“Uhh, hi, G,” Jesse said, looking confused. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, um, puddle,” he said. “There was an, um, a puddle. Yeah, there was a puddle, and I cleaned it up. There are all sorts of supplies in the closet.”
“Okayyy,” Jesse said slowly, his gaze darting around. “Well, apparently you did a great job. I don’t see any sign of it now.”
“Yep,” Graham said. “Totally. Just didn’t want anyone to slip and fall, you know. We’re off to a good start and I don’t want to jinx us or anything but what if it was someone on the team? I don’t know what we’d do if one of us got injured or something, you know?”
“Sure.” Jesse shot him a funny look.
“So, what are you doing here?” Graham asked, desperately hoping to change the subject.
“Kady and I were doing some VR training work with Danny.”
“Oh, great. That’s, uh, super great,” Graham said. “But, uh, I thought you’d been doing that for a while?”
“We have been,” Jesse said. “But there was an upgrade to the software recently. The three of us were playing around with it and seeing what had been tweaked.”
They turned the corner and Graham felt nothing but relief at the sight of the exit. He just had to keep Jesse talking, so he wouldn’t have time to think about Graham’s weird rambling about the puddle.
Jesus. What was wrong with him?
“So, Halloween,” Graham said desperately. “Any ideas for your costume?”
Jesse’s expression brightened. “Yeah, I’m trying to talk Connor into a couple’s costume. I was thinking …”
Graham nodded along, the words going in one ear and out the other. He didn’t fully relax until they stepped out of the doors of the practice facility and into the crisp October air and Jesse waved goodbye, heading toward his pretty green Jag.
Graham got into his own vehicle with a relieved groan, leaning his forehead against the steering wheel to collect himself.
Maybe Thad had a point. As exciting as it had been to hook up at the arena, they probably shouldn’t do that again. Not when Gavin or Jesse or any number of people might walk by.
They’d gotten lucky this time. But there was no point in tempting fate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Thad worked late that night.
And the next.
He told himself it was because Andrea was still out and they were trying to get a temp hired, plus, it was still an incredibly busy part of the season.
But truth be told, he was fucking terrified.
Terrified he and Graham would get caught. Terrified he’d lose his job.
Although the closet incident had been hot, they’d nearly been discovered.
Jesse finding them would’ve been bad enough, but hisbrotherhad walked by. What if Gavin had come by a few minutes earlier? What if he’d opened the door andseenthem?
It felt like Thad and Gavin were making progress but what if this relationship with Graham derailed all that?
He said as much to Harlan, his therapist, who gave him a long, searching look and said, “What if it did?”
Thad floundered for a while, not sure what to say. Not sure how toexplain. Then the asshole asked what if he lostGrahamand that sent Thad’s thoughts into more of a tangle.
Finally, they dug into the shit he and Gavin had talked about, which left him feeling raw and reeling with questions and worries.
After his appointment was over, he left Harlan’s office and went straight home to think.
