freshest. He examined himself in the mirror and finger-combed the front of his hair so it wasn’t falling into his face. He finally decided it was a lost cause and pulled a black winter hat out of his backpack. He had his favorite glasses on today, at least.
Maybe it was sad that he was so excited about a coffee with a friend, but he’d been having a hard time not obsessing over Eric Bennett lately. Every shift he worked at the Kingfisher he hoped Eric would walk through the doors, even when Kyle knew he was out of town. He’d watched most of the Admirals’ road games, some on the televisions at work, and some at home. His heart had fluttered every time the broadcasts showed Eric’s face, even if it was behind a mask.
Kyle could have texted him. He knew this, and had been tempted to do it several times. On Christmas morning he’d had a message all typed out—just a simple Merry Christmas—but he’d deleted it. For whatever reason, he’d made a deal with himself that he would let Eric make contact next. And if Eric never did, well. That was that, then. It wasn’t like Kyle had never been ghosted before.
It wasn’t like Eric had ever promised him anything.
So getting a text—an invitation—from Eric now, after a long and particularly tedious seminar class, was extremely welcome.
When Eric entered the café, Kyle’s stomach flipped. Somehow he’d forgotten how gorgeous the man was in person: tall and elegantly dressed in a long wool coat that was dusted in snowflakes. When he spotted Kyle, he smiled warmly, and Kyle silently commanded himself to be cool.
“Hi,” Eric said.
“Hi.” They stood near the counter, facing each other. Kyle’s hand twitched with the desire to touch him, but he didn’t. From here he could see the snowflakes that were melting into Eric’s hair, making it glisten.
“It’s, um, nice to see you,” Eric said. “It’s been a while.”
Had it seemed like a long time to Eric? Had he missed Kyle? “It has. Did you have a nice Christmas?”
“It was short, but good. It’s always nice to go home.” Eric’s smile fell. “I mean—”
“It’s fine,” Kyle said quickly. “Mom called me on Christmas. We talked for ten whole minutes. It was very festive. Apparently my older brothers are both doing wonderful things and my parents are very proud of them.”
God, why had he just said all of that? He saw unwanted sympathy in Eric’s eyes, so he changed the subject, “Let’s order. I need caffeine after that class.”
A few minutes later they brought their coffees to a small table in one corner.
“I heard that you made the All-Star team. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. It was a bit of a surprise, to be honest.”
“Why? You’ve been playing well this season, haven’t you?”
Eric gently removed the lid to his coffee cup and set it on the table. “Other goalies have been better. Younger goalies.”
Ah. This.
“Eric,” Kyle said carefully, “did you text me because you’re feeling old?”
Eric’s eyes went wide. “What? No, of course not.” But his brow furrowed in a way that suggested he was considering the possibility.
“I’ve enjoyed everything we’ve done together, and, honestly, all of the time we’ve spent together. But if you’re here because I make you feel young or something...”
“It’s not that,” Eric said quickly. “You are young, but when we’re together I—” He cut himself off. Kyle needed him to finish that sentence.
“You what?”
“I don’t think about our age difference. I think about it when we’re apart sometimes, but whenever I’m with you I just...forget.”
There was definitely something romantic about that admission, but Kyle did his best to ignore it. It was probably unintentional. “I must not be doing as good a job moisturizing as I thought,” he said dryly.
Eric chuckled. “That’s not what I meant. And I’m not here to feed off your youth. I’m around plenty of young men when I’m at work.”
“That makes two of us.” Kyle sipped his latte. “Is something on your mind, though?”
Eric fiddled with his coffee cup. “I still haven’t told anyone I’m retiring. And the road trips were...hard, I guess. Every arena we played in, I thought about how it might be the last time I ever play there. This might be the last time I’m flying from San Jose to Colorado with my teammates.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why those thoughts bothered me so much. It’s silly.”
“It’s not. You’re about to end an enormous chapter of your life.”
“I know.” Eric blew out