Suddenly, I spot Aleks talking to some Sasquatch players beside the tree, and my heart leaps in my chest. He looks amazing. He’s wearing those skinny black jeans of his paired with a bright red turtleneck sweater. His green eyes sparkle like diamonds behind his black glasses, and it’s all I can do not to run over and jump him right here in front of everyone.
Now that I know he’s here though, my nerves are starting to kick in. Dec offers to lead me through some of my deep breathing exercises, but strangely, my nerves aren’t as terrible as they usually are. I’m about to make an incredibly personal speech in front of who knows how many dozens of people, but my anxiety is surprisingly manageable.
It’s not too long later when Kent comes to find me, his eyes twinkling. He asks everyone to gather around the big tree upstairs as it’s time for gifts, and he sends Declan and me up to find Aleks’ mom, Elaina, who’s setting up the gift area in front of the tree. She gives me a genuine smile when she sees me, giving me a huge hug that helps tremendously with my nerves. “Ben Jacobs, I remember you as a little boy.” She smiles. “You’ve grown into such an admirable man. Aleks has been talking about you. I know he’ll be so happy you’re here.” She gives me a wink as she bustles around getting a few more things organized. Kent appears a minute later, and I stand just out of sight of everyone in the room, almost behind the big tree. Aleks is standing off to one side, a lopsided smile on his face as he watches his dad thank everyone for coming and make a few quick jokes. But his expression turns to confusion when his dad looks over his shoulder at me and gestures for me to come out of my hiding place.
“So, just one more quick thing before we get to all the good stuff, which means, of course, before we get to the gifts,” he laughs. “We have someone special here tonight—I mean, aside from Santa Claus, of course, who will be making his appearance shortly.” Kent grins. “Some of you meatheads probably know of Dr. Ben Jacobs since he’s been researching head injuries and ways to make our game safer for a while now.” He clears his throat, eyes darting to me with a tentative smile. “But you might not know that Dr. Ben is also the son of the legendary Bob Prescott, who is also here tonight.” There are a few back slaps and cheers for Bob, something that brings a smile to my face, even with nerves swamping me. “Anyway, Ben wants to say a couple of words,” Kent says, and he gestures me over.
I don’t know most of the guys in the room, only the ones from the Sasquatch and a couple of old friends of Bob’s. I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse, but whatever, I’m not turning back now. Taking a deep breath, I step up beside Kent, who slaps me on the back and leans over, whispering into my ear, “Good luck, son, and thank you for everything,”
“Um, hi, everyone,” I start. “I won’t take up too much time here since I know you’re all excited to get to the gifting part of tonight’s program.” I grin, and there are a few whoops from the younger guys while most people stand there staring at me politely, wondering what the actual fuck I’m doing.Jesus, this is uncomfortable.
“So, um, the reason I’m here tonight is because I need to apologize to someone, and I wanted to do it publicly so he knows how much I mean it. He knows how much I hate public speaking.” A few polite ripples of laughter move through the room as I turn to Aleks.
“Aleks, when we first met and I figured out who your dad is, I told myself a story about you that was completely untrue. And even when I got to know you, part of me still clung to that idiotic story. I was so invested in that lie I allowed it to force me into making a dumb decision that tore us apart.
“Part of the reason I kept lying to myself about you was because I was scared of what it would mean if I didn’t. If I kept telling myself that you were someone you’re not, I wouldn’t have to face how much you mean to me. Because that was scary as shit.” I chuckle self-consciously. When I look up, Aleks has moved closer to me, chewing on his bottom lip nervously.
“I told myself something that happened a long time ago mattered more than the here and now. And I stupidly believed my family would want me to choose their past anger and hurt over my feelings for you, and that was another twisted lie. I’m so sorry, Aleks. I’m so sorry it took me so long to see how important you are to me. I promise you, I will never make such a stupid mistake ever again.”
His bright green eyes are shining with tears, and I have to swallow the lump in my own throat before continuing.
“So, I need you to know I’m not going anywhere. Not unless it’s with you. No job is as important to me as you are. And you’re my person, Aleks. You’re mine, and I’m yours, and as long as you’ll let me, I’ll follow you anywhere.”
The guys gathered around us are quiet, everyone waiting for Aleks’ response. My heart nearly beats through my chest as I hold my breath, hoping I haven’t royally fucked everything up and that he’ll take me back and give me a second chance.
Then, in one swift motion, he closes the distance between us and tackles me. I almost don’t have a chance to open my arms to catch him in time, but he wraps himself around me like a koala and crushes his mouth onto mine in a kiss that makes my knees go weak.
The guys break out into wolf whistles and hollers around us, and when we finally break apart, his face is lit up with the most amazing smile I’ve ever seen. “How could you even doubt that I would want you back? Of course I want you back!” His eyes are twinkling, and I can’t resist kissing him again, only breaking apart when someone lets out a loud wolf whistle and several guys start hollering for us to “Get a room!”
I tense, hoping that we’re not going to encounter any homophobic bullshit here of all places, although I knew there was a chance. But when I look around, all I see are smiling, happy faces.
“Alright, everyone, it’s present time!” Kent shouts just as one of the biggest defensemen on the Seattle Sasquatch, Gino Santucci, comes around the corner wearing the best Santa suit I’ve ever seen. The only reason I know who he is is because of his incredible eye color and thick dark lashes, making him look like he’s wearing heavy eyeliner and mascara when he isn’t.
“Ho ho ho!” he shouts. “Merry Christmas! Now, who wants to come on over here and sit on Santa’s lap?”
More good-natured laughter and shouting follow as everyone swings into the next phase of the party, leaving Aleks and me alone off to the side of the room. He grabs my hand and leads me out the french doors to the patio outside, pulling us into a less visible spot for a moment alone.
“Thank you for giving me a second chance,” I whisper, pulling him close again. “I promise I’ll never fuck up like that again.”
He laughs, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. “Oh, I know you won’t, Dr. Jacobs,” he says with a huge smile. “Because I have news for you. I got offered a job—in Boston! I’m moving to Boston too!” He’s literally bouncing with excitement.
“What?” I gasp. “What do you mean? How? What job?”
Aleks giggles. “I got this crazy call from Bruce Tremaine, the GM for the Boston Bears, a couple of days ago. He offered me an assistant GM position to replace one of those assholes he just had to fire because of the scandal.”
The whole hockey world knows about the scandal that they’ve been dealing with in Boston for the last few days. Hell, they had to fire a huge chunk of their coaching and management staff.
“Holy shit on a rope! Are you serious right now?” I’m laughing, but it feels almost like hysteria because I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Totally serious! It’s not a completely done deal yet. It all has to go through HR and stuff, but he wants me to have the job, Ben! I’m going to be an assistant GM for the Boston Bears!”
“Oh my fucking god, that is absolutely amazing!” I lift him up, spinning him around as we both laugh. “I can’t believe this. I’m so happy!” I breathe, finally setting him back down onto his feet. “But I meant what I said, you know. I really will follow you wherever you go, always. As long as you’ll let me, I’ll be here for you, I promise,” I say seriously.
“I know,” he replies.
Looking down at him, I can’t hold it back any longer. This man is it for me. “I love you, Aleks,” I whisper.
His eyes grow round, and he sucks in a short breath before breaking into another enormous smile. “I love you too, Ben.”
