Page 73 of Meet Me in the Blue

“Wow, tell me how you really feel.” He stared at me, and I sighed.

“I’m tired and cranky because a certain hockey hero felt the need to drag us across the entire city of Vancouver this morning.”

“Or…” He turned to whisper in my ear. “Are you cranky because we slept in too late and didn’t have time for that blowjob you offered me in the shower?”

“That might be part of it… and my feet hurt. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I like how small Hemlock Harbor is. I can make it from one side of the town to the other without breaking a sweat.”

“Small town for the win?”

I snuck an arm around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. “Definitely.”

The interview took less than an hour, which gave me lots of time to do my thing. I took a few candid shots of Reese talking with Zach and just shooting the shit around the arena with Rook. A couple of his teammates had shown up later, and I couldn’t miss the chance to grab some pictures of all that homoerotic brotherly team affection. I’d forgotten how fun it could be, doing a shoot like this, getting to capture a moment without artifice. On the sideline, through my lens, I got to frame the world the way I saw it. I loved taking pictures of nature, snapping the moment the sun kissed the horizon, or the moment it turned the world to gold. But catching a smile, a touch, a hug, and a welcome home, there wasn’t anything better than that. And these guys together, it was hard not to feel their energy. Bryson and his goofy smile, the way he hung on Reese while the other guys teased them. They were juvenile, grown men without a care in the world. I could stay here all day trying to catch all of their secret handshakes and jokes, but we had to wrap up around three, right before the team had to head out to catch a flight to Denver.

“You guys need to come visit again,” Reese said as he smothered his brother with a goodbye hug. “Preferably during the off season, I’ll have way more time. You could stay a week or something.”

“Or you could come home to visit,” Rook said. “Mom would love that.”

“Maybe. You know me… I get antsy if I’m in the Harbor too long.” Reese pulled me into a side hug, wrestling with me until he had me in a headlock. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Don’t you fucking break my brother’s heart. You hear me?” I shoved out of his hold, and he laughed. I smoothed a hand over my hair, my face hot as he stared me down. “Yeah… you heard me.”

“I did.”

He pointed two fingers at me. “Good.”

“Cut it out, Reese.” Rook’s lopsided smile was enough to quell my aggravation.

Reese was a meathead, but he meant well. “Don’t forget to send me a wedding invite,” he said as his ride pulled up to the curb. “I throw a wicked bachelor party.”

He blew us a kiss as he got into the backseat.

“A wedding invite?” I asked Rook as his car pulled away.

“He’s messing with us,” he said, but the playful gleam in his eyes made me think there was more to that story. “What did he say to you when he had you in that headlock?”

“He told me not to hurt you.” I laced our fingers together as we headed back inside the facility. “The whole protective big bro thing. I get it…”

“Luka,” Zach called my name, his eyes on his phone as he walked toward us. “I have news.”

“What’s up?”

“The team’s management loves all of the photos you sent from the other day, and they want you to sign off on a few for them to use as promotion.”

“That’s awesome.”

“Yeah, man, and wait till they see what you took today.” He rapidly swiped his thumb over his screen, holding up one of the pictures I’d taken today. I’d sent them to him via email about ten minutes ago. “These are great. Like quality stuff.”

“Um… thanks.”

Zach wasn’t one to dole out praise, and maybe I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear it, but it sure as hell felt good to know I didn’t totally suck at what I loved doing. I’d spent so much time chasing this idea of what I thought I wanted to be, chasing a career that had been more like a dream than a reality. With every failure, I’d started to believe maybe what I saw through my lens was a distortion of truth, and I wasn’t cut out for this after all.

“I’m serious.” Zach dragged his eyes from his phone. “I want to show these to my ex, Dale, that sportswriter guy I was telling you about. With pictures like this, and the right connection, you could get a job with a team, or a sports magazine, in a heartbeat. Your talent is wasted atThe Herald.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Let me see what I can do.”

“You don’t have to do that… I’m happy at—”

He held up his hand and tapped his phone once, and then again. “I forwarded everything to Dale, he’ll get them into the right hands.”

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