The Right Thing

I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to get out of bed or get into the car. I certainly didn’t want to board the plane that would take me back to Boston. I drug my feet as I prepared to leave. A part of me, one that I wouldn’t admit to, wanted him to ask me to stay. I was feeling weak, like I would willingly stay, all he had to do was ask. I dawdled all morning, trying not to think about what it would be like to be back in my empty apartment with Sid too far away.

After meeting his parents and sister, the rest of the vacation had flown by too quickly for my liking. We’d spent most of those few days flying under the radar as best we could. We didn’t get caught out at any clubs and controlled ourselves during our few trips out and about. People certainly took notice, but they didn’t stare for longer than a couple of seconds at a time. They were remarkably respectful, but those out walking around Sidney’s small hometown were a different scene than those in the club where we’d nearly gotten ourselves slapped across the headlines. It was best to lay low, and it was certainly more our style anyway. The last thing we wanted was for Troy to have another panic attack over a picture that the internet somehow got ahold of. We kept things low-key in public.

Behind closed doors may have been a different story, but the safety and privacy of his home were ours to deal with as we pleased. We did just that, enjoying each other while we could.

Sidney still refused to speak with his agent, insisting that Pat could say what he wanted about the situation, but he wasn’t going to make an official statement. His father had grown to respect the decision and we’d even managed a couple of conversations during the short visits we’d shared with his family since our initial introduction. He wasn’t going to warm up quickly, but I no longer felt like he hated me, it was a plus.

I’d grown comfortable with his sister and felt like I was developing the same soft spot that her older brother carried when it came to the teenager. In the way he wanted to protect her from the world, I wanted to be able to guide her through it if she needed it. It felt odd, becoming attached so quickly, but she was a remarkable young woman. She was so much like her brother.

She’d spent an afternoon with us watching movies and teasing her older brother in the same way he teased her. He pushed her buttons, telling her that she wasn’t allowed to date until she was in her thirties and that anyone who wanted to be alone with his little sister would be required to pass his tests. She shot back that he was so lacking in relationships of his own, that she’d be married long before he found anyone who would put up with him; that someday she’d be testing his dates, winking at me in the process. I enjoyed the banter, and while I knew she was headed back to school shortly and they would be separated, I would miss the way they were together and the feeling made it even harder for me to leave them behind.

I promised Taylor that I would check in whenever I was in Minnesota, more than willing to make the 45-minute drive down to Faribault to see her at school. After I’d told her as much, Sidney made sure to thank me as well. He didn’t have the freedom to check in on her, especially during the hockey season but I could function like a go-between. I could be his representative when he couldn’t be there. I was more than happy to do the job. I was sure our style of checking up on her would be different. Sidney more the protective older sibling than I could ever pretend to be. But I would be more than happy to pretend.

What I was going to miss the most was Sidney, I couldn’t even pretend otherwise.

We’d still have phone calls and text messages. I knew that every day I would wake up and find a message from him bright and early. I would hear his voice and we’d video chat every once in a while. But it wouldn’t be the same. We wouldn’t fall into bed, a mess of sweat and sweet friction. I wouldn’t wake up in his arms or be able to kiss him at will when he was making eggs for us to share while I made my morning tea. I wouldn’t be able to run my fingers through his hair or smell the scent that radiated off of him like summer heat.

Something told me that if I uttered a word about wanting to stay Sidney would try to convince me to do it. He’d keep me in Nova Scotia until it was time for him to return to the states to train. Even then, he’d drag me all over hell and back with him while he trained over the summer. But at the same time, he respected that my life was very much separate from his. I had my own place and a city that I called my own as well. I had work and friends and things to keep me going in Boston. I was just beginning to wonder how much I really had going for me in the city that I was so sure I loved. Nothing really stood out when I tried to find answers to my own questions.

We didn’t talk about my exit at all during my eight days with him. It was never a subject we chose to approach even the night before I was set to leave. I packed my bags but he didn’t say a word about it. I made sure the pieces of clothing that had wound up in his closet or those that had been tossed behind furniture in the heat of the moment were all retrieved. I’d managed to lose a pair of underwear, but it wasn’t a terrible casualty in the long run. Still, we didn’t speak about the fact that I was preparing to leave.

