Page 189 of Game Misconduct

Tanner jumped because he hadn’t even realized Brie was sitting there. He craned his neck and spotted her on the floor, not far from where Tom and Krista were sitting.

“Hey, we’re not so bad,” Tanner protested.

“Yeah, you are,” Sebastian said drily.

“You say that because you’re datingCrawford,” Tanner pointed out.

“I was also a hockey player myself,” Sebastian said with a laugh. “Trust me. We’re awful.”

Tanner glanced at Leif, then shrugged. Well, at least they were awfultogether.

“All of that.” Brie laughed too. “But also, I’ve never dated a woman before. Never thought I’d want to.”

“Butwouldyou now?” Tanner pressed. “Do you want to date Tom and Krista?”

“Don’t be so nosy,” Leif hissed, poking him.

Tanner rolled his eyes.

Brie smiled at them. “Right now, I need friends and to heal from my divorce. Tom and Krista need to heal from the situation with Darla. I don’t date hockey players. But maybe someday, after Tom’s retired and if the timing all works out …” She shrugged. “I’m not sayingnever.”

Tanner grinned. “That’s the spirit!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Tanner had to pee, so he did that, then got up to stretch his legs. He was surprised when he went upstairs and saw his mom and Silje Vang talking in the kitchen.

“Hey!” He said, happy to see them both. He leaned down and gave his mom a big hug.

Silje gave him a warm smile, then stood, touching his mom’s shoulder before she disappeared with her coffee mug. She wasn’t a super huggy person, but she seemed very nice.

“What are you doing here?” Tanner asked. “I’m happy to see you but I thought you’d gone home already.”

“Jeff took the girls home last night,” she said. “But I wanted to stay and seeyou.”

“I’m glad you did.” He filched a half-eaten muffin from her plate and started picking at it. “I should introduce you to Leif. Like, officially.”

She laughed. “We’ve met. We had some time to talk when you were celebrating actually.”

“Oh, cool. So, uh, you were wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“That I’d get bored, move on, and break his heart. He’s it for me.”

She laughed. “Oh, baby, I can tell. The way you look at him …”

Tanner swallowed hard. “So you think I can—I can do this? The whole grown-up relationship thing?”

“I think you can do anything you put your mind to,” she said firmly. “And don’t you ever doubt it.”

“Okay.” He laid his head on her shoulder. “I love him, you know?”

“I know. And I can see why.”

Tanner had disappeared, so Leif went in search of him. He was pretty sure Tanner was mostly sober, but he wouldn’t swear that he wasn’t still drunk enough to do something stupid.

Instead of Tanner, Leif found his mom in the living room, sipping tea and reading something on her phone.