Page 140 of Body Check

“It’ll be our first date,” Gavin teased.

Dakota looked startled. “Oh, I suppose it will be.”

Gavin gave him a crooked smile. “This is what you get when you get involved with a busy, important man like me.” He winked to let Dakota know he was kidding.

Although … well, it was true, wasn’t it? The busy part at least. His time was limited. Even if he was working to find a better work/life balance, he was never going to be the kind of guy who had a nine-to-five Monday through Friday job.

But Dakota shrugged. “Worth it. Besides, we’ll have all of next summer off, right?”

Gavin winced. “Uh, I hate to tell you this, but summer is pretty bad for me too. Free agency and the combine and draft and all …”

Dakota laughed. “Ehh, we’ll figure it out. Together.”

He sounded so happy, so sure of himself and of their relationship that Gavin reached out and pulled him close, pressing a quick but sizzling kiss to Dakota’s lips.

“Fuck I love you,” he murmured.

Dakota smiled, cupping his cheek. “Good. I love you too. Now, I’m going to go downstairs and get my workout in. See you after the game?”

“See you then,” Gavin promised.

Later that evening, following a brief press conference, Gavin sat in a box on the executive level of the arena and held his breath as he stared down at the ice. The team wasn’t even playing at the moment since it was the middle of the second intermission but, God, he needed them to pull out a win tonight.

At the moment, the score was 3-4 and not to Boston’s advantage.

It would take a while to get Rafael Moon settled into his role. For him to learn their defensive system. The guy had arrived today and was probably tired and stiff from the flight here and the shortened pregame preparation. But even thetiniestglimmer that he might be a good fit for the team … that wasn’t too much to ask, was it?

“So, do you think they’ll start speculating about us?”

Gavin glanced over to see Finn smiling as he nodded toward where they both knew the cameras were set up and probably trained on them. Especially because Finn was usually in the lower bowl with his kids.

“Speculating aboutus?” Gavin frowned, confused. “But you’re married. And straight, as far as I’m aware.”

Finn threw his head back and laughed. “Straight and happily married, yes. I have no interest in leaving Jenna for anyone else, especially you. I meantprofessionally, not personally. Although, I’m starting to think I should be offended that you looked put out at the idea of being romantically linked to me.”

Grinning, Gavin slapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry, man. You’re not my type.”

“Now Iamoffended.”

Gavin snorted. Finn wasn’t the best looking of the O’Shea brothers by any means. His pale skin and strawberry blonde hair made him look a bit washed out and he lacked the bulk his father and younger brothers had. But all of the O’Shea men possessed a certain charm. A certain swagger and knack for good banter.

It would make Finn fun to work with, but he did have a point.

“Don’t take it personally,” Gavin said aloud. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Right, you mentioned you’re dating the team’s yoga instructor, right?”

“Yoga and Pilates,” Gavin said proudly. “Dakota’s incredible. We’re really starting to see the results of his training. Faster skating, better flexibility, fewer instances of strains …”

He’d recently had to admit to Dakota that their deal had been fulfilled and he’d definitely earned the new equipment. Though it was Finn who’d be dealing with all that in the future.

Finn laughed. “We sure weren’t doing anything like that back when I was playing. It was all clean and jerks and box jumps and shit.”

“Took its toll on guys too, didn’t it?” Gavin said with a wry grin.

“It certainly did.” Finn shot a rueful glance toward his feet. “Two ankle surgeries for me.”

“There you go,” Gavin said.

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