But Adam hadn’t given his home address to the driver. Instead, they pulled up in front of the practice rink. Etienne shot him a look as Adam tipped the driver.
“Adam—”
“No,” Adam interrupted. “Get out of the car.”
Etienne’s mouth tightened but he did as he was told. Adam took him around the side, to the players’ entrance, and Etienne followed him inside to the Wolverines’ locker room, dim and quiet now in the middle of the day.
Adam flicked the switch. “You can use Barlowe’s skates—he’s about your size and he always leaves a pair here. That’s his locker there.”
“What are you doing,” Etienne said very carefully.
“We are skating,” Adam said. “Put them on.”
He pulled out his skates as Etienne stood in the middle of the room, watching him. Adam pretended not to notice, lacing the skates up carefully and blessing the fact that he was wearing comfortable clothes he could move in.
Finally, Etienne pulled the skates out of the trunk Adam had indicated and sat down. His movements were stiff, uncoordinated, as if he’d forgotten how his joints worked. Adam’s heart ached for him but he set his jaw and tied his skates. It wasn’t the time for sympathy. Not yet.
He waited until Etienne stood, then tossed him a helmet. “Try that on.”
Etienne obeyed. The helmet fit and Adam nodded, pleased.
“Had a hunch Woz’s head was about your size. Let’s go.” He grabbed two sticks and a bucket of pucks and headed for the ice without looking back to see if Etienne was following, making a quick detour to the bank of switches that controlled the lighting.
Then he went up the tunnel and dumped the pucks out, tossing the bucket onto the bench before stepping onto the ice. He turned, skating backward, to watch as Etienne stepped out more slowly.
“Warmups, let’s go,” he ordered.
They warmed up slowly, careful not to stretch cold muscles too quickly, doing easy drills and exercises until Adam felt loose and tingly, his breathing comfortable in his chest.
“Passing drill,” he said. “This end to that.” He pointed.
Etienne grabbed a puck and sent it to him, and they were off. They traded the puck back and forth between them as they raced down the ice, and Adam wanted to shout with glee at how easy it was, the movement as natural as breathing to catch what Etienne batted to him and send it right back. He did a quick drop pass and Etienne caught it without hesitation, sending the puck ricocheting off the wall straight for Adam, who stopped it with his stick as they reached the other end.
“Again,” Adam said. “Keep away now.”
They switched it up, trying different maneuvers. Adam began testing him, curious to see how well Etienne could read his body language. He tried a dangle, faking an attempt to dodge around him, but nearly ran straight into him instead when Etienne didn’t fall for it, his eyes intent but not as grim as they had been. Backhand, drop, and saucer pass, Etienne kept up with him through every trick Adam tried, but he couldn’t get the puck from him, either.
Adam sent him the puck and then went after it. Etienne was every bit as fast as Adam, and his footwork was pushing Adam to the limits of his skill, but Adam’s puck-handling was just slightly better. He made a lunge but Etienne was there before him, vanishing around him with the puck on his stick to sink it into the open net. Then it was back to the bench to grab another puck and repeat the process.
They matched like two pieces of a puzzle, knowing instinctively which way the other would go and working together seamlessly to support a play if they were teamed up or blocking each other’s passes if they were facing off.
Adam got the puck away, raced down the ice, and sank it, Etienne on his heels. He threw his arms up in victory as Etienne tackled him to the ice, twisting so Adam landed on top of him. They landed in a flurry of limbs and skidded across it in a laughing tangle, fetching up against the boards.
Etienne’s cheeks had bright spots of color, the worst of the misery in his eyes swept away like cobwebs. He blinked up at Adam as if seeing him for the first time.
Adam tugged off a glove to cup his jaw. “Do you see it? How we fit?”
Etienne swallowed hard and nodded.
“Fuck him,” Adam said, holding Etienne’s eyes. “Fuck him, and anyone else who says you’re not good enough, not perfect exactly as you are. It’s you and me. Hear me? You and me. We’re a team, and there’s not a single thing I would change about you. Nothing. You are perfect.”
Etienne’s mouth worked and Adam bent to kiss him, fierce and hurting.
After a minute, Etienne’s hand came up to grip the back of Adam’s neck as his lips parted and he slipped his tongue into Adam’s mouth.
Adam made a noise of encouragement, wriggling closer. They kissed for several long minutes until Etienne broke away, half-laughing, hair mussed and cheeks pink.
“I’m freezing my ass off,” he said.
Adam scrambled upright, grinning at him, and extended a hand. On their feet, Etienne reached out and tugged Adam into a hug.
“You and me,” he said, voice deep in his chest where Adam’s ear was pressed. “Adam—”
“Let’s go home,” Adam interrupted. “I want to spend the rest of the day in bed. Think you can handle that?”
Etienne pinched his ass, grinning when Adam yelped. “Fine, but no donuts.”
18
A month later, Etienne got called up to the Freeze. He stared at the phone for a few minutes in shock before calling Adam, who had just gotten back from his own set of away games.
“Fuck yeah!” Adam shouted, making Etienne giggle almost hysterically.
“This weekend,” Etienne said. “Can you come?”
“Oh, like anything would keep me away,” Adam retorted. Something in Etienne’s chest eased.
He spent Thursday and Friday practicing with Rudy and Adam, focusing on his puck handling.
“Don’t be intimidated,” Adam told him the night before the game. “This is my old team. They’ll take care of you. Watch for Li when he gets jammed up. He’s wicked fast but he gets stressed when too many people are on him. If he knows you’ll take the heat off when he needs you, he’ll pass you the puck all day long.”
Etienne nodded silently.
“And Jetty will probably be your D-man. He’s a better skater than Tibby but he goes offside sometimes if things get fast—he tries too hard to anticipate where the puck will be. Gretzky he’s not.”
Etienne almost smiled.
“You’re gonna do great,” Adam said.
Etienne rolled on top of him.
“Whoa, hey, what happened to no sex before a game?”
Etienne smiled down at him, dark and full of promise. “You don’t have a game tomorrow.”
Adam gulped loudly enough to be heard in the suddenly quiet room as Etienne slid down his body. “I’m going to come out to my coach,” he said.
Etienne stopped dead. “When?”
“When the moment’s right?” Adam shrugged, going for unconcern, but Etienne wasn’t fooled.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.” Adam ran a thumb down Etienne’s jaw. “It’s time. Now what were we talking about?”