Page 42 of The Husband Game

Nico snorted. “No. He’s not perfect. He got really jealous when La Bouche came back from his knee shit two seasons ago.”

Noah Boucher was a former goaltender for the team. He’d been the first NHL player to come out of the closet a few years ago but other than being aware he was a big redhead with a sweet smile and a hot art gallery owner boyfriend, Charlie didn’t know a whole lot.

“I’m not familiar with that situation,” Charlie said airily. “Tell me.”

Nico grinned. “I was floating in and out of the team as one of the callups at the time so I wasn’t around for all of it,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “But everyone said Noah was really the leader of the team then. Goalies can’t be captains but La Bouche had been with the Fisher Cats forever and he was really the one guys looked up to. When he went out with a busted knee in the playoffs, D really stepped up. He was a way stronger leader with La Bouche gone, but when he came back, D got all weird. I think he really felt like he’d been overlooked and he got jealous. They had a little power struggle for a bit but they worked it out.”

“Seriously?” Charlie asked, disappointed. “That’s it? Dustin got jealous for two minutes, then got over it?”

Nico laughed, shrugging. “What can I say? He really is a good guy.”

“Hmm.” Charlie narrowed his eyes. “Were you surprised to see he got married?”

“Yeah, we were all pretty shocked. We didn’t know he was dating anyone.”

“Surprise!” Charlie said, striking a little pose in his chair. “I bet nobody expected me.”

“No.” Nico chuckled. “But if D’s happy, we’re good with it.”

“No one’s going to have an issue with all this?” Charlie asked. He gestured to himself. “I don’t want to cause problems.”

“On the team? No. No way. We’re tight,” Nico assured him. “It’s a great group. There won’t be any issues like there were in Evanston.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Charlie said with a smile. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he checked the screen. “Shit, I have to take this. Sorry.”

“No worries.” Nico shot him a lazy smile and took a long pull on his beer. “Catch you later, Charlie.”

* * *

Dustin glanced over to see Charlie disappear into the house with his phone. He’d been surreptitiously watching Charlie and Nico talk and a small, ridiculous part of him was glad Charlie had walked away.

Not that he was jealous. That would be ridiculous. Charlie could talk to whoever he wanted. It didn’t bother him that Nico was the kind of guy who oozed charm and people fell all over themselves to be with. Nico was a flirt, everyone knew that, but he was harmless.

It was the way Charlie smiled at Nico that drove Dustin crazy. The only time Charlie looked at him like that was when they’d been hamming it up for pictures or Dustin’s teammates.

He’d have to work on that.

“You’re not as subtle as you think,” Dominic Olson said drily.

Dustin glanced over at his teammate and sat back. “What?”

“You’re dying to stake your claim on Charlie to keep everyone else away.”

“We’re married,” Dustin said with a laugh. “I think that covers staking my claim quite thoroughly.”

“One would think. And yet …”

“Well, you know. We haven’t exactly been able to have much of a honeymoon.”

Dominic frowned. “Why is that?”

“Uh, things are a little complicated,” he admitted. “My social media post announcing our wedding was unfortunately ambiguous enough people thought I’d married a woman.”

“Dude, I thought you married a woman. I didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”

Dustin shrugged. “We wanted to keep it under wraps until we were sure it was serious.”

“I guess that’s one way to do it.”

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