“Let me see,” Morley said, snatching the phone from his hands. “Very nice. Looks friendly. Great smile.” He handed the phone back to Tristan and shot Daniel a shit-eating grin. “Oh yeah, the guy is cute, too.”
Daniel shook his head again, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Morley could be a bit over the top sometimes, but Daniel had missed even the good-natured ribbing with how frigid the Thunder’s locker room had been until recently.
“You met him again, you said?” Ryu took a long pull from his beer bottle.
“Yeah. We were friends when we were kids. First crush, first kiss. That whole thing.”
“That’s adorable.” Of course Tristan would be the one to say so. “I was wondering if anything was going on when you started mentioning him all the time.”
“It’s still really new,” Daniel said. “Like, only a week old kind of new, and we’re taking things slow, but...he’s met Tabby and the kids. They all like him.”
Tristan tucked his phone into his pocket and settled back against Sebastian’s side. “All great things. Sometimes slow is good.”
“Slow can be very good,” Sebastian said, innocent for all intents and purposes, but Tristan shot him a look, and the glint in Seb’s eye made Daniel laugh again.
“Agreed.” Daniel saluted him with his bottle. “But yeah, I’m excited. About Micah and about making progress with the Thunder and seeing you guys. Things are finally turning around, I think.”
The buzzer rang, interrupting the conversation, and Daniel’s attention turned inward while Sebastian went to pay for their dinner.
He thought of Tabby, of his kids, of Micah and their new relationship.
Life might not be perfect, but there were positives. His children were happy; he’d started putting roots down in Florida again. And even if he wasn’t feeling totally satisfied with his hockey career at the moment, his place on the Thunder was feeling slightly less uncertain.
All he could do was keep pushing forward, one step at a time.
Chapter Fourteen
The thing about dating a professional athlete meant that even though Micah had confessed his feelings and they’d decided to date, the first date itself didn’t happen immediately. After their dinner at Micah’s and the intense make-out session in his kitchen, Daniel had to leave for a hockey trip to Atlanta to play his old team. Micah watched the game while pacing in his living room, still not entirely sure he understood the rules and googling things like what does offside mean? And is it really called a hooking penalty?
He’d expected more fights in hockey, but then he’d fallen into a rabbit hole about the role of enforcers in the game and watched a movie on Netflix called Ice Guardians. He couldn’t wait for Daniel to come back, because wow, did he have questions.
Except maybe he’d ask those after their date. Which, honestly, Micah was a little nervous about.
“You’re taking Hockey Hottie to see Jaws on the beach?” Cody, who’d been a helpful hockey go-to, was highly amused by Micah’s plan for his date with Daniel. “Do you wanna scare him out of the water? Is this a metaphor? What would it be?”
“It’s a date, not a metaphor,” Micah said, shaking his head. They were in the breakroom. “He grew up in Florida, Cody. I don’t think he’s afraid of sharks.”
“Still, dude.” Cody popped a few chips in his mouth and took a swig out of his water bottle. “Maybe you want him to get scared, is that it?” He waggled his eyebrows and leered suggestively.
“Yes, because we’re thirteen?” Micah reached over and stole a Dorito. “It’s supposed to be fun, you bring your own blanket or chairs and a cooler. We’re beach kids, it’s in our blood.”
“Good, definitely make jokes about blood in the water when you go see Jaws. Solid plan, Micah.”
“Cody, you work here,” Micah reminded him. “You know how rare shark attacks are, but now I’m starting to wonder if you’re afraid of sharks.”
“Duh. But I’m mostly kidding, it sounds nice. For real. I’m glad you’re dating someone, seriously. You’re a good dude.” Cody smiled. “And I’m not just saying that so you’ll hook me up with free hockey tickets. Uh. If the Thunder ever start winning, no offense to your boyfriend.”
Micah blushed, both at the compliment and at calling Daniel his boyfriend. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe they were really going to try this whole dating thing. What if it didn’t work out? He did just get Daniel back as a friend and the idea of losing him because of some ill-fated attempt at a romance was terrible. But Micah had to believe that even if the romantic part of their relationship was a bust, it wouldn’t spell doom for the rest of it.
And maybe he was a little worried that Danny would think his date idea was silly. Except honestly, who didn’t like Jaws?
As it turned out, he didn’t need to worry. He drove to Daniel’s in his Miata but they were, at Micah’s suggestion, taking Daniel’s car since they’d need the space for the chairs and the cooler—and Daniel, who only really fit in Micah’s car because he usually drove it with the top down.
“So, do I get to know what this mystery date is?” Daniel asked, helping Micah transfer the cooler into the back of his SUV. His dogs dashed around, barking happily and jumping up for pets as they ran by. He put a beach chair, one of the low-to-the-ground ones with room for a portable umbrella and drink holders, in next to Micah’s well-used and much-loved striped one. There was also a blanket, but sitting on sand for two hours wasn’t all that comfortable.
“In good time,” Micah promised. He smiled at Daniel, who looked tall and gorgeous in his jeans and plain navy V-neck. “It’s outside, there’s a hint.”
“Yeah, would you believe, I figured that out all by myself.”
“Who says pro athletes aren’t smart?” Micah breezed, then winced when he realized that sounded mean. “Wow, sorry, that was a mean thing to say.”
“Nah, it’s okay.” Daniel waved a hand. “But I’m a playmaker, right? Sneaky, brilliant, that kind of thing. Able to figure out my opposing team’s moves effortlessly.”
“Okay, Sun-Tzu. You wrote The Art of Hockey, I get it.”
Daniel snorted. “And my sneaky, brilliant skills also tell me that it’s not just outside, it’s on the beach.” He looked triumphantly at Micah. “Go on, you’re wowed, aren’t you.”
“I’m swooning, catch me,” Micah deadpanned, but he didn’t mind it when Daniel wrapped an arm around his waist and drew him closer. “Right again. Which means, Mr. Brilliant Playmaker, you might want to grab a hoodie or something. It can be chilly on the beach at night.”