Their gazes met and Gavin frowned. “Hey. What are you doing down here?”
Guilt crawled across Thad’s skin.Fuck, this was totally payback for the time last year he’d caught Gavin and Dakota coming out of the elevator after what they’d gotten up to on the rooftop deck.
Thad deeply regretted that now.
Well, he’d regretted it for a while because he’d been an ass to them both. It had struck him as wildly hypocritical of Gavin to get involved with someone who worked for him when he’d been the one lecturing Thad about his behavior.
And okay, maybe Thad had kinda pushed his luck flirting with everyone in the organization when he first started working for the Harriers but that had been when he’d been feeling shitty and off-kilter about having to beg for a job and uncomfortable with the idea of everyone in the organization knowing about his past.
Or, at least, the official party line about his past.
It was better now, now that Dakota and the O’Sheas, and the board of directors knew the truth. Better now that Thad was invested in staying here in Boston working for the Harriers.
“Thad?” Gavin prompted.
Thad snapped back to reality. “Uh, um. I was, uh, watching a movie with Graham. What areyoudoing here?” he countered.
“Checking on a rookie. He got very drunk, and Connor was a little worried about him. He texted Graham, but he didn’t answer. Which isn’t at all like him. I was coming to check on him too but if you say he’s okay …”
“Yep. He’s totally fine. He must’ve had his phone on silent or something,” Thad said, silently praying Gavin wouldn’t knock on Graham’s door. The leftover movie food wouldn’t look too suspicious, but the bed was pretty rumpled and with the candles …
“Guess so,” Gavin said, studying Thad’s face.
“So, uh, the rookie’s okay?” Thad asked.
Gavin nodded, suddenly looking tired as he dragged a hand through his hair. He was braver than Thad was, not trying to hide the silver in his hair and beard the way Thad did.
But he supposed it helped give Gavin a stamp of authority in a league where most general managers were a decade older. Or more.
“Yeah, the kid’ll be okay. He just made a bad choice tonight. He was puking his guts up in the toilet when I left. Dr. Pope checked him over and other than a nasty hangover, he should recover. We gave him something with electrolytes and one of the trainers said he’d stay in there and keep an eye on him overnight. Connor offered?—”
Thad scoffed, because of course he had. Connor was quiet about it for the most part, but he looked out for his guys like a hawk—no pun intended.
“I know, right?” Gavin said. “But I told him to get some sleep. No point in starting the season with an exhausted captain and first line center if we can help it.”
“Good call.”
“I’m okay at my job, I think,” Gavin said.
Thad gave him a half-hearted smile. “Better than that.”
Gavin let out a rueful laugh. “Only time will tell.”
“True enough. But, c’mon,” Thad said, nodding toward the elevators. “Let’s head up to our floor.”
“Yeah, okay.”
They walked to the elevator in silence but once they were on it, Gavin jabbed at the button, then leaned against the wall. “So, what movie did you and Graham watch?”
Thad’s mind suddenly went blank. Honestly, he hadn’t been paying much attention to it. It took a moment before the title popped into his head, and he gratefully blurted it out.
Gavin nodded. “How was it?”
“Uhh, nothing special?” Thad hedged as the doors opened. “You know the type. Lots of explosions and car chases.”
Gavin chuckled, holding the door open so Thad could step out ahead of him. “Yeah, they are kinda formulaic. I heard this one had a twist at the end though.”
Panic filled Thad’s body as Gavin joined him in the corridor.
