Page 82 of Shift Change

I frowned. “What?” A horrible feeling came over me, and I glanced down.Fuck all.I’d grabbed Chuck’s Syracuse Soldiers T-shirt.

“You guys switched shirts.” Gabe glanced between us. “Dog played for Syracuse, and Holky went to UMass.”

Chuck looked across the room, and our eyes locked. Neither of us moved, but I tried to send him a telepathic distress signal:Help me get them into one room, and I’ll wreak mayhem.

“The fuck, Warriors?” Packy flicked a hand at the guys standing between Chuck and me. “Get out of the way and let Holky over there. I’m sure he won’t be happy until he’s standing beside Dog.”

Richie and Logan seized my arms and frog-marched me across the room.

“Awww, they look good, don’t they, boys?” Logan cooed.

Richie stroked his chin. “Still isn’t quite right,” he said, then lifted my arm and placed it around Chuck’s shoulders.

“You need to lean in, Dog.” Logan nudged Chuck over until our bodies touched.

“There we go,” Riley announced, giving us a double thumbs-up. “Gentlemen of the Warriors, I present to you the men of the hour.”

A goddamn cheer went up. They whooped, hollered, and fucking clapped.

When the noise died away, Abby tilted his head and beamed at us. “Don’t blush, boys. You make very cute couple.”

I choked.

Wait. I’d been too busy having heart failure to realize Chuck and I weren’t even protesting. “What the hell?” I demanded. “This ismyhouse. Get the fuck out.”

No one moved until Riley started slow-clapping.Unbelievable.

26

mad dog

Nate madea little noise in his throat, something between a laugh and a whine, and it hit me like a hard check. When the guys’ shit-eating grins widened, I’d had enough. “Stick your smug mugs up your asses and hold on a fucking minute.”

I grabbed Nate’s hand and nodded toward the back of the house. His eyes widened, but he didn’t resist as I pulled him along. I led us into the kitchen, not stopping until we were beside the breakfast table, as far from the peanut gallery as we could get without leaving the house entirely. Our hands let go, and we faced each other.

This was the man I loved, and it wrecked me to see him like this, clenching his jaw and flexing his fingers like he didn’t know what to do with them. His chest rose and fell in harsh, uneven gasps. When he blinked hard, fighting tears, it felt like someone jammed a fist into my solar plexus. I would’ve taken a punch—hell, a dozen punches—if it meant I didn’t have to see him hurt like this.

Nate Holcomb, all six-foot-two of him, the guy who never let anything rattle him on the ice, seemed completely undone. The man who gave me so much simply by existing, who had taken me into his life and made me part of his world, looked like he wasn’t sure whether to run or fight.

That shit didn’t fly with me. I reached for him, gripping his arms and pulling him close. A deep breath helped steady my nerves, and I spoke quietly. “Hey, it’s just them being assholes. Everything’s fine.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he nodded, but his expression didn’t change. He wasn’t good yet, which meant I wasn’t either.

I leaned in and touched his lips with mine. “I love you, sweets.”

He swallowed. “I’m so fucking sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad.” After another brush of our lips, I said it again. “I love you, Nate. Do you love me?”

“You know I do. We only said it an hour ago, and I’m not ready for things to get weird.”

“They don’t have to.” He glanced away, and I put a finger under his chin and urged his head back around. “I’m not ashamed of what we have. Nate Holcomb loves me, and that’s all I need. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

“But they know.”

“Yeah, and that’s a big shift for us, but it’s no disaster. Doyouthink it is?”

“It’s none of their goddamn business.”

---