But we did treat my last day in Cole Harbour differently than the others. We didn’t leave the house, we didn’t go out on the lake and Sidney didn’t drag me out onto the dock to go fishing. He didn’t slip off to the gym or the local rink to get in a workout. It was like the world outside of his house, even as close as his backyard, didn’t exist for us. We ordered our meals in and rarely left his bed. We stayed close all day and closer all night; just the two of us together keeping the world around us at bay.

We tried to make things slower, taking our time with every task, making sure that we took advantage of each and every minute. Each kiss and each caress mattered. Each time his breath hitched in his chest and each time I lost my own, it had to matter. It had to last.

But it was still over far too soon.

We said goodbye before we reached the airport with Sidney holding my hand the whole way there. I tried to distract myself during the flight to keep my mind off of what I was leaving behind me, but it was nearly impossible. Instead I found myself flipping through the photos that we’d taken while I was there with him.

I was glad to have a seat to myself at the back of the plane, safe from prying eyes as I went through the photos.

Most of the images were just of the area. I’d never been one to do a lot of travelling and when I did, I tended to take a lot of pictures to remember it by. My camera had been everywhere with me and I’d taken as many pictures of the lake and the town as I had of Sidney. I’d taken pictures of Sam and a few of Sidney and his little sister cracking up into their matching laughs. Just images to keep them close, to remember the details and to not feel so far away when I really was.

I found one that I hadn’t realized had been taken. I could only assume that Taylor had snapped it while she’d been over watching movies with us. Sid and I must have drifted off to sleep while we were curled up on the couch and she took a picture with my camera before we’d woken up.

We both looked peaceful, like we fit there, pressed up against each other and in a way, untouchable.

I was glad she’d taken the photo.

As I settled in back home, acclimating to Boston all over again, as if I’d been gone for ages, I did everything in my power not to miss Sidney. I tried not to miss Cole Harbour and Sam and the bond I’d so quickly developed with his Taylor. I was even starting to feel, that given time, I would begin to miss Trina and even Troy.

I went through my closets and drawers and donated old clothes and shoes that I never wore or that no longer fit. It felt like an accomplishment to clear out the old things, the things that I didn’t appreciate in the way other people might. It left my closet looking bare and I spent a few afternoons adding a piece here or there to fill the voids.

I washed the walls and floors and baseboards of every room in the apartment.

I scrubbed tiles and shined up windows that weren’t even dirty in hopes that a little more sunshine would make me miss him less. Instead, the light streaming through the windows made me long for afternoons spent out on the dock watching him fish as I soaked up the vitamin d. I spent a considerable amount of time with blinds and curtains closed.

I tried new recipes, things that I could make for Sid one day. I tried to teach myself to bake something other than cookies so I could make a pie or a cake the next time dessert was left up to me. But it was to no avail. I was a much better cook than baker which couldn’t be a bad thing; if I became too skilled with desserts I was likely to eat them all out of emotion and loneliness.

I ate at new restaurants, met with old friends at new bars, and even checked out a few different cafes. While I always wound up at the old defaults, the places that I knew I loved, it was change enough to serve as a welcome distraction.

I did as much freelance work as I could, filling my time and cushioning my bank account at the same time. But then I simply wasted the time between looking at the cost of flights to Pittsburgh and wondering how much a trip would cost in the long run.

Everything that I did, every step that I took, was designed to distract me between texts, phone calls, and Google Alerts, but all they did was teach me new ways to miss him.

I’d been struck around Sidney’s birthday that it was likely the busiest summer he had ever had. He was training like he had something to prove, and maybe he did. He needed people to know that he was capable of getting back to where he had been before his injuries. He needed to show people that he was healthy and strong and at the top of his game. He needed to prove to them that he was still the best, regardless of his time away.

More than that, he needed to prove to himself that there was another level. He needed concrete proof that he hadn’t peaked at 23.

