Page 51 of Goaltender Interference

The next morning, Jesse acted like nothing had happened. He was cheerful while he helped Connor make breakfast for the two of them and the girls, then chattered about training stuff on the way to and from HCI for an informal practice.

When it was time to head home, Jesse agreed to go out to lunch with some of the guys on the team.

Connor was a little disappointed. Honestly, he’d been hoping that they could sneak in a quickie while the kids were at school or with his mother, but he could understand Jesse wanting to get to know more of the team.

Tanner was one of the guys going, which sent a twinge of annoyance through Connor, but so were Luke and a handful of other guys. How could Connor protest? And what was he gonna say anyway? He wasn’t about to bethatguy.

Last night, after the sex, Connor and Jesse had laid down a few ground rules. Well, mainlyConnorhad, and Jesse had argued until they reached an agreement they could both live with.

Neither of them would hook up with anyone else until the end of the season, they’d both get tested for STIs, there would be no sex when the kids were in the house, and either of them could end it if it started to impact their playing, the team, or the kids.

Connor was gonna have to trust that Jesse would keep his word.

“You coming to lunch with us?” Luke asked when they left the locker room.

Connor shook his head.

“Meeting with Gavin.” Luke grimaced. “Have fun with that.”

“Thanks.” Connor glanced over at Jesse. “You’ll be fine to get home from lunch on your own?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do a ride share. It’s cool.”

“Excellent,” Luke said, draping an arm over Jesse’s shoulders. “That means you can try some Boston beer.”

“Dude, I’ve had Sam Adams before,” Jesse protested and they were off, arguing about beer and Connor shook his head at how easily Jesse was already meshing with the team. He should have expected this.

“Hey, Webber,” he called out. “Don’t forget, we’re doing supper and a movie with the kids later.”

Jesse shot him a thumbs-up and called out, “I’ll be back by then,” in a cheerful tone and then he was gone.

“So, how’s it going so far?” Gavin asked fifteen minutes later when they were settled in his office with sushi takeout from a nearby seafood place. Honestly, Connor’s favorite things on the menu were lobster mac n cheese and clam chowder and Gavinknew it, but he couldn’t complain since training camp did start tomorrow.

“In general?” Connor asked. “Pretty good. The get-together at my parents’ place went well.”

“Glad to hear it. Any problems with Webber lately?”

“Nope, he’s been on his best behavior,” Connor managed, though all he could think about was Jesse sprawled out on the sheets, covered in a mix of both their cum.

Oh fuck.Connor went a little light-headed. He reached for a spicy tuna and scallop roll and stuffed it in his mouth. Clearly, he was hungry from practice.

Gavin coughed, smothering a laugh. “I findthatdifficult to believe.”

“Okay, well,” Connor amended. “Since the PR day, he’s actually been pretty compliant. He seems eager to start the season and he’s making friends. Isn’t that what we wanted?”

“No, of course it is.” Gavin snagged some pickled ginger with his chopsticks. “I just wanted to be sure you’re not getting lulled into a false sense of security. I know you have kids, so you know what these things are like but …”

It hit Connor then that Gavin thought of Connor as being a father figure to Jesse. A mentor. And well … Jesse was twenty-four. Only ten years older than Nolan. Which meant Jesse was closer to Nolan’s age than Connor’s.Fuuuck.

Though, thankfully, Connor wasn’t actually old enough to be Jesse’s father. That was one small mercy.

“Right.” Connor cleared his throat. “No, I get what you’re saying. Silence and good behavior is suspicious and all that. But I think Jesse is off to a good start. How long that lasts … well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Though, for what it’s worth, I don’t think the kid has any serious interest in being a troublemaker. I think he … ends up in situations.”

Gavin scoffed, eyeing him skeptically as he helped himself to a piece of salmon nigiri. “I hope you’re right.”

“I can’t promise nothing will go wrong,” Connor said with a shrug. “But I am doing what I can to keep things on an even keel.”

Which was agreeing to hook up with Jesse. Okay, maybe not the usual approach but desperate times called for desperate measures, right?

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