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But he just said, “Whatever you need, man. Leave me alone with the children. No problemo.”

“Are you sure?” Jed felt a flash of guilt and hesitated just long enough that he was still sitting there when Remy dropped into a chair on the other side of Bakesy.

“Lads!” Bakesy said. “She’s fuckin’ hot. What’re you doing here?”

Remy shrugged, picked up a bottle of water, and swallowed it down in a few big gulps. His throat was damp with sweat, and Jed was seized with a deep desire to lick it off.

Fuck. He didn’t know where that thought had come from.

“Seriously, man.” Bakesy wasn’t letting it go. “What’s stopping you?”

“Ah, you know how it is.” Remy glanced at Jed. “She was just having fun with me.”

“Nah. She was into you.” Bakesy shook his head. “I don’t know what the hell you were thinking. Wasn’t she, Jed?”

“I mean, she was all over you.” It came out sharper than Jed intended, and he hoped Remy and Bakesy missed the edge to his voice.

He couldn’t help it, remembering the way the girl’s hand smoothed over Remy’s pecs like she had a right to touch him.

Remembering the way Remy had let her.

Remy shrugged and picked at the label of an empty beer bottle on the table in front of him. Then he looked over at the dance floor, where Moreau and McBride were now at the center of a group of four or five women, like he was thinking of going back out there again. And Jed wasn’t going to suggest he do anything different, because Jed was keeping a fucking appropriate distance.

But Remy didn’t move, so Jed opened his mouth again.

“Maybe hooking up would help you stay loose on the ice.” The edge in Jed’s voice was sharper this time, and Remy flinched.

Bakesy noticed, too, and jumped in immediately.

“Dude, chill,” he said. “Lads is doing fine.”

Remy was standing up already, mumbling something that sounded like, “Yeah, I’m just gonna head out, I think.”

That left Jed sitting there with Bakesy glaring at him. “What even was that, Monty?”

“What do you mean?” Jed’s skin seemed too tight all over. He needed to leave, too. He should have left a while ago. Coming out was a huge mistake, one he wouldn’t make again. “You’re always telling people to get laid.”

“Yeah, but you’re not supposed to be scaring him off, asshole. You’re supposed to be supportive.”

“I was trying,” Jed snapped, even though they both knew it wasn’t true. “I’m going to take off.”

“A walk’ll do you good.” Bakesy gave him another long look and then made a shooing motion with his hand. “Okay, get out of here and get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Sleep didn’t help as much as Jed had hoped. He was still far too aware of Remy the next morning as he poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a banana.

“Hey. What happened to your boy?” Hal asked, coming up behind Jed and nodding toward Remy over on the other side of the room, where he was picking at his food next to Bakesy. “Try to get him to sit next to you on the plane, okay? Check in on him.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Hal.” The last thing Jed wanted was to spend a couple of hours sitting next to Remy, trying to make things less awkward again.

“Yeah, but Lads hasn’t hit his stride yet. Check in, okay?” Hal gave Jed a look that meant business. “He’s going to be a real asset if he can find a good groove. We need that.”

“Fine.” Jed finished the rest of his coffee in one gulp and winced as it burned his tongue. It was the only answer Hal would accept, anyway. “Anything else, Cap?”

“Nah, you focus on Lads, I’ll talk to the children who partied too hard last night.” Hal frowned at Moreau and McBride, who walked in just on the cusp of late, and moved purposefully in their direction.

Jed knew Hal wouldn’t let it go, so when Remy walked toward him down the aisle of the plane for the short flight home, Jed caught his eye and nodded at the seat next to him.

Remy raised his eyebrows as if asking, “Really?” But he also tossed his backpack in the overhead compartment and sat down with a sigh.