Page 144 of The Home Game

“Hey there.” Matty’s voice was a low, warm rumble as he took a seat on the end of Antoni’s lounger and patted his knee, pulling him from his thoughts. “Are these guys harassing you? I’ll kick them out if they are.”

“You can’t kick me out!” Charlie protested with a laugh. “This is my house!”

“Yeah, but I know all of Dustin’s dark secrets.” Matty said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Charlie snickered. “Honey, I was there for most of Dustin’s dark secrets. You’ve got nothing to bargain with there.”

“Wait? What secrets?” Nico said. “No one told me there were secrets.”

Charlie and Nico were soon squabbling playfully again and, shaking his head, Antoni returned his attention to Matty.

“Seriously, you doing okay?” Matty asked when they made eye contact.

Antoni smiled. “Yeah, I’m doing good. Charlie and Nico have been great. Everyone has been.”

“Good.” Matty stretched out and brushed a kiss to his lips, careful not to squash Reese between them. “Now, would you like to swim? I can watch him for a little bit.”

“Might be nice,” Antoni admitted. “I haven’t gotten a workout in today.”

He carefully transferred Reese to Matty’s arms, then stood.

“Damn, Antoni,” Nico said with a low whistle. “For a non-hockey player, you’ve got an ass on you too.”

From a few feet away, Antoni caught a pained groan from August. “Nico, do you have no filter at all?”

“Nope!” Nico joked. “Remember, they removed my brain-to-mouth filter when they took out the tumor.”

August scoffed. “Whatever. You never had one to begin with.”

Laughing, Antoni shot them both grins. “Thanks for the compliment, Nico. I think.”

Nico grinned back and winked. “Sure. Any time. And if you ever want to give me a closer look …”

Matty made an outraged noise of protest but before they could get going, Charlie rose to his feet.

“Speaking of delicious cake,” he said, “before you go for a swim, Antoni, we have cake, Champagne, and sparkling juice to celebrate your wedding. How about we do that now?”

Laughing at Charlie’s deft segue, Antoni protested, “Oh, you didn’t have to go to all that fuss for us.”

“Pfft.” Charlie waved him off. “I’ll use any excuse to throw a party.”

Twenty minutes later, Antoni handed plastic flutes of sparkling apple juice to the kids, took his own glass of Champagne, then stood next to Matty, his damp skin warm against Antoni’s as he wrapped an arm around him.

“To Matty and Antoni!” Charlie said, raising his glass. “When Dustin and I got married, Matty immediately made me feel welcome. Maybe a little too welcome, since he jumped in bed with us the first morning we got back.”

A few people whistled and Antoni watched, amused, as Matty’s ears went red. “It wasn’t like that!” he protested.

“Suuure, it wasn’t,” Charlie teased, winking. “Just remember, turnabout is fair play.”

Matty snorted and a few of the guys heckled them. When the laughter died down, Charlie continued. “In all seriousness, Matty made me feel welcome and I hope to do the same for you, Antoni. We’re glad to have you, Alexis, Eli, River, and Reese as part of the Fisher Cats Family.”

With a smile, Antoni raised his own glass in acknowledgment. “Thanks for letting me be a part of this.”

While Antoni had never pictured his wedding celebration taking place in an indoor pool or with the kids he loved so much clustered around him and the guy he’d married, he decided he liked being a little untraditional.

And as Matty kissed him, the taste of chocolate and Champagne on his lips reminding Antoni of their wedding night, Antoni wondered if it really was an excuse for a party that had made Charlie and Dustin host this event.

Because that begged the question.

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