Page 120 of Unrivaled

Gru licked Max’s nose.

“Oh, thank you. I needed that.” Max kissed his snout.

Then, finally, he looked at Grady again. “And here I thought this was a booty call.” If his voice rasped a little, Grady didn’t mention it.

“Come in and pet your dog.”

Max didn’t need to be told twice. He parked himself on the area rug in front of Grady’s sofa and rolled around with Gru for fifteen minutes, stroking his ears, rubbing his belly. The faint smell of the shampoo his Newark groomer used settled him in a way he hadn’t felt since he landed in California the first time.

But eventually he had to address a few real-life problems. “How’d you get him here, anyway?” he asked, reclining against Grady with Gru in his lap.

Grady cleared his throat. “Uh, team plane.”

Max tilted his head back to look at him. “Seriously?”

With a sheepish expression, Grady said, “I mean, I asked everyone first. No one was allergic.”

Grady asked his Condors teammates, who’d recently lost a game to their divisional rival, in which Max had embarrassed their captain in a very stupid fight, if he could please bring Max’s dog on the flight home. Max smiled and leaned back far enough to press an upside-down kiss on Grady’s jaw. The muscle there was starting to shrink again. “That’s sweet. But you know I can’t have him in my hotel room, right?” And he didn’t exactly need to add looking for a short-term rental that allowed pets to his to-do list.

“He can stay here.” Grady ran his thumb over the curve of Max’s hip. Max shivered at the touch. “I’ll give you a key so you can visit whenever. If we’re both out of town, we can find a dog walker.”

A key?“We?” Grady’s thumb took a southern detour. Max cleared his throat. “Kinda seems like you’re looking for excuses to get me to come over more often.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yeah, right. There was a Minions-themed dog bed in the corner next to a suspiciously sized Amazon box.

Max kissed Gru’s head. “Okay, down, please.”

Gru sighed, but he eeled off Max and onto the floor.

Then Max turned around so he could look Grady in the eyes. “What’s your end game here? In words.” He caught Grady’s hand before he could distract Max further. “Operating on unspoken understandings is not one of our strengths.”

“I want….” Grady bit his lips. “Idowant to see you more often. I brought Gru here because you said you missed him, and I want you to be happy. And he’s a good dog.”

“He’s the best,” Max agreed. “Keep going.”

With a deep breath, Grady did. “I don’t want to fuck things up with you because I’m acting like a sore loser. But sometimes I don’t know how not to be alone. I’m trying to do better,” he added before Max could recover from that emotional gut punch. “I felt better once I talked to you after our last game. I just don’t know how to start the conversation.”

Well, they were essentially both raised by wolves. But Max’s wolves were the kind who’d sent the other two of their three kids to therapy. Max went to hockey instead. “And you think”—giving me a key—“me being here more often is going to help solve this problem?”

“When you struggle with a skill, you practice.” Grady swallowed visibly. “I know I need to learn to let go of a game when it’s over. But maybeyouneed practice letting me react to things without making it about you?”

Suddenly Max’s heart was beating so furiously he was sure Grady could see it just as easily as if Max’s skin were made of tissue. It terrified him—but the good kind of terror, like the moment before puck drop of a big game or that last click of the track at the top of a roller coaster. “Maybe.” He licked his lips. “But chances are one or both of us will still need space at some point.”

“It’s a big house,” Grady said. “I was thinking we could have separate chill zones? We could even sleep in different rooms on game days if it gets too much in the same bed. I can be kind of intense.”

Max hadn’t been able to get his brain to shut up at bedtime for the past week, so he said, “Yeah, I can see how we might keep each other awake, and not in the fun way.” He pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he thought, because he wanted to be clear about what was happening but didn’t want to be the first one to say it out loud. “Kinda sounds like I’d be moving in with you.”

“How often are we both going to be home at the same time, really? A couple days a week on average?”

Max’s heart needed to cool its jets. “Okay, well, you’ve forgotten one small detail.”

Grady hummed. “You mean tonight’s game?”

The Pacific Division race was so close, if Max’s team won tonight, they’d take first place. If they lost, they’d get third and have to play the Condors in the first round. “Could be awkward if we’re playing against each other. It wouldn’t be the greatest foot to start off on.”

“You’ll just have to win tonight, then.”

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