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“Yeah. Yeah, it’s great,” Remy said. “Much better than the hotel. I really appreciate it.”

Why wasn’t Jed saying anything? He was sitting there watching Remy, sipping the subpar coffee with an impossible-to-read expression on his face.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Hal said. “Okay, boys, don’t take too long to finish up. Meeting starts in twenty.” Then he and Bakesy both grabbed their empty plates and headed off to the conference room.

The silence lengthened to the point that it made Remy wonder if he’d overstepped by sitting with Jed and Hal and Bakesy instead of some of the younger guys. But then Jed asked, “So what do you think of Buffalo this year?” just like he would have if they were in the car driving to practice in Denver. And Remy felt himself relax a little bit more. He started giving his thoughts on the game that night and casually stretched his leg out until his foot bumped up against Jed’s, holding his breath until he was sure Jed wasn’t going to move away.

I am in so much trouble, Remy thought as he let Jed’s low voice wash over him. He needed to put way more distance between himself and Jed before he did something he couldn’t take back and messed up his chances for next season.

The Blizzards beat Buffalo by a healthy margin, which meant everyone was in a good mood for the short flight to Boston the next morning. Remy was as tempted as ever to sit next to Jed—he knew it was crazy, but he just wanted to breathe in Jed’s clean spice-and-cedar smell.

That wouldn’t be keeping a normal distance, though, so he spent the flight with Petey and Jake. It was too early in the morning for cards, so Remy listened to their trash talk about various Boston players and tried not to wonder how Jed felt about playing in the arena that had been his home for the majority of his career.

Based on Jed’s expression as they got dressed for the game, he felt fine about it. Not that Remy was going to interrupt his pre-game routine to ask. But Jed looked relaxed. He even gave Remy something approaching a smile as they sat down next to each other to listen to Coach read out the lineup. It was just a quirk of Jed’s lips and a crinkle at the corner of his eyes, but it lit a warm glow in Remy’s chest that sent him out on the ice feeling like Jed trusted him to get his job done right.

The glow stayed with him on the ice, where he was able to lock in and feed off the crowd’s energy in a way he hadn’t since the trade. And just like magic, he got his second goal for Colorado in the second period, which put the Blizzards ahead by one going into the third. Predictably, that meant Boston came out on a tear, playing with a determined energy that the Blizzards could barely match. Jed was a wall, though—“Mountain Man” was an apt nickname, even if he didn’t seem to like it—and he didn’t let a single one of Boston’s eighteen shots on goal in.

That left Remy with the game-winning goal, his first ever, and he was flying high as he walked into the locker room.

“Lads! You rocked it out there tonight!” Petey yelled, grabbing him in a bear hug as he walked into the locker room.

“Bringing the fire to Boston,” Jake added, giving him a fist bump.

“The Blizzards Lizard’s yours tonight, Lads,” Hal announced, draping the gaudy plastic necklace over Remy’s head and squeezing both of his shoulders for good measure. “Well done.”

Remy accepted the necklace and some fist bumps, feeling embarrassed but pleased by the attention, and started stripping off his gear. For once, Jed was also getting undressed at the same time.

“That was some fine hockey.” Jed gave Remy his second almost-smile of the evening, and Remy couldn’t. Even. He mumbled “thanks,” looked anywhere but Jed, and finally yanked his jersey up over his face so he didn’t have to see Jed at all.

Then he was pulled to speak to the media for the first time ever, and by the time he managed to stutter out a few words about how Boston was a tough team to beat but Colorado stuck to their plan and played strong, Jed was already in the shower.

“You must celebrate tonight,” Petey announced after Remy had taken his own shower and was getting dressed.

“Maybe one drink.” Remy finished buttoning up his shirt and wondered where he could stash the lizard necklace so he didn’t lose it and curse the team to eternal doom, or whatever ridiculous consequence Petey would tag him with. “How are you not exhausted? You played a lot of minutes tonight.”

“I’ve got so much adrenaline after a game like that. Don’t you? Glad you’re not gonna just duck out this time.”

Remy hung around while Petey and Jake packed up and then trailed behind them as they walked to the bus, caught up enough in their chatter that he didn’t notice who was waiting in the hall. And it was Jed who caught his eye first, looking amazing in a just-brighter-than-navy suit. The fluorescent lights should have made him look washed out but somehow brought out the red highlights in his neatly trimmed beard.

Remy was so focused on how downright sexy Jed was that Mike actually had to call out to get his attention.

“Hey, Remy. You looked great out there tonight!”

Remy came to an abrupt stop next to Jed.

“Thought I’d surprise you, since my team didn’t have a game tonight,” Mike explained, as if Remy had asked what he was doing there. Which Remy was definitely wondering, but his mouth wasn’t working. He looked between Mike and Jed, who was stone-faced again, with no trace of the good mood he’d been in earlier.

“Huh,” was all Remy could think to say. Surely Mike didn’t expect Remy to be happy to see him, or even worse, expect to go back to the hotel with him?

“Let me buy you a drink to celebrate that game-winning goal,” Mike continued smoothly, putting a hand on his back. And just like that, Mike was saying, “Monty, always a pleasure,” and steering Remy down the hall as if he had every right to do so, while Jed stood there and watched them go.

“I take it you really weren’t expecting me,” Mike said as they left the arena. Before Remy could answer, he waved toward the team bus and added, “I’ll meet you at your hotel, okay? Where are you staying?”

So. Mike did expect Remy to be happy to see him. Well, Remy could handle it like an adult and have a drink. He did owe Mike-the-coach a lot, after all, even if he owed Mike-the-almost-boyfriend nothing. He gave Mike the hotel’s name and climbed on the bus, dropping down in the first open seat he came to instead of heading back to where Petey and Jake were.

Even if he could be an adult about it, Remy still felt kind of nauseous. And a little bit mad. Maybe a lot mad. His best night with the Blizzards so far, and Mike had to show up and yank him back to the past? Did he think Remy was going to just, like, fall into bed with him tonight? Was that what this was about?

“Hey.” Jed sat down next to him. The seat was a tight fit for the two of them.