Risking the Shot (Stick Side #4) - Amy Aislin Page 0,80

while he put Andy to bed. Sitting with Andy snuggled against him, one little hand clenched in Dakota’s T-shirt, Dakota opened up an ancient Atlas to a map of the country and pointed out Vancouver.

“That’s where Mommy’s moving?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re all the way over here.” Dakota trailed a finger across the page to Toronto.

Andy blinked up at him. “I don’t think we can walk that far, Daddy.”

“No,” Dakota said with a chuckle, glad he could laugh after Fiona had sunk the sun on his good day. “I don’t think so either.”

“Are you moving, Daddy?”

“No, of course not.” He buried his nose in Andy’s hair. “And even if I was, I’d take you with me. Where I go, you go.”

“Forever and ever?”

“Forever and ever.” Or, at least, until Andy was old enough to move out. Something to think about much, much later. Like in fifteen years.

“Is Tay moving?”

“No.”

But he could, which was a fact that had been plaguing his mind since Fiona left. Tay was at the whim of the NHL. With his team being so close to the end of the season and the playoffs, he wasn’t likely to get traded in the next few weeks. After? Trades happened in the off-season too.

Hugging Andy closer, he ignored the sting in his eyes. “I love you, Andy. It’s you and me against the world, huh?”

“And Tay.”

“Yeah,” he whispered past the knot in his throat, both thrilled that Andy loved Tay as much as he did and utterly terrified that he was setting them up for heartbreak. “And Tay.”

It took almost an hour for Andy to fall asleep. He kept jerking himself awake, blinking owlishly, then settling back down when he realized Dakota was still there. Pieces of Dakota’s heart chipped off every time he awoke with a gasp, piling at Andy’s feet in jagged slivers.

How had he not realized sooner that Tay could leave, just like Fiona?

The comparison wasn’t fair. Fiona had wanted to leave. Tay, for all intents and purposes, didn’t.

But he could, through no fault of his own.

Then again, that could be said of anyone he dated. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t bothered since he and Fiona split. There were no guarantees. There never were. Not in dating or anything else. Was he going to let an uncertain future get in the way of what he and Tay had?

Once Andy finally fell asleep, hand going lax on Dakota’s shirt, Dakota kissed his head once, twice, seven times, wishing he could protect him from everything and knowing he couldn’t. It was hard when Andy was so little and didn’t understand everything that was going on.

Heading downstairs, Dakota stood in the family room doorway for a minute. Tay hadn’t noticed him yet, engrossed in a textbook as thick as the last cake Dakota had decorated. He sat cross-legged right smack in the middle of the couch, textbook in his lap, highlighter in one hand. To his left was his tablet, and his backpack sat open at the foot of the couch, exposing a notebook and a second textbook.

Dakota’s heart stuttered. Sped up. The future was so close he could grasp it in one hand. It was right there, sitting not ten feet away on his couch, oblivious to how badly Dakota wanted to see him there every night.

He must’ve made a sound—Tay’s head popped up, a grin overtaking his face before it faded, to be replaced with eyes downturned in concern. “Kota.” Setting the book aside, he stood and crossed the room. “What’s wrong? Is it Andy?”

Dakota drew him close, burying his face in Tay’s neck.

Tay’s hands drifted up to his hips, hooking into the waistband of his pants. “Kota?”

“I like when you call me that,” Dakota mumbled.

“What’s going on?” Pulling back, Tay framed his neck, thumbs sweeping over Dakota’s jaw.

Nothing, he almost said, but he wouldn’t let Tay get away with that kind of bullshit evasiveness. His hands found Tay’s lower back and the warm skin underneath his T-shirt. “I’m in love with you.” The words were pulled from his throat, desperate and true.

Eyes lighting up, Tay’s lips curved upward softly, and he traced Dakota’s mouth with a thumb. “Why does that make you sad?”

“Not sad.” In fact, a gentle breeze might blow him away, that was how weightless he felt. “Just . . . aware that you could go away.”

“No. How could I?” Leaning their foreheads together, Tay whispered against his lips. “I’m in love with you too.” The words streaked against Dakota’s skin in a