But regardless of how busy he was or how hard he was working, he’d stopped for 8 days, slowed down to a near stop, and spent that time with me.

It still surprised me, perhaps even confused me a little. But more than anything, it made me love and miss him more.

By early autumn, he was headed back to Pittsburgh, hoping that training camp would be in his near future, but there were times that he didn’t sound hopeful. I knew that he didn’t want to seem defeated, but I could tell that he was concerned. It was clear that a lot of the players were.

He tried to get me to join him, but I told him that I was busy. I was, staying plenty busy with work that I kept pulling in to add to my pile of distractions. It wasn’t like I had no control over being swamped, but the truth of it was that I refused to be the reason that he lost focus.

Once he settled in, I would go for a visit, I assured him of it. But for the time being, his job came first.

CBA talks had him more than a little stressed out. He was finishing up with the new house that he swore he would live in for real, and that added to the stack of things he had to be concerned about as his summer started to pull towards a close. The only thing keeping a smile on his face, aside from his health, were the practices that he was sharing with his teammates while they tried to wait out a deal.

When the deal didn’t happen, I knew the phone call would be coming. It did, within hours of the news that the lockout was official, Sidney was on the other end of the line. It wasn’t long before I was on a flight to Pittsburgh.

I’d paid for the ticket myself, unaffected by Sidney’s protests about it.

“You don’t have to buy a ticket, Wyn. I’ll fly you out.”

“Nope.”

“Nope? That’s it? That’s all I get?”

“That’s all you get.”

“Bronwyn,” he sighed.

“Sidney, I may be coming to see you, but I’m going to spend some time with Sebastian too. You don’t always have to pay for everything.”

“What if I want to pay for everything?”

“Too bad.”

“You’re ridiculously stubborn.”

“Deal with it, Canada.”

He laughed, but he knew that I wasn’t going to back down. Arguing with me would be futile.

I headed for Pittsburgh on my own dime; quite a few of my own dimes to be quite honest.

I’d debated how to explain my presence to Sebastian. I had options and I spent most of my flight considering just how I wanted to handle things.

Option one was to say that I was visiting him, but it wasn’t the best option. If I told Sebastian that I was there to see him, I’d be at the mercy of his itinerary. And he was a skilled planner to say the least. There would be museums and nightclubs. We’d have a list of restaurants to sample and there would likely be a Steelers game in the mix if they were playing at home.

I would be expected to bunk with him in his loft downtown, not far from the apartment where Sid was spending his time until the house was done. I would meet all of his friends and drink more than was healthy for my self-control and my liver.

Worst of all, my time with Sid would be terribly limited, and I just wanted to be with him.

I could claim that it was work related. I’d travelled for jobs and consultations before. It wouldn’t be completely unheard of. But that was likely to give me too much free time and it would allow too many opportunities for him to take over and still limit my time with Sidney. Besides, the length of my visit was a bit open-ended and unless it was some big corporate gig, that wouldn’t cover my whole visit.

It didn’t help that I was a terrible liar and Sebastian knew me well enough to know all of my tells.

There was a third option.

I could tell him the truth, or at least some semblance of it.

I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be telling him who was seeing. That was going to remain a secret from most of the world for as long as possible. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my oldest friend; it was just that I didn’t want him to freak out about it. I felt like if he acted like himself and made a big deal out of the whole situation, it would only serve to freak me out. I didn’t want to deal with that. It just felt like a better option to stay mum about the specifics.

By the time I’d landed, I had made my decision. I had chosen my path in the choose-your-own-adventure-book that was my life. I picked up my rental car, an SUV that Sidney had clearly arranged as an upgrade to the coupe I’d been expecting, and resolved to tell Sebastian the partial truth.

I would be doing so with a margarita in my system.

Mexican food was a tradition, had been since high school and it wasn’t about to change just because we were in a different place.

We always went to the same restaurant back home, the only one in our small town. The food was good and the music was terrible. But we would go every few weeks just as a way to spend dateless Friday nights or as a place to go to escape when we were tired of studying. We’d order more than we needed or simply split a plate of nachos depending on the day.

