Page 163 of Game Misconduct

Leif sighed. “Great. We can add it to the list. I just—I just need to know that you’re not gonna getboredwith me or something, okay?”

Tanner’s face softened. “Babe. Princess. Never. Okay.Never.”

“You can’t know that,” Leif protested.

“What if Clarence and I do?”

“I’d tell you that you and Clarence have lost your marbles.”

“We’re trying to figure this out!”

Leif sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Okay. Nipple clamps, I guess.”

“And the roleplaying, that was fun.”

“Roleplaying?”

“Where we talked about you picking me up in a club this summer. You didn’t forget, right?”

“Of course not!” He had a whole itinerary planned. Two, actually. One for Rome. One for Monte Carlo. He was going to present it all to Tanner after the postseason was over so he could pick which one he wanted.

“So maybe we do that. Maybe we got to a bar and pretend to be people cheating on their spouses. Maybe we pretend to be anastronautand analien, I don’t care! I just want to be with you. And I want to figure out a way that it’s fun and exciting for both of us forever.”

“Forever?” Leif whispered.

“I’d marry you tomorrow if I could.”

Leif felt a little faint and he rubbed his head again. “Tomorrow?”

A worried look crossed Leif’s face. “Dude. Did I break you?”

“Maybe a little bit? But not permanently.”

“Maybe you should do some deep breathing,” Tanner suggested.

Leif closed his eyes and did a few rounds. When he opened his eyes again, Tanner was smiling at him. “Whoops, didn’t mean to dent you.”

“Dent? Oh.” Leif got it. Not broken, just dented. “I’m fine. Just … maybe no spontaneous proposals, okay?”

“Okay.” Tanner grinned. “How about this? You propose when you’re ready. I’ll say yes when you do.”

“We can’t get married,” Leif pointed out. “We’re on differentteams. We’re about to go up against each other?—”

“Yeah, yeah. Details. Anyway. I didn’t say it has to happennow. When we figure our shit out.”

“What if we never figure our shit out?” Leif had thought he’d had his shit together, but Tanner had stormed into his life and upended it completely.

“We will,” Tanner said and he sounded confident enough for both of them. “Trust me. We totally will.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The first round of the playoffs passed almost before Tanner could blink.

The Harriers swept Detroit in four games, with Detroit barely putting up a fight, which left the Harriers surprisingly healthy and well-rested when it came time for the second round.

New York, however, was in the fight for their lives.

The Rockets had gone down two games right out of the gate against Washington and Tanner’s heart had hurt every time he talked to Leif. He seemed exhausted and battered and Tanner desperately wished he was able to see him in person, be there for him in all the ways he couldn’t when they were so far apart.