Page 61 of The Husband Game

When his steps faltered, Birdie looped her arm through his and smiled. “C’mon. This way.”

Charlie allowed himself to be dragged over to the stands but before he could take a seat, Matty called out his name, waving wildly.

“Hey! Charlie!” Matty called.

Dustin’s head went up and even from halfway across the ice, Charlie could see his wide, happy smile.

Charlie waved to both of them and they immediately skated toward the stands. When Birdie let go of Charlie, he went to the Zamboni door to greet his husband.

“Hi.” Dustin smiled widely as he leaned over the swinging doors to press a kiss to Charlie’s lips. “What are you doing here, kitten?”

“Surprise!” he said, wondering if he should have asked Dustin if this was okay. But he wouldn’t be smiling so much if he was unhappy about it, right?

“Good surprise,” Dustin said, his eyes warm as he looked Charlie over, his big, bulky gloves wrapped around Charlie’s hips, holding him close.

“Yeah?” Charlie bit his lip.

“Definitely.”

“Good. Birdie invited me and I wanted to stop by and check out your practice.”

Charlie tilted his head to look up at Dustin. God, he looked good in hockey gear. It made him even bigger and taller. A little flutter went through Charlie at the way Dustin looked back at him, all warm and happy, like he was really pleased to see Charlie there.

“That’s great.” Dustin ducked his head and brushed another kiss across his lips. “I hope you enjoy it.”

With one final kiss, Dustin skated away. A couple of the guys Charlie had met at the party buzzed by to say hello and Charlie held out his hand for knuckle bumps as they passed. A few others waved at Charlie across the ice but he quickly hurried away, taking his seat beside Birdie.

“Whoops. I don’t want to be a distraction,” he admitted.

She laughed. “Oh, trust me, you will be, but in a good way.”

“How’s that?”

“Because I bet you Dustin will be showing off like a motherfucker today.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Charlie sat there, breath held, watching Dustin skate. He was so beautiful. If he’d wanted to be a figure skater, he could have been.

He was probably too big to have ever made it as a singles skater but he would have been an amazing pairs skater.

As Charlie watched Dustin warm up, he wondered if same sex pairs skating would ever happen at the top international levels.

Not just romantic duets but synchronized programs with pairs of the same gender.

The International Skating Union had always been strict, with one of the rules explicitly stating pairs and ice dance partnerships include “one woman and one man.”

Which … eww. How rigid was that?

But a publicly out nonbinary skater had competed in the Olympics recently, so maybe someday things would change.

Charlie felt a little ache, imagining skating in competitions with someone like Dustin. Someone big and strong. He had a sudden mental image of Dustin’s hands on his hips, lifting him effortlessly into the air.

Of course, that might have only made his eating disorder worse with the added pressure that he be small and light enough to not tax his partner.

Still, Charlie could almost feel it. He could imagine how he’d fly in Dustin’s arms, the air cool on his cheeks, feeling weightless and free as they glided across the ice. For a moment, he was sad he’d never had the guts to push that envelope.

He’d pushed some of the rules but maybe he could have done more.

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