, my parents asked my neighbor to babysit me and—”

His throat closed up at the thought. “Sorry, I—” he choked out, but he couldn’t finish. “God, I can’t believe she’s gone.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry if I made you uncomfortable. That was the friend you lost? The kids’ mom?” Charlie asked, his expression sympathetic, his tone so kind and gentle it made Antoni’s heart ache.

“Yeah,” Antoni said, eyes stinging. “Bethany. It’s … it’s hard, you know? Sometimes it hits unexpectedly.”

Charlie reached out to pat his arm. “It’s hard enough to be away from my bestie and he lives in Chicago so we can video chat weekly. I can only imagine what you’re going through.”

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