“Come step out back with me,” his dad said. “I want to check out this ice rink.”
Gem accepted his jacket from his stepdad and pulled it on. He wasn’t surprised that he was being called out. Gem knew better than allowing Nix to push his buttons. Nix was just trying to get a rise out of him since he hated not knowing something.
Following behind his stepfather, Gem shivered in the cold. He was getting more used to the cooler weather by being in Boston. But he still found it uncomfortable.
“This is amazing,” his dad said.
The ice rink that dragon Evan had made was truly magnificent.
He’d love to meet a dragon someday but wasn’t comfortable enough to ask yet. Maybe when they all went to Hawaii during the offseason. And Gem wasn’t kidding about having help keeping an eye on Aries and Nix.
“You know Nix just wants a reaction from you.”
“I know,” Gem admitted. “This time it’s different.”
“You have feelings for this guy?”
Gem laughed. “I’ve never even seen his face.” It felt good to get the confession off his chest.
His dad lifted a brow.
“We met at a club and wore masks. We’ve kept the masks even though we’ve only been able to communicate by video. He’s on the west coast,” Gem admitted.
“That can’t be easy.”
There was no censure in his dad’s tone. Gem huddled inside his jacket. He needed to talk about this. “There’s somethingabout him,” Gem shared. “This connection that I’ve never felt before. I don’t need to know his name or what he looks like under the mask. Not when what we have is raw and real.”
“Then you work on it like any other relationship,” his dad advised. “You be there for him and let him be there for you.”
“I’m trying.” But when Nix had mentioned Ty being in Hawaii with them, Gem realized he really wanted that. It would be over six months until they would be breaking for the offseason. Gem didn’t doubt that he would still have interest in his boy. He just didn’t know where their relationship would be at that point.
“You’ve never done anything the easy way or taken a short cut. Remember communication is key.”
“It’s hard to communicate when we have to hide so much,” Gem said.
His dad hummed. “Not if you’re talking about what’s truly important. Names don’t matter in the long run. Or your jobs. Share what you can and make sure you’re always honest.”
Gem could offer Ty more of himself. Maybe not about hockey but what he really wanted out of life. “That’s good advice.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” his dad teased. “To give my boys advice.”
“Maybe you should pull Nix out here next,” Gem suggested. “He can freeze his ass off.”
“I’m pretty sure that Evan will take care of him,” his dad responded.
“When my teammates or anyone talks about Evan, it’s always with this sense of awe. He’s friends with a couple of the older guys like Vin who played in the NHL, but he always held himself back. I was worried when Nix first fixated on him.”
“Leave it to our boy to surprise us all.”
“Can we go back inside now? It's freezing.” Gem might have whined a little.
“Yes. I need a hot chocolate.”
That sounded like a damn good plan to Gem.
He had some thinking to do about what his dad advised, anyway. Ty would be home in another couple of hours. It was time that Gem came up with a plan on how to still give his boy what he needed while moving their relationship forward. There had to be a way to give Ty the anonymity he needed while still broadening their relationship.
* * * * *
