Page 51 of The Marriage Policy

“I’m too nervous to eat,” Hayes says. Poor guy. It must be hard seeing his boyfriend out there.

“I’ll go with you,” Anthony says to me.

We make our way out of the aisle. Rylan got us great seats with a perfect view. Hayes’s and Rylan’s parents have season tickets now, but Rylan’s parents stayed home tonight, so they got extras for us.

“So…how are things going with you and Eric?” Anthony asks.

“We’re having sex,” jumps out of my mouth.Smooth move, D.

“Nice. He’s sexy and sweet.”

“What do you mean nice? It’s going to be a disaster. I know it! And he is, isn’t he?”

Anthony frowns. “I don’t like this. You’ve been the most optimistic of the three of us from the start. What’s going on?”

I sigh. He’s right. “Malcolm ruined me for believing in romance for myself, and Eric is… If something goes wrong, I risk losing him.”

Anthony pulls me aside, the two of us leaning against the wall. “I’ve known the two of you less than a year, and I can tell you there’s zero chance of you ever losing that man. He’s fucking crazy about you, Dono. I’m pretty sure he believes you’re the reason the sun comes up in LA every day.”

“The sun doesn’t come up every day…” I say ridiculously. The thing is, I know how lucky I am, and I know how much Eric lovesme, but that doesn’t mean this can’t go terribly wrong. I don’t have it in me to stop, though.

“I still think you have some questions you should be asking yourself about you and Eric, but don’t count yourself out from any possibilities before they happen, okay?”

I nod, unsure what to say or feel. I can’t let myself consider if there could ever be more than friendship between us…or if I would want that.

We hurry to concessions and get the food. The second period has already started by the time we get back.

“Sorry it took so long. Was the line out of control?” Eric asks.

“It’s okay. I didn’t miss much,” I assure him.

We watch as Rylan’s line makes another trip onto the ice. I don’t think he’s playing as much as he would if it was the regular season. They likely don’t want to risk their stars getting injured, but from what I know about hockey—which admittedly isn’t much—he seems to be doing well.

Hayes is about as obsessed with hockey now as he is with Rylan, at least when his boyfriend is playing, and it’s fun to see him jump and cheer and enjoy himself. This summer, he shared with us what it was like when he proposed to Malcolm at one of last year’s preseason games, how even beforehand Malcolm made him feel stupid if he cheered or said something wrong. I imagine he had to have some complicated feelings getting with a hockey player and then being here again, but Rylan’s shown our friend how much he deserves to be loved.

“Thank you for never making me feel stupid,” I tell Eric.

“Why would I ever do that? And how could I ever do that? You’re the smartest person I know.”

Sweet as it is, he’s a bit misguided. “I’m not that smart. Just normal. And I don’t mean bookish stuff, just…everything.”

“I could never make you feel dumb because I don’t think anything you do is dumb. I think it’s awesome.” He gives me awide, happy Eric grin that warms my insides and almost makes my cock twitch. Now that we’re hooking up, it’s hard not to get turned on by him all the time.

“I think you’re awesome,” I reply.

“That’s because I am.”

“Oh my God! Did you see that?” Hayes’s arm wraps around me, pulling me close and nearly choking me. “Rylan just got an assist on Volkov’s goal!”

“Can’t…breathe,” I tease.

“Yikes. Sorry. My boyfriendishot, though,” he says, as if any of us would disagree.

I think maybe I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Right now, everything in my life feels strangely perfect.

While we finish watching the game, I avoid eating any of the nachos when Eric offers them to me. I don’t want to take risks in case we end up messing around tonight. The Rebels win three to one. Rylan immediately skates over to the boards, pointing at Hayes. We have passes around our necks, and security lets us by so we can head over to meet him.

“Hey, cutie. Did you see that assist? I did it for you,” he tells Hayes.

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