Page 47 of The Blame Game

Shea could have said yes—probably should have, since Myles looked very hopeful—but he’d said no.

Why? He wasn’t entirely sure but he had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Dom. Then again, what didn’t?

“So we’re headed back to the restaurant and you guys can get your cars from the parking ramp,” Dom said, talking to the guys in the back.

Everyone had stopped drinking a while ago, except for Dom. Come to think of it, that was odd too. Dom didn’t drink that often. Or at least not more than one drink on the night before a game.

Weird. Though thankfully he wasn’t still on the Toradol.

“I took a rideshare,” Shea said. “So I can pick one up from there.”

“Oh, well, I could have the driver drop you off at your place before I head to mine,” Dom said. “If you want.”

Shea hesitated. They probably shouldn’t. If anyone photographed them ending the night going off together alone …

But God, a part of him wanted to hoard every little moment with Dom, snatch at every opportunity he got before everything ended.

“Yeah,” Shea said, knowing it was a stupid idea but unable to say no. “Actually, I can introduce you to my roommate, Audra. I think you two would hit it off.”

“Yeah?” Dom looked puzzled.

“Yeah. She’s great. Hell, I bet you’ll be so into her, you’ll invite her to be your date to that team event you’ve got coming up,” he said pointedly.

“Ahh.” Dom’s expression smoothed out. “Well, I’ll give it a shot.”

Myles snorted, leaning forward. “Good luck, dude. I tried to shoot my shot there and she turned me down cold.”

“Yeah, but that’s because you’re pathetic,” Shea fired back.

“Fuck you,” Myles said but he was laughing. “I’ve got rizz.”

Ethan shot him a skeptical look. “Yeah, well, you may have rizz but you’re not an NHL player so …”

“Ugh. You suck.” Myles flipped him off.

They laughed and bantered on the ride to the restaurant and once there, on the sidewalk, Shea hugged his friends goodnight.

“Happy Birthday, man,” Ethan said. “This was fun. We should do it again.”

“It was fun,” Dom agreed. “Let me know when you guys get together again.”

Shea wasn’t sure if that was politeness or if he meant it but Myles’ face brightened. “Yeah, we totally will. Great to meet you.”

After the goodbyes were done, Shea and Dom got back in the SUV. Shea gave the driver his address and when they were moving again, the silence grew awkward.

“Great game, huh?” Shea said. The Titans had won tonight by a pretty big margin.

“Yeah, it was good. Your guy had a great night.”

“My guy? Oh, Travis? Yeah, he did.”

There it was again.

“You know, I honestly don’t think I did as much for Travis physically as I did mentally,” Shea said.

Dom blinked.

“As far as the physiotherapy,” Shea clarified, realizing how that sounded. Whoops. “I noticed he was having some weird external rotation and correcting that helped stabilize his knee, but I don’t think that’s what was holding him back. He was in a rough place after the injury, you know? He hadn’t been in the league that long and he was already out with an injury and I think he could see his career circling the drain before it ever fully started. And I was there to listen and understand, you know?”

---