Page 145 of Game Misconduct

Nicky Calhoun might be a decent guy, but he was no Connor O’Shea.

And sure, Tanner wanted to win but he wanted to do it on the ice. Do it therightway. He wasn’t about to fuck over Leif to do it.

“Are you coming?” Jesse asked with a smirk. “Or are you just gonna stand here on the sidewalk and stare at the door all night?”

Tanner laughed and shook his head, telling the stupid little hamster inside to shut up and let him be. He was gonna party with the boys for a bit and then go across town to see Leif.

He was going to tell him he loved him, then get his brains fucked out. Or the other way around. It didn’t really matter. As long as it was him and Leif and they were together … yeah, that was the important part.

So he grinned and took Jesse’s offered hand and dragged him into the pub, shouting. “Let’s do this thaaaaaaaaaaaaang!”

The place was decked out with lights and streamers and balloons in Harriers colors and giant pictures of Crawford’s face, because Jesse was the partyking. And Crawford would fucking hate every last bit of it.

Which, honestly, made it even more perfect as far as Tanner was concerned.

“Hey, whereisthe party boy?” Tanner asked a few minutes later, glancing around as he waited at the bar with Jesse so they could get shots.

The tunes were bumping on the jukebox, and Jesse was already shimmying a little, clearly ready to dance.

Jesse laughed. “I don’t know. Probably fucking Sebastian’s brains out. Or vice versa. Don’t want to assume anything there.”

Tanner laughed and moved forward as Graham and Thad grabbed drinks and stepped away. “I mean, normally I’d say ‘hell yeah, get it, boys!’ but they better get their asses here.”

“Why. You in a hurry?”

Tanner’s gaze snapped to Jesse’s and he felt a weird trickle of fear run down his spine. Jesse noticed fuckingeverything. It was almost spooky and it made Tanner want to knock on wood or throw salt over his shoulder to ward off the goalie magic.

Jesse didn’t know about him and Leif, right?

But Jesse was looking at him steadily, dimples on display, just happy to be there.

“Nope,” Tanner said cheerfully and reached for a shot, passing one to Jesse before he took one for himself.

“To Crawford!” he yelled and a cheer erupted from the crowd.

Tanner was three shots in by the time the man of the hour finally arrived.

He looked pretty relaxed and Sebastian kept shooting him these little happy grins so yeah, they’d definitely stopped somewhere to fuck. Knowing Crawford, probably his house or Sebastian’s place or whatever.

Because there was no way in fuck Crawford would do it in a car. Especially not his fancy-ass classic car. Honestly, the thing just seemed janky and loud to Tanner but whatever. Crawford loved it and there was no way in hell he was letting jizz get anywhere near it.

Tanner wasn’t sure about a lot but he was sure of that.

Another round of shots went down easily, and Tanner danced with Jesse, spinning him around like a top just because it was fun.

Tanner was flushed and sweaty by the time he stopped, and he went to the bar to get some water. He was standing around talking to Crawford, who had Sebastian tucked close to his side, when Jesse—who had wandered over a few minutes ago—laughed suddenly, interrupting the conversation.

“Hey! Sebastian, did you ever noticed that you and Tanner kinda look alike?”

Sebastian squinted at Tanner. “I mean, I guess? We’ve both got dark curly hair and dark-ish eyes. Sort of the same body type, I suppose, although he’s in way better shape than I am.”

Tanner lifted up the front of his shirt to show off his abs and stuck his tongue out. “Yeah, I’m way hotter. Sorry, Sebastian.”

Sebastian shrugged, clearly not upset about it.

Tanner grinned. He liked him. He was a good match for Crawford.

“I dunno,” Jesse said with a big wink. “Seems to me like Crawford has a type in both kinds of D-partners.”