Page 158 of The Husband Game

Charlie pressed a small kiss to his jaw. “I can see how hard you work at everything. You’re always trying to be the best captain, the best teammate, the best husband …”

“I am.”

“But the good news is, you’re already the best husband I’ve ever had.”

Dustin chuckled and squeezed him tighter. “Glad to hear it.”

“And I hear the way your team talks about you, Dustin. They love you. They think you’re great. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself for not getting it right one hundred percent of the time.”

Dustin let that sink in for a moment before he nodded. Charlie was right.

“Let’s both work on that then,” Dustin said. “Giving ourselves permission to be less than perfect.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Charlie let out a sleepy little sigh.

They were going to have to get up and go to bed. It was horribly late and Dustin was exhausted. He needed a good night’s sleep.

But for now he lay there in the dim blue glow and held Charlie close, feeling more settled than he had all week.

With Charlie by his side, he could do anything.

“I’m so glad there aren’t any more secrets between us,” Charlie whispered.

Dustin kissed the top of his head. “Me too, kitten. Me too.”

* * *

Charlie expected Dustin to get weird with him after his confession about his anorexia. He braced himself for it.

But it never happened.

He greeted Charlie with a big smile and kiss whenever he saw him and continued to act exactly like he had before he learned the news about Charlie’s eating disorder.

The only thing that actually changed was that he always let Charlie serve himself for the meals they ate together.

But he didn’t comment on Charlie’s small portions. He didn’t even say “good job” when Charlie actually went back for seconds of the grilled pork tenderloin they’d cooked together.

His gaze was warm and full of approval, but he didn’t comment.

And that made it a little easier for Charlie to put food in his mouth and chew and swallow. His throat didn’t feel so tight.

Meals weren’t quite as fraught.

It wasn’t some miraculous fix and nothing ever would be.

But it was easier to navigate now that there were no secrets hanging over them.

Charlie’s heart felt lighter.

But when Dustin asked if he wanted him to come with him to therapy, Charlie had no idea how to answer that.

When he’d talked to Bridget about it at his session that week, she’d looked a little surprised but said, “That’s entirely up to you, Charlie. I’m happy to meet with him for a few sessions if you’re comfortable with the idea.”

Charlie didn’t hate the idea but this didn’t feel like quite the right time.

So he told Dustin maybe in the future but not now and Dustin merely nodded, kissed his cheek, and changed the subject to talk about the season opener.

The Fisher Cats were officially kicking off the season with a home game against Ottawa in a couple of days.

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