Page 3 of Stick By Me

“Oh, Milo.” I pushed my last egg around on my plate. I’d really liked him, but once I’d seen him with his firefighting best friend, I knew it was over. “Turns out, his best friend wasn’t as straight as he’d thought, and Milo was in love with him.” An ache filtered through my chest. If only I could find a guy. Girls weren’t doing it for me anymore. Plus, coming out to Dad hadn’t been easy, but now I was out, I wanted to try having a boyfriend.

He patted my back, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders for a quick side-hug. “That sucks, man. I’m sorry. I’m sure there’s some nice guy out there just waiting to meet you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” The two of us were so alike it was uncanny. Both from Minnesota, both bisexual and both done with women. I bit into my bagel, the cream cheese mixing with the salt of the smoked salmon. This was my Sunday treat.

He unwrapped his arm from me, then slid his phone out of his front pocket. “Anyways, we gotta get going. We shouldn’t be late for our volunteer work at the Humane Society. It wouldn’t reflect well on the team.” He stood up with his empty cup in his hand. “Are you driving, or am I?”

“I’ll drive.” I ate the last of my eggs. “You drive like a lunatic,and we need to be injury free this week.” With a grin, I flicked my gaze up to his.

“You drive like a grandma.” He set his glass in the sink and rinsed it. “Scratch that. You drive slower than my grandma.” With a chuckle, he set his glass in the dishwasher.

“Yeah, whatever.” As I ate my bagel, I perused our old home in Tempe, not far from campus and the rink. The place had been renovated sometime in the eighties to maximize the number of college students it could house and now had six bedrooms. The main room was probably a lot smaller than the original floor plan, but it meant all six of us queer guys on the team could live together. Just how we’d planned it. The squad. That was us.

My gaze landed on our old, green sectional sofa and the oak tables surrounding it. Every piece of furniture had been donated by somebody’s parents. To the right of the sofa was our covered patio and beyond, our own personal swimming pool. Never thought after living in Minnesota I’d have a pool in my backyard. But it was pretty common in the Arizona desert. Funny to think we’d all be playing hockey out here, but it was where we found it would be easiest to all get on the team after juniors.

“Dude, what the fuck are you thinking about? Eat up. We’ve got to go.” Jonah patted my shoulder and gave me a sly grin.

“Yeah, yeah.” I stuffed the rest of my bagel in my mouth and stood up. I hated being rushed to eat, but he was right.

“But while we’re here, did your dad ever call after the game on Friday?” He slurped down more of his drink.

“No, he didn’t call. Probably doesn’t even know we won.” I breathed through the familiar wrench in my gut. He probably didn’t watch the game and it didn’t matter.

“That sucks.” He set his drink on the table and pressed his lips together. “Your mom was watching from heaven though. We both know that.” He eyed me up and down.

“Yeah…” My heart stuttered. Did he have to go there? I ate the last of my eggs.

“She was the best, man. She was always at every game back in Minnesota.” He scoffed. “That fucking accident?—”

“Okay, okay.” I held my palm up to him. I knew he meant well, but fuck, I didn’t need to be reminded of it right now. I stuffed my bagel into my mouth and chewed.

“Sorry. Just…you know I’m here for you.” He drank the rest of his smoothie. “Now, hurry up and eat.” He gave me a lopsided grin.

After drivingthe short distance to the animal rescue, we stepped out of my blue Honda CR-V, a hand-me down from a cousin up in Minnesota with rust inside the corners of the doors to prove it. After meeting Jonah in the front of my vehicle, I ran my gaze across the squat, masonry walls of the building, painted in white with a cartoon animal mural across it. Tall chain-link fencing ran along one side of the building, and a few dogs wagged their tails at us from inside. My heart ached. “Fuck, look at those poor things.” I pointed at a black dog, now jumping up on the fence. The things these dogs must have gone through before getting here.

“Hey, we’re going to make sure these pups have the time of their life today.” He patted my arm, then grabbed my elbow, and led me to a small glass door tucked away under an awning.

After stepping through the door, we stopped at a small desk sitting on a concrete floor. An older woman with dark hair and eyes peered up at us, lines wrinkling her face. “Hello, can I help you?” She flashed us a smile. “Looking to adopt?”

I scanned behind her at the rows of cages lined up on either side of the hallway behind more fencing. How many animals were living here? “Uh, no, we’re from the Devils hockey team. We’re?—"

“Oh, here to volunteer. Right on time.” She stood up and heldout her hand. “Name’s Delores. We’ve got a few volunteers here already.”

I shook her hand. “I’m Archer and this is Jonah.” I ticked my head at him.

Shaking her hand, he said, “Pleased to meet you ma’am.”

With a clap of her hands over her chest, she beamed at us. “Right this way. We’re cleaning out cages right now.”

Jonah’s gaze flicked to mine and he pinched his nose.

Leaning in, I whispered, “Stop it. I’m sure there’s more to it than that.” When Coach Patterson had asked us to go out and volunteer somewhere, I’d been the one to pick this place. It was something I’d always wanted to do, but never had the time.

“The dogs are getting some outdoor play time while we clean,” Delores said with a flip of her hand. She stopped at a cage and pointed inside. “Leo, I’ve got someone here to help you, dear.”

A man, bent over and picking up dog poop with a scooper and a bucket, tipped his dark head of hair up and his sultry brown eyes focused on me. Giving a million-dollar smile, he waved at us. “Hi. The dog that’s staying in here is like, a hundred pounds, so…”

My heart flipped in my chest as I raked my gaze down his tall, lean body wrapped up in a v-neck t-shirt and designer jeans. I swallowed hard. This guy was fucking hot. Older, but hot. “Uh, hi, name’s Archer.” I stepped toward the cage fencing with my hand out.

---