Page 61 of Scoring Position

“Any other plans for the evening?” Ryan asked in an undertone. Maybe he could escape and spend the rest of the night alone with Netflix.

Nico blinked at him. “Presents?”

So much for that. “What?” The gift exchange was not a surprise—Ryan had even added his own contributions earlier that day, figuring in for a penny and all that—but the timing?

Nico tilted his head. “I know you know presents are a thing for Christmas.”

“Yes, but it’s Christmas Eve?”

“Oh, right,” Nico said. “Germans do presents today, after dinner, not Christmas morning.”

So there’d be no escape. “Presents it is.” At least Ryan wouldn’t have to worry about anyone waking him up early.

On the downside, he was now frantically reconsidering everything he’d bought, and it was far too late to do anything about it.

They settled into the living room around the tree, and Nico passed the packages around. He cast Ryan a startled look when he found the envelope addressed to his parents in Ryan’s handwriting, but he handed it over just the same.

Nico handed two gifts to Ryan, which unnerved him. The first was from Nico, who had unsubtly barred Ryan from looking at a delivery that arrived the week before. The second, however, was signedfrom Ira and Rudy.

At Ira’s urging, Ryan opened that gift first. Inside the small box from Germany, he found a collection of wooden ornaments. Flat and light, each ornament had a different scene cut out and depicted in an intricate outline. He especially liked the star with the Berlin skyline in the center. Ryan might not celebrate Christmas, but he could appreciate the artistry. “Thank you. These are beautiful.”

“You’re welcome,” Ira said with a fond smile. Rudy grunted softly but didn’t look mad, exactly.

“Very German,” Nico said as he leaned closer to Ryan to see.

“Very appropriate, then.”

Eventually, though, Ryan had to deal with the anxiety of Nico opening his present. He thought it was probably fine—everyone knew now what a nerd Nico was about his car—but what if it came across as too personal? Nico’s dad was already suspicious. Maybe Ryan had inadvertently ruined Christmas.

Nico was frowning slightly when he opened the box, but it was confusion and not disappointment. The heavy blue canvas fabric didn’t look like much folded up like that.

Then he pulled it out, and Ryan held his breath as he shook out a pair of mechanic’s coveralls, with Nico’s name on the breast and his name plate and jersey number on the back.

It also had a tiny image of Bert embroidered just inside the collar, but Ryan was hoping Nico’s parents wouldn’t notice that. He’d ordered them before he knew Nico’s parents were coming.

“These are nice!” Nico said in obvious appreciation, running his hand over the fabric. “Like the ones Grandpa had. Remember, Dad?”

No, don’t call attention to it!Ryan wanted to say, but it was too late.

“I remember,” Rudy said, holding up the coveralls to examine them better. “It’s a thoughtful present.”

Shit, Ryan was totally busted.

“Thank you,” Nico added, with a tone in his voice that Ryan really hoped was outside his parents’ range of hearing.

Ryan cleared his throat and managed a smile. “Merry Christmas.”

NICO’S MOTHERwas a genius.

The moratorium on hockey talk made spending time with his father a hundred times easier. For the first time in years, he was able to relax and enjoy the holiday. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was Ryan acting as a buffer, but it felt good to be able to spend time with his dad without wondering when the other shoe would drop.

Beating him at chess didn’t hurt either.

Things got a little awkward when they opened presents. Nico would’ve sworn he could feel his mother’s gaze on him as he opened the gift from Ryan. But his dad’s reaction had him on edge. He could tell his dad felt nostalgic at the coveralls, thinking about his own father and his childhood. But what he thought about Ryanknowingenough to reference that, Nico couldn’t tell.

Ryan had arranged a nice evening for Nico’s parents for their first game after the break, with a car service to pick them up and take them to dinner and then to the arena and home again, since Ryan and Nico couldn’t. Nico’s dad hated driving in North America; he was always complaining about the roads and the drivers and so on.

But Ryan didn’t know that, so the gift came across as more intimate than he probably intended. Nico avoided his dad’s gaze, because they’d agreed on no hockey talk but had definitely made no such arrangement about Nico’s sex life, and Nico was not about to press his luck.

---