Page 131 of Goaltender Interference

And Jesse smiled because Declanlookedscary as fuck but he was the perfect patriarch for the family. It was easy to see what kind of captain he’d been. Always looking out to make sure everyone was doing okay.

Connor was a great captain too, though Jesse had a feeling he was a lot harder on himself than he needed to be. He seemed to get up in his head about things, caught up in the legacy his family had already cemented and ignoring his own contributions to it.

Silly man.

Jesse would get him to see he was every bit as good as his father and brothers if it killed him.

Honestly, it seemed like that ran in the family. Nolan was just like his father. Speaking of …

Jesse glanced around to see Nolan standing across the room, animatedly talking to one of his cousins. Jesse waved at him, and Nolan gave him a wave back, his eyes lighting up.

Jesse forgot all about it when Catherine encouraged him to grab coffee and load up his plate with fruit and the platters with delicious-looking deviled eggs, mini quiche, and smoked salmon with dill on cucumbers.

The Harriers team arrived shortly after, the house growing exponentially louder and more crowded as guys filed in. Crawford looked hungover, still wearing his sunglasses as he made a beeline for the coffee.

“Rough morning, huh?” Catherine asked, amusement mingling with sympathy in her voice. She pushed a large mug toward him.

“So rough.” Luke gulped down the coffee, wincing, presumably because it was too hot.

“Sports drinks are in the refrigerator in the basement. Help yourself to whatever you’d like. I’ve got breakfast sliders over there too.” She waved at the countertop. “They might do the trick.”

“Fuck yes,” Luke said, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks, Mrs. O, you’re the best.”

“Truer words have never been spoken,” she said with a grin. “They’re gonna nominate me for sainthood soon.”

Privately, Jesse agreed with her.

Luke loaded a plate and disappeared into the living room.

“Hey,” Kelly said, sidling closer. “Glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Jesse said honestly. “Your family is great.”

Kelly shot him a look. “I see they’ve already got you trained.”

Jesse laughed. “They’ve been very nice to me.”

Honestly, probably nicer than he deserved. His reputation had preceded him and it hadn’t exactly been good.

“So, you got my text this morning, right?”

“Yeah!” Jesse brightened. “It’s so funny, we’ve both been in theOut in the NHLchat for a while but never really talked off it. You were one of the ones who started it, right?”

Kelly shrugged. “Wasn’t really me. Ryan Hartinger really got the whole thing rolling.”

“Still, I think it’s great,” Jesse said. “It’s nice for current and former queer players to have a place to talk about stuff.”

“It is,” Kelly agreed.

“Dude, Connor’s mom is thebomb,” Tanner said, approaching with a plate loaded down with food. He glanced at Kelly. “Well, I guess she’s your mom too.”

Kelly chuckled. “What was your first clue?” He gestured to himself.

Kelly had also inherited the red hair and freckles that seemed so common in the family. There was no mistaking it.

“So like, what’s it like being married?” Tanner asked. “Is itweird?”

“Nah.” Kelly’s smile was soft. “I love it. I do miss Anders when the team goes on the road though. It’s been hard having him retired but he loves running the skills camp.”

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