Page 127 of Goaltender Interference

“Yeah. There’s a reason I didn’t tell you before …”

Kelly nodded and sipped his beer, quiet for a long moment before he glanced up. “Okay, so let me get this clear. You and Jesse are … hooking up?”

“Yeah. You know, casual and shit. But like, not with anyone else.” Connor stared down at his beer, pretending to be mesmerized by the way the reflection of the flames danced along the glass.

Kelly raised an eyebrow. “And you’re … good with that?”

“Yes. Well, maybe not.” Connor forced his foot to stop jiggling under the table.

“Uhh.”

“I’m definitely good with it not being with anyone else. Not sure how I feel about it being, uh, casual.”

“No fucking way,” Kelly said, laughing. “You’re into him. Likeintohim.”

Connor resisted the urge to make a crass comment about how deep inside of Jesse he’d been the other night. While it would be fun to watch his brother squirm uncomfortably, it didn’t feel right to talk about Jesse that way. Which probably answeredthatquestion.

“Yeah,” Connor said gruffly. “I guess I am.”

Because it was one thing to admit inside his own head he was falling for Jesse. It was quite another to say it aloud. Especially to his baby brother.

“Okayyy,” Kelly drawled. “So what now?”

“If I fucking knew I wouldn’t be sitting here asking for your advice!” he snapped.

Kelly snickered. “Were you? Because you’ve mostly been swearing and muttering a lot.”

“Kelly,” Connor pleaded because he was kinda at the end of his fucking rope here and he really, really needed his brother to throw him a life preserver.

“Right.” Kelly squared his shoulders, forcing his face into a serious expression that looked totally weird on him. “Okay. So you want my advice.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, first of all, have you told Jesseanyof this?”

“No!” Connor protested, a little horrified by the idea. “Jesus, why would I do that?”

Kelly eyeballed him. “Uhh, because that’s what you do when you wanna date someone.”

“Date him?”

“Oh my God, Con. You can’t possibly be this stupid. Wait, never mind …”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you too,” Kelly said with a laugh. “Seriously.”

If they weren’t in a semi-public place, Connor would grab Kelly in a headlock and drag him across the table and give him a noogie like he used to do when they were younger. Or, honestly, he’d do if they were at their parents’ house, where he’d only get yelled at by their ma, instead of probably getting kicked out by a bouncer when it devolved into a full, knock-down, drag-out fight like it had when they were younger.

“Connor,” Kelly said slowly. “Listen to me. You like Jesse as a person, yeah?”

Connor nodded. As infuriating as he could be, he’d really grown on Connor.

“And you’re compatible in the bedroom?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Is he good with the kids?”

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