He closed his eyes, slipped the mask over them, and let Thad’s soft touch lull him to sleep.
Graham woke a while later, still fuzzy-headed and confused as to why he had woken up at all. He pushed the eye mask up to his forehead, surprised when the light from the living room didn’t make him squint.
He glanced at the other side of the bed, wondering if Thad had gotten up to pee or grab water or something. But the sheets beside Graham were cool and he slipped the eye mask off, threw the covers back, and staggered out of bed.
The door was open, so he padded into the living room, rubbing his eyes. But when he turned on the light, blinking at the suddenbrightness, that was empty too, except for Murphy still asleep on the couch. He cracked one eye open, then closed it, as if to say he was tired of being woken up.
Graham knew the feeling. Exhaustion hit hard as he drifted through his apartment, turning on lights and hoping he’d find Thad somewhere nearby.
But the place was empty. A glance at the clock on the microwave showed Graham he’d only slept a few hours and he rubbed his eyes, confused and a little annoyed.
On the counter, he spotted a notepad and pen. It had been there when he got home with a note from Mrs. Glass, but now there was a new note in blocky handwriting.
Sorry. I couldn’t sleep. I was afraid I’d wake you if I kept tossing and turning. Grabbed a rideshare home. -Thad
It felt oddly impersonal, and Graham was a little annoyed at the lack of anything but the brief note.
After shutting off all the lights again, Graham closed the bedroom door and collapsed into bed, burying his face in the pillow. Of course, it was the one Thad had used, and Graham let out a quiet groan when he realized his scent lingered.
Damn it.
A part of him was annoyed at Thad for leaving without saying anything. Another part understood. He obviously hadn’t wanted to wake Graham. It was thoughtful but …
Graham yawned, sleep tugging at him and turning his thoughts to mush before he could decide how he felt about it all.
He hugged a pillow to his chest and let himself sleep again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next few days passed quickly.
Thad took advantage of the day off and ran some errands. His car still wasn’t ready—they’d foundanotherfucking issue—and he used the time to browse for some late-evening freelance photography gigs. He was going to need them to help offset the quickly rising car repair bill.
And then it was back to work and squeezing in one of those photography gigs. It wasn’t easy, the Harriers’ schedule kept him incredibly busy, but he’d rather lose sleep than watch his emergency savings disappear.
During the season, the gigs he picked up were usually situations where a photographer’s assistant cancelled at the last minute due to an emergency and they needed a warm body who knew enough about lighting setups and equipment to slot in.
Thad didn’t mind. They weren’t exciting creatively but they helped pad his bank account and make him a little less anxious he’d be completely fucked if the Harriers let him go.
Plus, Thad was focused on the home opener and Graham was too.
He wasn’t deliberatelyavoidingGraham—they texted a little—but he didn’t go out of his way to bring up why he’d left in the middle of the night and Graham didn’t either, so he figured he’d wait until they had some time alone again in person.
The team managed to pull out a win against Columbus for the home opener, which seemed to make everyone in the organization—plus the fans—let out a collective sigh of relief. Starting the season with an extended winless streak would have put a damper on the excitement of hockey returning and it took a lot of pressure off the guys.
They had a lot of work to do still, but that home opener win had boosted morale.
That win also meant a celebration at O’Neill’s Pub.
It wasn’t a private one—the team hadn’t rented out the space for their private use or anything—so it was packed with hockey players and fans alike as Thad wove his way through the crowd to the bar.
He ordered a drink from the white-haired Irish bartender, slipping a few bucks into the tip jar in thanks for his service because yeah, Thad had worked as a barback for a while in New York and the job fuckingsuckedwhen the place was as slammed as this one was.
Thad caught a glimpse of Graham across the room, talking to Connor and Jesse. He wanted to go over, to pull Graham aside and talk to him, but his brother was around here somewhere, and Thad was half-afraid he’d give them away. Or someone would overhear.
So he played pool with a few guys on the team.
A woman nearby eyed him appreciatively while he waited for his turn and normally, he would have played it up for her, but he was not a single man anymore.
