Page 181 of The Blame Game

“And I don’t—I don’t expect to fix twenty years of not talking—”

“More like my whole damn life,” Dom said flatly. Because it turned out, he’d hardly known his father at all.

They’d kept so much from each other, all in the name of protecting their careers.

Dom felt a sudden wave of regret for having kept Dustin and Matty and hell, even Shea at such a distance for so long.

He’d hurt them, hadn’t he?

“Forty years of not talking,” Kurt continued. “But I’d like to fix that.”

“Yeah?” Dom glanced up.

He nodded. “Yeah, I would. I want a relationship with you again if you’re interested. I know it won’t happen overnight but I’d like to try.”

“I would like that,” Dom said slowly. “I’m finishing up this art history course and training and then it’ll be back into playoffs so maybe not until the off-season but … yeah. Yeah, we could do that.”

“Maybe sometime this summer you and Shea can come visit. Meet Robert. If that’s something you’d want.”

“Uhh, yeah, maybe. I’ll talk to Shea about it,” Dom managed. Right now, he couldn’t quite picture meeting his father’s partner—husband—but maybe after he had a little more time to let all of this settle …

As Dom took a seat again, a thought occurred to him. “Hey, how did you find my number anyway?”

“Oh, I got it through Jimmy Brady.”

Dom laughed, a short, sharp bark of a laugh, because wasn’t that fucking ironic. Dom and his father had never played hockey together but they had both played with Jimmy.

And Jimmy was the guy who had recommended Select Image Consulting to Dom.

“Does Jimmy know you’re gay?” Dom asked.

Kurt frowned. “No. Why would he?”

Dom shrugged. “Just curious.”

It felt like a weird sort of fate.

Although no one had known about Christian, after Dom had been traded to Toronto, he’d gotten drunk and complained about how difficult dating was and that he wanted something simple and no strings attached.

Jimmy had pulled him aside and quietly suggested the escort service. He’d assumed Dom would be interested in women but …

He’d inadvertently introduced Dom and Shea and helped him reconnect with his father.

Dom owed him big-time.

“You should call your mother,” Kurt said softly. “She’s been hurt by the whole thing.”

Dom winced. For years, he’d assumed her anger about Dom telling her that her husband was fucking men was directed at him. And he’d never given her a chance to clarify that.

He’d been hurt by her reaction but he’d wound up hurting her instead.

“I will. Can you send me her number?”

“Yes. She’s back in France now, you know? Re-married.”

“I heard,” Dom said, although that was only partly true. He’d looked her up online periodically, wondering how she was doing.

“She seems happy.”

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