But the real tradition of it didn’t start until we were Juniors in high school and had continued since.

I followed the GPS to Sidney’s address.

I pulled into the garage and parked where he’d told me to, the second space that belonged to the apartment. It wasn’t his place, it belonged to a friend that was no longer living in the city. It served its purpose, giving him privacy that the guest house that belonged to Mario didn’t offer. It would continue to serve that purpose until the house was finished, and knowing Sidney’s attention to detail, it was hard telling how long that would actually take.

I pulled my bags out of the car and headed towards the elevator. I gave a passing glance to the Range Rover that I knew belonged to my boyfriend and then headed up towards his place. He greeted me at the door, barefoot and smiling. He was still in workout gear, his hair a mess of curls that were out of control, having dried in the open air.

He’d likely just gotten home from skating with the pieces of his team who remained in Pittsburgh, and changing in a cramped room much less convenient than their locker room since the lockout kept them out of the facilities they were accustomed to. I was glad to see him before heading out to lunch with Sebastian.

Before I knew it, he’d swept me into his arms, completely off my feet. He hugged me tightly, making it hard to draw a full breath for a moment. I was acutely aware of just how hard he’d been training since I’d seen him last. He was like a brick wall.

He put me back on my feet, kissed me quickly, and moved to gather my luggage from me.

I’d packed lightly; we had no plans of visible public appearances so most of it was geared towards the casual and comfortable. There was one black dress, there just in case Sebastian dragged me out to a martini bar or eight. I’d travelled as casually as I could, sweats and a Crosby t-shirt for shits and giggles more than anything else. Sid found the presence of his number on my back amusing.

He led me inside, his hand wrapped tightly around mine. I was struck by how empty the place was. It was spacious and the walls were terribly bare. It didn’t really feel like a home, just a place where he stayed to fill the time. It sat like an empty shell.

A massive empty shell with more space than one man could possibly need.

I hated to imagine what the house he was building was like. It was certainly larger, but it was sure to be decorated to Sid’s tastes. It would be too much for one person, but a part of me knew it wasn’t his hope for the house. He didn’t mean for it to stay empty. He wanted to stay in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career, if not longer. He’d signed a new contract that would carry him through until he was pushing forty and he intended to stay in the house during that time. More than that, he intended to get married and fill the place with kids.

He’d made no secret of it. His mom came from a large family, one of eight children, and when he thought of what he wanted in the future, it looked something like what Mario had. He wanted a house full of kids and pets, a place to escape from the pressures of the part of his life that revolved around his sport. The place where he would live needed some life to not feel empty and at some point in the future, that was exactly what he intended to inject into it.

There was no question about the sleeping arrangements as he led me towards the bedroom.

Though I’d only shared sleeping quarters with him for one week over the summer, I still hadn’t grown used to sleeping alone. I’d taken to sleeping with a body pillow just to have something to fill the space that he would have taken up in my bed.

It wasn’t the same, but it helped a little in staving off the loneliness.

I doubted Sidney had the same problem. I envied the way he was able to fall asleep the second that his head hit the pillow. Without fail, if it was dark and his eyes were closed, he would be able to sleep. I wasn’t so lucky, and I never had been. Being without him just seemed to be making it a little worse.

“I cleared some closet space,” he said as he tossed my suitcase onto his bed.

“Well aren’t you just a helpful boyfriend?” I kidded.

“I do what I can.”

I moved to unzip the bag and set to work.

“I didn’t mean you needed to do it now. You could relax and hang out with me for a while. No rush, there’s plenty of time, babe.”

I sent him a grimace.

“What? Don’t tell me open-ended has become synonymous with you leaving tomorrow.”

“Love you as I do, and miss you as I have, I have plans for lunch in an hour. I have to get ready.”

“You just got here.”

“It’s lucky I got myself here in the first place. If I’d flown in regular clothes I’d already be at the restaurant with Sebastian.”

