“I can sense your disapproval,” Gabriel said.
“Because you’re a psychic?”
“No,” Gabriel said with a small laugh. “Because you’re frowning.”
“Oops.”
“No, it’s cute.”
Again, an internal shiver. Drew felt a blush rise in his cheeks and internally chastised himself for that. He hadn’t come to Orion to flirt with a local boy, but to get over the boy who’d broken his heart.
If Gabriel noticed the effect his comment had on Drew, he ignored it. “What I’m saying is that this town might not behauntedin the sense that there are malicious ghosts looking to cause harm and free themselves from the material world. But it certainly is a mystical place. Even tourists who stay here often report seeing things they can’t explain.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Is that sarcasm?”
“No,” Drew said after a beat. “I’m actually curious to see if I have any experiences I can’t explain. It might actually be nice to have some proof that the world is bigger than what I can touch and see.”
“That’s sounding like my job here is complete.”
“A job you’re not paid for,” Drew said. “Thank you for taking me on the tour, though. Are you sure I can’t pay you?”
“I do it for free,” Gabriel insisted, “because I like doing it.” They were back at the town square, now. “Though, if you wanted,” he said, “you could pay me by buying me lunch sometime. If you’re new to town, or here for the summer, I’d be happy to keep showing you around.”
Drew felt a clench of nervousness inside his gut. Gabriel’s comment could be interpreted as subtly asking Drew out on a date, or at least opening the door for Drew to askhimout. Drew knew he presented very masculinely, very traditionally “straight” (whateverthatmeant), and people rarely assumed he wasn’t. He liked it that way. But…he was away for the summer, in a place where (so far) no one knew who he was. What could be the harm in getting lunch with a cute local boy?
“I like that idea,” he said, shoving down the nerves that told him to say no. “Can I get your number?” He pulled out his phone and typed in Gabriel’s number while Gabriel recited it. He saved it under “Gabriel,” figuring if it became important, he’d ask Gabriel’s last name later. He sent a short text, just saying“Drew.”
Gabriel checked the time on his phone. “I should probably get going,” he said. “This is fun, and Iwishthat working with Irma was my real job, but I have an actual job I need to get to, if I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Drew said. “I’m looking forward to lunch.”
Gabriel started to cross the town square, headed back in the direction of Irma’s shop. “I am, too. Text me if you have any questions about Orion.”
“I will,” Drew promised. He watched Gabriel walk away and thought about how dangerous it was to have a crush on someone so soon after getting his heart broken.
Chapter 4
Drew
The biggest mistake Drew had made in his life,hedecided, was falling in love with one of his teammates. Drew blamed the mistake on hockey because it was hockey that had brought him and Quentin together. They wouldn’t have known each other from Adam until two seasons ago, when Quentin joined the Boston Minutemen, recruited right out of college.
Until that moment, Drew had been quite content to live his closeted life. Sure, he’d known that he was gay most of his life. It was hardnotto know that sort of thing about yourself. He’d lived in denial about it for a while, and gone through all-too-common religious trauma in late high school, and dated the girls he was expected to date, and decided sometime in mid-college that if he wanted to join the NHL (which he did), this aspect of his identity might not necessarily go with him to his grave, but it would definitely go to his retirement. The story he cooked up was that he was too focused on his career to have a romance with anyone. Estelle forced him into PR relationships every now and then, but those were mutually beneficial in another way. He kept his private and sexual life far away from his professional life, keeping his relationships brief and anonymous, preferring the dark spaces of clubs in other cities—ideally cities that weren’t in the United States. That meant a lot of summers abroad, where he’d enjoy anonymity on Caribbean beaches or at Asian resorts or in the steaming recesses of Turkish baths, exploring the wonders and joys of physical connection with other men, none of whom he’d see again. He was always very careful and discreet.
It was a lonely way to live his sexual life, and it didn’t allow him to form lasting romantic or sexual connections, but he knew he had to be okay with that. It was the price he paid for his privacy and for what he saw as his professional safety.
That changed when he met Quentin Hartley.
Quentin was marketed as an up-and-comer on their team, a young hotshot center. He was young, and he was attractive, and Drew had taken one look at him and had known he was a goner. He’d resented how he was head over heels for Quentin immediately. The younger player seemed to have eyes for Drew, too, and the mutual attraction was confirmed one dark night after a travel game when they collapsed on the bed in Drew’s hotel room, stripping off each other’s clothes and fucking for hours.
They hadn’t spoken of it for weeks, until Quentin had cornered Drew in the locker room after a late-night practice and kissed him while they wore only their towels. Quentin had knelt on the slick tiles of the shower room and sucked Drew’s cock until Drew came.
That, Drew figured, was the real beginning of their relationship.
It was purely physical for the first season that they played together on the Minutemen. They maintained a professional, even cool, distance when they were on the ice or at team functions, and then fucked like animals whenever they had the chance. There were no expectations of exclusivity, and feelings were strictly off the table.
They had fun hiding it, especially when the media decided that it would be profitable to pit them against each other as same-team rivals. It made no sense to either of them, but apparently, some sports reporter had taken an offhand comment that Drew had made about Quentin in an interview and had run with it.
