Page 18 of Goaltender Interference

After Gavin finished his coffee, he paid for the meal and they made small talk while they waited for the receipt. When they were out on the sidewalk, Connor thanked Gavin for supper.

“Looking forward to the season,” he said, lying through his teeth so badly he immediately felt like he needed to go to confession.

Gavin shook his hand. “Me too. I have a good feeling about it.”

Connor definitely did not.

Once they’d gone their separate ways, Connor went for a walk rather than head back to his SUV, trying to calm the turmoil in his head.

So there was no way out of this then. Not only would he have to deal with having a guy he’d fucked on his team, he was gonna have to live with him.

The sick feeling in Connor’s stomach grew.

What else could he do but try to push through it, try to treat Webber like any other goalie?

There were enough odds stacked against the Harriers this season. They didn’t need their captain freaking out about some guy. A teammate, a roommate, that was all Jesse would ever be. And Connor would do his best to get Jesse to see why the team needed him at the top of his game this season.

Connor fiddled with his phone for a moment, then hit his most frequently dialed contact. It rang twice before a woman answered, “Hello?”

Connor cleared this throat. “Hey, Ma? I’m gonna need your help.”

CHAPTER FIVE

MID SEPTEMBER

Car loaded up with enough caffeine to make a moose jittery, a shitload of snacks, and a banging road trip playlist, Jesse pulled away from his apartment building for the last time.

Most of his belongings had already been shipped to Connor’s house—and oh, how he’d cackled at the curt emails he’d gotten from Connor aboutthat—but his car was packed with the remainder of his shit and he had an eight-and-a-half-hour trip ahead of him if he didn’t get slowed down at the border or stop anywhere for gas or food or to piss.

Okay, so the last part was unrealistic but if he kept that to a minimum, he could totally pull this off.

He’d originally planned to do the trip in two days—stopping in Albany overnight—but he was running late and they were expecting him to be there tomorrow morning for some stupid PR thing. They were going to trot him and Connor around the Harrier Community Ice Arena—where the team’s practice facility was located—and show off what a good boy he was and how glad the team was to have him there.

Jesse should have left sooner but he had so many people in Toronto to say goodbye to and one final drink or dinner or party turned into another and … yeah.

Now he was going to be cutting it close.

Still, it was a beautiful day when he got on the road and headed for the border into New York state. He belted out some tunes while he sped along the QEW, heading for Buffalo. He’d been tempted to put the top down on the Jaguar F-type convertible he’d bought following their—Toronto’s—Cup win.

He wasn’t a Fisher Cat anymore, was he? Now he was a Harrier. God that feltweird.

But the stuff Jesse hadn’t shipped was crammed into the small convertible and he worried that with the top down, it would all go flying out.

Still, it felt good to get the car on the road again.

He’d always wanted a Jag and he’d immediately fallen in love with the lines of the car and the gorgeous and very, very exclusive shade of green it came in. He loved the power of the old-school supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 engine and he’d paid a pretty penny for all of it.

It was so worth it on days like this though, with the sun shining and the road ahead of him.

Unfortunately, Jesse’s good mood vanished at the border when he saw the line of vehicles at a complete standstill. He picked the shortest line, then watched in dismay over the next half hour when the ones on either side of him sailed ahead while his barely crept forward.

Again. And again.

Fuck. Should he change lanes?

Jesse chewed at his lip as he glanced at the lines on either side. No, they were longer than his and he couldn’t even get to them without being a complete dick and cutting someone off.

He’d never come through the border on his own before. Was this always how it went?

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