He sat on the bed, reaching out to pull my down onto his lap. I settled my weight on his thigh, relishing in the familiarity he offered, basking in the warmth granted by the proximity.

I looped my arms around his neck and breathed him in. I wanted nothing more than to cancel lunch.

“Why do you have to go?”

“Tradition.”

“Explain this tradition to me.”

I blushed.

“Why are you turning red? How can a meal tradition be enough to make you blush?”

“It’s silly.”

“I will be the judge of that.”

“We always went for Mexican food, just because. The tradition started to memorialize the most embarrassing moment of my life. Frankly it was a turning point for us.”

“Most embarrassing moment, eh?”

“You have to promise not to laugh.”

He nodded.

“Promise me, Sid.”

“Fine, I promise.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Now, tell me or I won’t let you leave.”

I wanted to allow him to hold me hostage.

“Junior prom—“

“This is going to be good.”

“Sidney,” I warned.

He made a motion miming closing a zipper across his lips.

“Neither of us had dates so we went together.”

“You didn’t have a date?”

“Your lips are supposed to be zipped.”

“How in the hell didn’t you have a date?!”

“I was a nerd. I ran with the art freaks and associated with the math weirdos that Bastian hung out with. I was all frizzy hair, braces, and new boobs that I wasn’t quite sure of what to do with.”

“No one asked you and your boobs to prom?”

I glared. “This isn’t about my boobs.”

“You brought them up.”

“Stop interrupting.”

“I’m sorry; I just can’t believe that no one asked you to go to prom.”

“Randy Morris did but he was our pastor’s son and it was a sympathy invite.”

He scowled.

“I was the girl with the dead mom, Sid. It was a tiny town and everyone knew. It was this recent, horribly tragic thing that everyone whispered about but they never said a word to me about it. It was like they were terrified that I would fall apart, like they might break me.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“It’s okay; it was a long time ago.”

“Not about your mom, Wyn. Of course I’m sorry about that, but that’s a given. It goes without saying. I’m sorry they treated you like some fragile thing that was at risk of falling to pieces. They didn’t give you enough credit.”

I smiled. “May I finish the story?”

He grinned. I took is as my cue to get back to the story.

“Junior prom, the freaks don’t get asked so they go together. Someone spiked the punch at the dance. There was a fight between two friends over the fact that they were wearing the same dress. One of the football players puked on the vice principal and it was all over by 8.

“We went out for dinner, just the two of us. I’d had a couple of cups of punch and was a little buzzed.”

Sidney smiled. He’d seen me tipsy on wine; he knew what it did to me, the bravery it gave me. He’d seen it make me bold as I’d pulled him closer the first time we kissed, trying to make it last forever. He’d seen the way it made me move my hips against his when we danced, oblivious to prying eyes that were surrounding us. He knew that alcohol made me act up and slip away from my normally straight-laced behavior.

I got back to the subject of why I had to attend lunch with Sebastian. Mostly because I needed to distract myself from thoughts of what alcohol did to me in Sid’s presence, the things that we did when the walls came down. It was better to talk about things that didn’t make my desire to be close to Sidney hard to control.

“We were talking and I realized how he was the only person who didn’t act like I was broken. The punch went to my head, I leaned across the table and I kissed him.”

Sid spluttered a laugh. I was glad I hadn’t mentioned that my dress, somewhere in the region of my left breast, ended up stained with guacamole thanks to the incident.

“Sidney!”

He stopped holding it in and let loose for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he managed to spit out.

“You promised.”

“I know,” he wheezed. “But you kissed Sebastian?”

“Yes.”

“Sebastian who finds Tanger sexy?”

“The very same.”

“So, let me get this straight. You got tipsy, kissed your gay best friend over dinner after prom and now you have to eat Mexican food together on a regular basis?”

“Yes.”

“I’m really confused.”

“He pushed me away, told me he loved me but not like that, that girls just weren’t his thing. Oddly enough, as much as I knew he was gay, the words had never been spoken. So in that moment, I embarrassed myself by kissing my best friend who I knew carried the same crushes I did and he came out to me in the only official way he ever would.

