Page 156 of Body Check

And it’s only February, Gavin thought happily, surveying the room of guys celebrating together.There’s still time for them to accomplish more.

Tanner stood, holding out the player of the game prize.

This season, it was a gaudy wall hanging that had the words, “I love Harriers hockey, Boston, and like two people,” embroidered on it. Gavin had no idea who had bought the tacky, touristy souvenir—one of the equipment guys maybe—but it felt like it belonged to Connor, because that really summed up his personality well.

But whoever had bought it, it traveled from teammate to teammate, given to whichever player was deemed to have been the best player in the game.

Tonight, Tanner called out, “Great game, guys! Congrats to the captain for his five-game goal streak!”

A whoop went up and Connor lifted his hand in acknowledgment, face still red and sweaty from the exertion of the game.

“But tonight, this has gotta go to Turtle!” Tanner shouted.

Gavin frowned. He hadn’t heard that nickname before.

But when Rafe stood, towering over the guys sitting beside him, it all made sense.

“Turtle?” Dakota asked under his breath.

“As in, Teenage Mutant Ninja …”

“Rafael …” Dakota said with a roll of his eyes. “God, you guys are so weird.”

“We’re fun though, right?” Gavin asked, glancing over.

Dakota laughed, smiling up at him. “Yeah, you’re pretty fun.”

“Speech, speech, speech!” the guys chanted as Tanner handed over the wall hanging.

Moon draped it around his neck. “Thanks, guys. Great job tonight. This really should go to Mouse though.”

He grinned down at his D-partner.

“Mouse and Turtle,” Dakota muttered. “Seriously?”

Gavin snickered.

“Mouse is the one who made all the plays possible. He’s always making sure I’m in position and ordering me around.”

Mouse—honest to God—let out an outraged squeak. “I do notorderyou around!”

Jesse scoffed. “Yeah right. I can hear you all the time! You’re always shouting at him and telling him what to do. I mean, hey, whatever works for you guys, huh? Just keep the kinky stuff out of the locker room, am I right?”

He winked in their direction and Rafe flushed a dull red. “Uhh, let’s keep it going out there, guys!” he said, and the room erupted with cheers.

Smiling, Gavin turned to go, tugging Dakota along with him.

“You don’t want to hang around?” Dakota asked as they reached the hallway and turned toward the exit. “I know some of the guys said they were going to O’Neill’s later. They’re doing an unofficial Pride night thing.”

“Nah,” Gavin said, pulling him close. “I have a better idea. How about we go home and have a much more private Pride celebration of our own?”

Dakota grabbed his tie, twisting it around his hand, eyes gleaming. “Does it have to be totally private?”

“Nope,” Gavin said, dropping his head to kiss him. “It definitely doesn’t.”

EPILOGUE

“That wasincredible,” Dakota said with a happy sigh, standing up from the table that overlooked the stunning blue waters and white sand beaches of the resort.

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