Page 97 of Goaltender Interference

Connor slid in beside him, turned out the light, then hesitated, staring up at the dark ceiling. Did Jesse want comfort or not? They’d slept beside each other a handful of times now, but it had always been after sex. He wasn’t sure what the rules were now.

But Jesse let out a sleepy mumble, rolled over to face Connor, then mashed his head into the crook of Connor’s neck.

Smiling, Connor wrapped an arm around him, closed his eyes, and let the sound of Jesse’s soft breathing lull him to sleep.

Connor awoke to the sound of a door closing.

The sound had come from downstairs and he blinked sleepily, confused.

Jesse was nowhere to be found and he wondered if he’d left for some reason. Weird, but maybe he had a meeting he hadn’t let Connor know about or maybe he’d gone to grab breakfast or something—Connor didn’t have much in the fridge. He hadn’t wanted it to go bad while they were on the road.

With a shrug, Connor got out of bed. A glance at his phone told him he still had time before practice, so he showered quickly, belatedly noticing the damp towel hanging on the bar. Hmm, so Jesse had showered in here.

Too bad he hadn’t woken Connor or they could have done it together. He was quickly getting addicted to the feel of Jesse’s wet, slippery body against his. Hell, he was getting addicted to the feel of having Jesse around, period.

Connor dressed in team sweats, then jogged downstairs. On the second floor, Jesse’s bedroom door was still open, his bags unpacked and put away.

Huh. How long had he been awake?

On the first floor, Connor found Jesse in the kitchen, staring out the window, his breakfast barely touched.

“Uhh, hey,” Connor said. “Did I hear someone at the door a bit ago?”

Jesse blinked, turning to face him. “Yeah. Nolan forgot something for school.”

“Fuck.” Connor ran a hand through his hair. “What did you tell him?”

“That you were asleep?”

“Did he know you stayed up there?”

Jesse laughed. “No. Of course not. Why would I tell him that? Honestly, how stupid do you think I am? Besides,Vivwas here and I wasn’t about to?—”

“Jesus.” Connor felt shaky. His son and his ex-wife had been in his house while he’d been asleep. What if they’d gotten here earlier while Jesse was still in his bed? What if they’d needed to speak to Connor? What if there had been anemergency?

“Dude, chill,” Jesse said. “I can see you freaking out from here but it’sfine.”

“Is it?” Connor asked weakly, dropping onto the kitchen stool next to Jesse. “I don’t know. This is getting … complicated. Graham nearly caught us at the hotel and now this …”

Jesse rolled his eyes and got up. He walked over to a pan on the stove and took off the lid, piling some of the food onto a plate. “Here. You’ll feel better once you eat.”

Annoyingly, Connor did.

But even while they cleaned the kitchen together, Connor couldn’t fully push away the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he wondered if it would be better if they ended this.

They’d gotten away with it this time. But would they be as lucky the next?

“Hey,” Jesse said softly when Connor slipped on shoes and a jacket to go to practice. “Do you want to stop what we’re doing?”

Throat weirdly thick, Connor shook his head. “No,” he managed.

Jesse stepped forward, pressing his forehead to Connor’s. “Good,” he whispered. “Good. I don’t either.”

“Alright,” Darryl Schultz said, raising his voice. The babble of noise died down and Jesse shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. “We’ve got a home game against Dallas tomorrow and we have video to review. I’m gonna need you all to focus.”

Jessetriedto focus while he listened to their video coach review footage from the games in Edmonton and Calgary but thoughts kept circling in his head. He couldn’t help but feel both losses had been his fault.

If he hadn’t let in those goals …

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