“I wanted to crawl under the table and die and he wasn’t any more comfortable with what had happened than I was. It could very well have been a point that made our friendship too awkward to keep. We could have both left that restaurant and never seen each other again aside from the few classes we shared. I think we both contemplated it.

“Then after this awkward silence we both started laughing hysterically. It was so bad that they almost kicked us out for making the other diners uncomfortable. Sebastian decided that we should mark that day every time we’d been apart for a while. We use it to remember that day which could have been the awkward end of a long friendship but instead it just solidified the fact that no matter what we’ll always be there for each other.”

Sidney smiled, understanding that the time that Sebastian and I got together mattered.

“I suppose I can let you go then. Does he know why you’re here?”

I disengaged myself, letting go and moving back to my suitcase. I retrieved a pair of jeans and changed into them as I told Sid the plans.

“I’m going to tell him why I’m here over lunch. No real details, just that I’m seeing someone and we’re spending some time together. That way, he won’t feel the need to keep me busy all the time.”

“So I’ll get more time with you?”

“Of course. But you’re going to practices; you’re not skipping any chances to go to union meetings. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean you’re going to back off at all.”

“I have no intention of backing off.”

“Good.”

“Glad to have your approval,” he replied with a smirk.

I kept an eye on him as I pulled my hair up and out of my face and secured it in place with a few bobby pins. He was watching me intently as I finished getting ready for lunch. I didn’t really want to go. I missed Sebastian, but we had plenty of time to catch up while I was in town. There were bound to be days when Sid was away for meetings and I could easily dedicate those to spending time with Bastian. But I’d agreed to lunch and I was stuck having to get back into my rental car and head out with my best friend for the afternoon.

I glanced back at Sid as I finished the process of putting my clothes into the section of the closet that he’d designated as mine.

“Why did you call the rental car company?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I sighed and closed the door of the closet, throwing a jacket over my arm in case the clouds suddenly decided to let loose with a deluge of rain.

“Leaving so soon?”

I nodded.

“If you have too many margaritas,” he said as he rose to his feet and moved towards me, “call me and I’ll come get you.”

“I won’t let him get me plastered. If I get plastered I’m likely to share more than I want to.”

“You could tell him the whole truth, you know. I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

I nodded. “I could. But I kind of like the way it is right now. New and a bit of a secret; it’s a little exciting to tell you the truth.”

“Only a little exciting?”

“Moderately exciting.”

“Remind me to remedy that tonight,” he said with a sly smile.

I couldn’t help but allow my lips to curl into a grin of their own as he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly to mine. I struggled to gather the means to push him away. If I allowed too much I was bound to let him lead me straight to the bed with its high thread count sheets and luxurious pillows and all else would be forgotten.

I licked my lips, feeling the presence of his mouth on mine even after we’d pulled apart.

“I have to go.”

“I know.”

He dropped his forehead against mine. I couldn’t stop myself from breathing him in. He smelled like sunshine and soap and a warm musk that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I pulled away again, left a soft kiss on his cheek, and headed out the door, down the stairs and back towards the parking garage.

I called Sebastian to tell him that I was on the way. I didn’t mention that I was in the area, I didn’t tell him where I was coming from, just that I was just a few minutes out and that I’d meet him at the restaurant that he’d suggested.

He sounded like a giddy child on the phone. It had been a while since we’d seen each other. He’d been in Boston during the spring for the wedding of a friend from college. But it had been a short visit and we hadn’t gotten much time together. After spending so many years close to one another, growing up in the same tiny town, going to college in the same city, and sharing an apartment for 2 years, being apart was a tricky thing for us to pull off at times. It was like both of us missed the sibling that we’d never had.

The restaurant was just like many others and I found Sebastian quickly. He was one of the better dressed patrons, a head taller than most of the others in the restaurant. I weaved through the tables and joined him at the booth near the bar. He stood and wrapped me in a hug, crushing my ribs in his grasp for a moment before placing a kiss on top of my head and sitting back down. I slid into the booth across from him.

