“I’m glad that happened.”
He lets a beat pass. “Will it happen again?”
I rake my teeth over my bottom lip before answering, “I couldn’t stop it if I tried.”
Landon smiles, opens my hotel room door, and disappears.
Any and all willpower and common sense I once had leave with him.
Chapter 19
Landon
The walk over to Abbott’s house is precarious because Ocean Pines isn’t the best at salting the streets. Grady almost eats it on a patch of black ice, and I have to catch him.
“Watch it,” I warn as he steadies himself. “Don’t injure yourself, or we’ll have to rely on Michaels.”
“I assume you’re talking about for goalie work, not… other things?” Grady wiggles his eyebrows as if I need the visual cue to know what he’s referring to.
“If you put visions in my head of Tyson Michaels doing things…” I stop talking and make a gagging sound.
Grady laughs.
“Welcome, boys!” Abbott calls out, pulling our attention to the humble beach house. He’s standing in the door that opens onto the three-season porch and waving. We walk a little faster, but still cautiously, and reach the driveway as he says, “Sorry we didn’t do this sooner. I was so preoccupied with the injury, and then my sister-in-law was in the hospital, and my other sister-in-law gave birth, and I just… I was a bad captain.”
“You don’t owe us a dinner, or anything,” Grady says, stepping inside before me. “I’ve been traded a lot and sometimes I’m lucky if the captain even gets my name right in the first month, let alone invites me out for dinner.”
“Yeah. I’ve played for guys like that, too, and I’ve never wanted to be that guy.” Abbott smiles as my feet hit the pine floor and the warmth of the room engulfs me. There’s a scent of something floating around, too. Roast chicken, maybe? It makes my mouth water. “I can’t believe you guys are living in Ocean Pines, too. I mean, I knew you were Eli Casco’s son, but I didn’t know you were also Braddock’s nephew and related to Henricks. I grew up riding my bike up and down your street here in Ocean Pines, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of Jude Braddock every summer. The best moment of my life was when I rode by when I was twelve and he was playing a game of street hockey with some of the kids, and he asked me to join. He even signed my shirt. I was star-struck.”
“Uncle Jude is great that way,” I reply. “Meanwhile, I grew up following your career. You were just a few years ahead of me, and I thought it was so cool you were from Ocean Pines.”
“I thought two single guys like you would live in Portland, not here. It’s not too sleepy for you?”
Grady shrugs out of his coat before me and turns to hang it on the row of hooks by the door. The move is casual. Confident. He’s always like that with everything, but my brain snags on his movements for some reason, like something is… off?
“Well, I mean, I may move down there eventually, but it’s kinda cool to be so close to the ocean,” Grady replies. “And I’m not into the bar scene much anyway. I basically grew up in one, so I’ve had my fill.”
“Right. Your dad owns the most popular place in Silver Bay, right?”
“Right. And it’s not that hard an achievement because Silver Bay is only slightly larger than Ocean Pines,” Grady replies.
“Landon?” Abbott says my name, and I realize I’m expected to participate in the conversation, not just watch.
I pull my arms out of my coat sleeves. “I’m still waiting on my Los Angeles property to close. When that’s done and I have some free cash, I’ll look at what’s available. I can’t squat in the family home forever, but there isn’t a lot on the market in Ocean Pines. I’ve never looked for a place that was just my own, so it’ll be interesting.”
I should be excited about that, according to my mom. Not having to worry about anything other than what I want should be liberating, but it’s not. I never thought of being in a relationship as a burden or an inconvenience. I cared more about making Angie happy than I did about what style home we were living in. I see decisions about house style and location, and, dear god, furnishing a new place, as a burden now, not a joy.
“I’m sorry about the break-up. You guys were together for a long time,” Abbott says quietly. “Must be hard.”
I shrug. “It’s been an adjustment, but she was right, it was for the best.”
“You really think it’s done, or is it a break?”
Grady stiffens beside me so abruptly that it catches Abbott’s attention, and he glances at him. “My partner and I were high school sweethearts and we ended badly, and things got really dark for both of us,” Abbott explains. “It took years and years, but here we are now. Been together seven years and about to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.”
“I love how he makes us sound like a Hallmark movie.” A man in an off-white cable knit sweater stands in the doorway, holding a dish towel in one hand. “It was like a badly written soap opera for a while there, but… it all worked out.”
“Grady, Landon, this is my blunt husband Declan,” Abbott tells us.
