Trade Deadline - Avon Gale Page 0,22

were about as clueless as Micah when it came to how the whole hockey thing worked. They were just as confused as he was by the rules, but they were way more interested in Daniel anyway.

“I want to see if he’s cute, but I can’t tell from all that equipment,” Quinton complained, leaning forward.

“He’s cute,” Micah said wryly. “Trust me.”

“Um, no.” Justice sighed. “You heard us talking about the hot bartender at the Fox and Hound and you thought we meant the other one.”

Micah huffed and rolled his eyes. “The other one.”

“You know,” Justice huffed. “The one with the weird teeth.”

“The—he has a gap.” Micah snorted. “I think it’s cute.”

“Sure, sure. But he’s not the hot one,” Justice continued. “We have concerns about your taste, is all.”

Micah got out his phone and scrolled to Daniel’s Instagram, then went through it to find a perfect picture. He settled on one of Daniel on vacation in Aruba with his hockey buddies last season. “That’s him.” He handed over the phone and waited, smug.

Justice whistled. “Yum. Look at those abs. I could have those. I choose not to.”

Quinton flashed a grin. “Right. We all choose not to, are you kidding, those are way too much work. But okay, fine, he’s a cutie—but I’m pretty sure that’s not his team that just scored, since the Toronto fans are all cheering.”

Wincing, Micah looked up from his phone and saw that, yes, indeed, the Wolves had scored. Daniel’s team had lost both other games, and he was worried that they’d lose this one, too. Micah might not know much about hockey, but he knew your team losing all the games wasn’t good in any sport.

The game ended up going to overtime, and after five minutes of no one scoring, there was a bewildering thing where the players took turns skating from the middle of the rink and shooting at the net. Micah had no idea what was going on, and Quinton and Justice seemed equally puzzled. As far as Micah knew, Quinton only ever watched baseball, and that was because Justice was a fan. A quick google explained the rules of a shootout, which happened when in non-playoff hockey, a team was still tied after the five-minute overtime. It all came down to the team’s best shooters and the goalies.

Micah felt bad for the goalies, but not too bad, considering the Thunder ended up winning when Daniel scored. He even cheered, picking up his cat, Cousteau, and holding him aloft triumphantly. “He did it!”

Cousteau, a ten-year-old, hefty orange tabby cat, gave Micah his usual unimpressed, put me down look.

“I know, I know,” Micah sighed, putting the cat down. “But we should celebrate!”

The cat gave an offended meow and trotted off.

“So,” Quinton said, giving Micah an expectant look. “Do we get to meet him?”

“Daniel?”

“No, the other hockey player you know,” Justice teased, rolling his eyes. “Yes, obviously Daniel. Or is he gonna be like, weird about it?”

“Why would he be weird about it?” Micah blinked. “I mean, you guys are weird, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“I think what Jus really wants to know is how serious this is, and like, is he gonna come to trivia night? Parties? Ash’s baby shower?”

“She’s not even pregnant!” Micah exclaimed, referring to a mutual friend. “Her and Bethany just got married like two months ago. She’s still writing the thank-you cards for the wedding gifts!”

“Ugh, I know, she sent me a text message and asked if it counted,” Quinton huffed. “I told her it did not. She made me watch all those fancy calligraphy lessons on YouTube with her, I told her she better send me her best work.”

“She sent this really pretty cardstock with fuck you, asshole in brush script,” Justice added. “We put it on the fridge.”

Micah chuckled. “That does sound like her.” He had to wonder if Daniel would like his friends. They were all various shades of the LGBTQA umbrella, artsy people who for the most part worked for non-profs or in some kind of cultural or social justice field. Ashley was the exception as a dentist, but even she did a lot of volunteer work and was on a few boards for easier dental access for less advantaged communities.

“And you know she’ll get pregnant fast, she’s eager to fill up that McMansion. But my point is, Micah, will Daniel be meeting all of us?”

“I don’t intend to keep him hidden in a dark corner, if that’s what you mean,” Micah huffed. Whatever else Daniel was, they