Page 34 of The Husband Game

Dustin hid a wince.

He had debated if he was going to tell Matty about the arrangement with Charlie or not, but he was leaning away from telling anyone on the team. He didn’t like keeping secrets from them, but the fewer people who knew, the less likely it was to get out to the public.

Plus, although he wanted to be honest with Matty—one of his closest friends here in Toronto—Matty had been absolutely heartbroken after his divorce. He’d become a little bitter about ever finding the right person, and Dustin hated the thought of making him even more disillusioned about love.

It would be nice to have someone to talk to about it, but he did have Jamie, and why add stress to Matty’s life when it wasn’t necessary?

Besides, what if this thing with Charlie did work out? That wasn’t impossible, right? And if Dustin’s teammates knew how the relationship started, that would only complicate things.

“Charlie will definitely keep me on my toes,” Dustin said with a smile.

Matty leaned forward, brow furrowing. “So, this marriage wasn’t planned though, right?”

“No,” Dustin said truthfully. “It was very spontaneous.”

He briefly thought of Ava’s comment and smiled.

“Aww, I love that. You look so happy, man.” Matty beamed.

Dustin’s smile widened, though not for the reasons Matty probably thought.

On the ice, Matt Carlson was, frankly, rather terrifying. He was big and fast and he could get downright mean when the situation called for it. Dustin was glad they were on the same team.

But off the ice, Matt was the absolute definition of a teddy bear with a heart of gold and an incurable romantic. He wanted to believe in love; he was just down on himself about ever finding it again.

He was an odd and endearing bundle of contradictions.

“Seriously. I’m really happy for you, D,” Matt said, his blue eyes filled with sincerity. “You surprised the hell out of everyone, but I love seeing you with someone.”

“Thanks, man.” Dustin clapped him on the shoulder. “I better go check on Charlie though. People will be here in a little bit. Will you answer the door if anyone knocks?”

“Sure.” Matty looked amused. “Pretty sure everyone coming today knows the ropes though.”

Which was to walk right in.

Right. Maybe Charlie had a point. They really were going to have to talk about that.

Dustin jogged up the steps in search of Charlie and found him on the main floor. He was in the room that held little more than a grand piano Dustin never played. The space was open all the way up to the third floor—letting in tons of light—but Charlie stood with his head back, hands on his hips, frowning up at the ceiling.

“Did you get lost?” Dustin asked, amused.

Charlie shook his head, lowering his head to glance at him. “No, I’m just taking mental notes on what I want to change around here.”

Dustin chuckled.

He wasn’t wild about the décor either. But last season had been too busy for him to deal with renovations. He normally traveled in the off-season, but he’d planned to handle some work on the house this summer, which was why he’d stayed in Toronto in the first place.

“Well, we can discuss that soon,” Dustin said. He stepped forward, eyeing Charlie. “Hey. You look great, by the way.”

“Yeah?” Charlie glanced down.

“Definitely.”

Charlie wore tiny pale pink shorts that showed off his muscular thighs, and a white, pink, and green Hawaiian shirt, tied at the waist, along with strappy sandals. His eyes were made up with something sparkly and his lips were pink and glossy in a way that looked like candy.

Dustin wanted to lick them and see if they tasted like strawberry or cherry.

Or maybe raspberry. Tart and sweet like Charlie.

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