Page 56 of Breakaway Goals
“Hey,” Hayes said, telling himself,be normal, be normal, be normal.
“You good?”
Hayes licked his lips. Dug his fingertips into his hip pad. “Yeah.”
Morgan shot him a bit of a knowing look. “Really? You’ve been quiet.”
And you’ve been hiding from me, from the moment you woke up in my bed this morning and kissed me like you meant it with your whole heart, and I kissed you back because I couldn’t help it.
“Focused,” Hayes corrected.
“Just remember that it’s the three of us out there. We’ve got your back and you’ve got ours. It’s not all on you.”
Hayes nodded.
“And, it’s . . .uh, a sixty-minute game.”
Hayes raised an eyebrow. “Any more captain-ly platitudes you want to say?”
The seriousness in Morgan’s face dissolved. “Fuck, I’m being weird, aren’t I?”
“Has Danny been bothering you, too?”
Maybe it was weird to bring it up, but it felt even weirder to be talking around it.
Morgan let out a little groan, and Hayes flushed before he could force himself not to react. “Yeah, ever since he saw that stuff I said about you.” His voice dropped even further. “I meant it all, you know? I should’ve said it a long time ago—”
“Don’t,” Hayes said, sharper than he’d intended. “I . . .you aren’t obligated to say anything about me. About how I play.”
Hayes hated and loved how earnest Morgan looked. “I meant it.”
“Yeah, I know.” Yeah, Hayes knew. Which was what made it so fucking awful.
“If Danny won’t quit harassing you, just send him my way, okay?” Morgan said.
“He’s not—is he harassingyou?” Hayes asked.
As annoying as Matt Daniels could be, it was obvious he meant well.
“No, no of course not,” Morgan blustered. “He was just giving me shit about that stuff I said yesterday. But it was all true, so I didn’t really mind.”
Hayes wasn’t sure he really believed him, but he wasn’t going to call him out on it. Not now.
They were going to have to talk about this, but it was going to be after the game, no matter how it went.
“Well, if that changes,” Hayes said, giving Morgan the easiest smile he was capable of right now, “you just letmeknow, and I’ll deal with him.”
Morgan returned an even brighter smile. “Alright.”
“And remember,” Hayes said, reaching out and catching Morgan’s arm before he turned away, “you’renot alone out there, either. I know you’ve got the C, and like a whole fucking nation ofyee haw Americansrelying on you, but you’ve got us—Danny and me. The whole team, too, butus.”But me, most of all, Hayes wanted to say. Didn’t quite have the nerve to say it, but he felt it.
Morgan’s expression softened into something tender that made thesomething elsein his chest tighten and expand.
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” He shot Hayes a smile almost identical to the one he’d worn this morning, right before he’d leaned over and kissed him.
Hayes had to believe that they were going to be okay. That they’d figure this shit out. That thissomething elseinside him would eventually be satisfied and calm the fuck down.
Morgan had heard the talk before the tournament started. That this was only going to be a slightly different, no less physical example of the yearly and very pointless All Star game. That nobody would want to play hard. That nobody would hit. That the games would be just everyone skating around, shooting the puck like it was going out of style.
