Page 50 of The Home Game

Antoni laughed again and God, that was nice too. He looked so much more relaxed today.

Matty had really worried earlier that he’d fucked up but since their talk in the bedroom and seeing how much the kids liked their rooms, Antoni had seemed much lighter. He’d been laughing and joking with the team since and all of the kids had responded to it too, the mood happy and cheerful as the guys helped unpack boxes and settle things into place.

It made Matty feel good. Like he’d really done something right. Like he’d taken away the weight that Antoni had been carrying around for months. Maybe not all of it, but some.

Enough that he was smiling and happy as he followed Matty into the kitchen. But Matty was surprised when he felt something bump into his legs.

“I help too!” River said, tugging on his shirt.

“Of course you can help!” Matty said.

“River, can you say, ‘May I help too?’” Antoni coaxed. He glanced over at Matty. “River is working on her speech and it helps if we prompt her to use full sentences.”

“Okay,” Matty agreed.

“May … I help … too?” she sounded out slowly.

“Great job!” Matty said, holding out his hand for a knuckle bump. She looked confused so he demonstrated using his other hand. “That’s like a high five but for hockey players.”

She giggled and mimicked him.

“You got it on the first try!” he said. “I can tell you’re smart.”

She beamed. “Thanks!”

“That means I’m going to put you in charge of pizza making,” Matty said, pointing to the stool by the island. “After we wash our hands, should I set you up on your throne there, Queen River?”

“Yes, please.”

Matty smiled as he helped her lather up, then plopped her on the stool. She was just the cutest. Well, they were all cute. He didn’t want to pick favorites.

“Now, this is how we make pizza,” he said as he sprinkled some flour on the counter and dumped out two large bowls of dough.

Last night, he’d mixed the ingredients, then put the dough in the refrigerator.

He’d gotten the bowls out earlier so the dough had enough time to rise in the warm house and he’d pre-heated the pizza oven so they were all ready to start.

The dough was perfect now, all puffy and delicious-looking, and Charlie made an appreciative noise as he trailed into the kitchen and leaned against the counter to observe. “You’re getting so good at this, Matty.”

Matty beamed at Charlie. “It’s cause I had such a good teacher.”

“Well, I can’t deny that,” Charlie teased and they all laughed.

Matty showed Antoni and River how to stretch the dough out into rough circles, then left them to it while he and Charlie unloaded the refrigerator, setting out the various toppings.

“You there,” he said to Antoni, when there were little blobs of dough spread out all over the island counter.

“Who me?” Antoni widened his eyes.

They were dark brown, kinda like the root beer Antoni had been drinking earlier. He must not have had time to shave this morning because he had some stubble along his jaw and his brown hair was sort of curly and fluffy from the humid air outside. He looked good. Happy and relaxed and Matty wanted to pull him close, like he had earlier.

It had just felt right to have Antoni in his arms.

“Uh, yeah,” Matty said, shaking his head to clear the confusing thoughts from it. He’d worry about them later, when he had time to really think about them and why they were coming out of nowhere. “Are you up for chopping mushrooms?”

“Yes.” Antoni rubbed the back of his hand across his nose like it itched. “But I need to wash my hands first. I’m all covered in dough.”

He wriggled his long, slender fingers and Matty noticed the veins crisscrossing the backs of his hands. They were nice hands and he idly wondered if Antoni would ever want to try shooting a puck.

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