He’d already ordered a plate of nachos to share and a margarita for each of us. If I’d arrived first, I would have done the same thing. It was the way we operated.

“It’s been way too long, Wynnie.”

I smiled. “It certainly has, Bastian.”

He took a sip of his drink. “So, when are you going to tell me why you’re in town?”

“Seeing you isn’t reason enough?”

“If you were here to see me, you’d be staying at my apartment and I would have picked you up at the airport.”

He was good.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I began, unsure of how to breach the subject.

I was going to tell him all about Sidney without telling him about Sidney.

“What is it?”

I must have sounded far too serious for his taste as he sounded worried when he asked.

“I met someone.”

His eyes lit up. It wasn’t often that he was at the receiving end of the conversation we were about to have. It was usually Sebastian regaling me with the tale of the handsome man he met at a bar or party. It was usually him who had the luck with men, not me.

“You better be saying what I think you’re saying.”

It almost sounded like a threat.

“I’m saying that I’m here visiting my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Patrick.”

It slipped out. It was the part of the story that was only a little untrue. It was the name in my phone, the one that was handed out when we got reservations for dinner. It was his identity as far as others were concerned in reference to us, not because we were ashamed, but because we appreciated having something that resembled a normal relationship. Privacy was at a premium for us.

“And Patrick is?”

“He’s in finance. Travels a lot. I met him in Boston over the summer. He stumbled into the coffee shop and asked me out.”

Finance. That was a lie. He had a lot of money; he could easily have significant investments. But jumping from professional hockey player to financier was more than a stretch. When Sebastian learned the whole truth, he'd forgive me eventually. He’d probably demand payment for his clemency, a meeting with the team or at least one particular French-Canadian man.

“The rest is history?” he asked.

“It is.”

“But it’s serious enough to come for a visit?”

“Yes.”

“Has he met your dad?”

“Not yet.”

“When is that going to happen? Are you going to go the smart route and hide him until the wedding?”

I laughed. Sebastian had always been intimidated by my father. At first glance, you wouldn’t assume that he was a retired cardiologist. Maybe not even at second glance. He kept his hair cropped short, something resembling a buzz cut. He was tall and well-muscled, having always taken care of himself. He’d been an athlete in high school and college and remained active long after they were over. He’d slipped a bit since Mom had passed, but he still left an impression. Most people assumed he’d served in the military, but that wasn’t the case. He’d never been in so much as a fight or fired a gun. It wasn’t his way, but his looks didn’t make that obvious at first.

“Later this month, if it works out the way we think it will. We’re probably going to Minnesota because he has a sister in school there and we want to visit. She’s not far from the Falls so it will be a two birds with one stone sort of trip.”

“Have you met his family?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

I nodded and took a long drink.

“You’ve met his family? You met this summer and you’ve met his family?”

“We kind of dove in feet first.” I replied with a scowl.

“You aren’t going to let me meet him, are you?”

“I…”

“It’s fine, Wynnie. I’ve known you for most of our lives. I know how you are.”

“It’s not personal.”

“I know.” I watched him carefully as he took another drink. “I’ll get it out of you eventually. There will come a time where you have no choice but to introduce me, but until that time, I will remain patient.”

“But I’m sure you have conditions.”

He smiled as the waitress arrived to take our order. We went the route we’d gone more often than not in our friendship and ordered far too much. I knew that most of my order would be going back to Sid’s place in a box, but I didn’t mind. It would make for a good lunch the next day.

As the waitress walked away I waited for Sebastian to speak.

“Until such a time as you introduce me to this boyfriend of yours, my condition is that you must share details with me.”

“Details?”

“How you met. What his family is like. Whether or not he is dreadfully attractive. Just the basics.”

I laughed. Sebastian knew better than to dig with me. He knew that there would be a time when I would be comfortable sharing certain things and he wouldn’t push me on those subjects. But he also knew that when it came to our conversations over Mexican food and margaritas, I would always have some details to share with him.

I was just going to have to be careful about which ones I wanted to reveal.