“Wow, you made this yourself?” he asked, and Madison did her best impression of a bobblehead, nodding excitedly. “This is amazing. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” she beamed.
“Can you help me put it on?”
Her smile faded only slightly. “I’m not good at that part yet, but I’ve been practicing. Oby, can you help? We have to make it tight so it doesn’t fall off.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want that. I don’t ever want to lose this,” Chase said solemnly.
Tobias walked over to the two of them, and Chase peered up at him from his spot on the floor, suddenly aware of his position.
Trying to keep his focus above the belt, Chase held up his hand so Tobias could secure the bracelet around his wrist, his fingers fumbling as he worked the thick thread.
“Hey, how come Uncle Toby doesn’t have a bracelet?” Chase asked, desperate to think about anything besides kneeling so close to Tobias’…Nope, don’t think about that either.
“He’s had a bunch, but I’m practicing tying them on myself, so they don’t last as long,” Madison answered. “But I’m getting better!”
“You sure are, Maddie-moo,” Tobias said as he finished tying Chase’s new bracelet. “How about we help you finish making breakfast and then we can eat? You and Gigi have to get ready for your girls’ day soon, remember?”
The rest of the morning featured the most adorabledisplay of family Chase had experienced in years. He’d always wanted kids of his own, ones he could love no matter who they grew up to be.
It took everything in him not to get too far ahead of himself and dream that his future could hold something like this. That it couldbethis.
20
IT TOOK EVERYTHING IN Tobias not to get too far ahead of himself and wish this could be the first of so many mornings with Chase in his home.
It was a dream he couldn’t linger on, no matter how much he craved it.
The more Chase interacted with Madison, the more Tobias wanted him. They’d hooked up once, and for all Tobias knew, Chase was a hookup kind of guy and wouldn’t want anything more than sex. Or maybe he didn’t want kids one day.
He didn’tthinkit was the case, but Tobias certainly didn’t know for sure.
After they finished with the mess of breakfast and the long process of cleaning up, it was time for Grace and Madison to head out for their girls’ day and Tobias and Chase to head to the basement for training.
They descended the stairs as Tobias explained his ideas for drills. He wanted to keep doing the reflex drills they’d been utilizing, but Tobias figured he should be doing more of them in full gear on ice to make it as close to the real thing as possible.
There was a huge difference between lunging after a reaction ball wearing nothing but shorts and wearing all his goalie gear. All of his padding and layers used to feel like a second skin to him, and he needed to get used to it again.
Tobias swung open the door to his training room and flicked the light switch, letting Chase into a place few people had ever been.
Kind of like another place he’d like him to be. One that hadn’t had any visitors in years.
‘Damn, you need to get laid. Your mind is stuck in the gutter.’
I haven’t had sex in years, my mind lives in the gutter at this point.
‘Well, do something about it.’
“Urrrrgh, shut up.”
“Um, I didn’t say anything,” Chase said, his voice laced with confusion.
Tobias spun to face Chase, who looked at him incredulously. Apparently, his thoughts were no longer staying in his head. Not a good sign.
“Uh, sorry, I, um, wasn’t talking to you,” Tobias said,struggling to remember how words worked. Was it too much to ask Chase to ignore his quirks?
Chase checked around the room, making sure they were alone before he turned back to Tobias.
