“Harry. He said you’re still going by the office regularly, and since you typically avoid Harry and the office when you don’t have to be there, we both assumed you and Sky were close.”
“Well, yeah. I just thought you’d mention asking him to house-sit when your son lives ten miles away and could easily handle the unnecessary chore of watering your two plants,” I snarked.
“Do not take a tone with me, Colby. And don’t misconstrue a friendly gesture into a ‘Harry is the bad guy’ scenario. He likes Sky. He feels sorry for him. His parents aren’t in the picture, and other than you, he doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. And he’s struggling to make ends meet. Since you’re good buddies, I’m assuming you know all that,” Mom said patiently.
I pulled my sunglasses from my collar and put them on before flopping onto the bench.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Then let us show him kindness. I can’t imagine any parent cutting off their child. It’s evil and unthinkable. I hope you know I’d never do that to you. You could come out as a Sharks fan and I’d still love you,” she joked.
I snickered at her lame attempt at humor. “That will never happen.”
“Well, I’d love you anyway. I’m making a lasagna and freezing it for Sky. Anything else I should get for him?”
“Ice cream,” I replied automatically.
“Okay. Any special flavor?”
“He likes everything. Especially chocolate chip. But if you could get five gallons that would be great.”
“Five gallons? Oh, I see,” she said in a “mom” voice, “I’ll make sure there’s plenty to share…if you happen to come by the house to keep him company. And I’m sorry we’ll miss another game. I’ll be at the next one for sure. Now, are you okay?”
I assured her I was fine and changed the subject as I made my way across campus. I peppered her with questions about their upcoming winery trip to deflect her attention from me…and Sky. I wished I hadn’t said anything. I wished I wasn’t such a dick about Harry. I chuckled to myself because Harry and dick in the same sentence would always make me laugh. Then I thought about her casual “coming out” comment and immediately sobered.
She didn’t know about Sky and me. She couldn’t. We were careful and very hetero-acting. We didn’t give anything away. Did we?
8
“This house is insane. A stocked fridge, movie-sized flat-screen TV, a pool, a hot tub…I could get used to this.”
Sky raised his beer in a toast, then took a sip and set it on the edge of the hot tub next to mine. He propped his elbows on the ledge and stared up at the starry night sky. I draped my legs over his and flattened my hand over the bubbles in the water.
“Hmm. This feels good. I lost count of how many times I got shoved against boards tonight. My muscles are so sore,” I groused.
“This will help. My dad always insisted I use the hot tub after games and practices to relax my muscles. He may be an asshole, but he was right about a few things. I didn’t like sitting in a hot tub when I was a kid, though. I always wanted to be in the pool.”
“Hmm. Me too. I never lived in a house with a pool, though.”
“Really?”
“Really. We didn’t have one in Michigan. My dad took me to the public pool once in a while when it was wicked hot in the summer. And when I moved here, Mom had a condo in Long Beach before we moved into Harry’s place in Naples. It was right on the water, so the beach was my pool.”
“Must have been nice,” he replied idly.
“It’s was fine, but I hated it. I would have hated anything, though. I told you I wasn’t a fun teenager,” I admitted with a wry half grin. “I really hope I don’t have kids like me someday.”
“Do you want to have kids?”
“Yeah. I think so. Do you?”
Sky rested his head on my shoulder. “I don’t know. I’m afraid I’d fuck up. You’d be a good dad, though.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re fun, but you know when to get serious. You’re smart and you’re generous with your knowledge. You’re kind without being a pushover. And even when you get mad, you don’t blame anyone else for your mistakes.”
I cocked my head curiously, then ran my fingers along his jaw. “Thanks. I’d like to think that’s all true. But when I get mad, I kinda lose my shit, so I don’t know.”
“Oh, please. When was the last time you totally lost your shit?”
“Tonight. I got in a fight with a fucker from the other team who shoved Logan so hard, he ricocheted into another player and left an opening for his right wing to score. It was a dirty play, and if the ref wasn’t going to call him on it, I was.”