Page 16 of A Match Made In Fall

“Because it’ll look weird if I walk up there by myself.”

“You are a grown man, and a hockey fan.”

“Please?” he says, grinning. “For your favorite brother?”

I sigh dramatically. “Fine. Do you want me to hold your hand too?”

“You’re hilarious,” he says scowling.

“I know.”

I slowly stand from the bench and test my foot carefully. “Okay. But after this, I’m going home and putting my foot up for the rest of the night.”

Dane holds out his arm. “I’m here to help.”

I lead the way toward the area where the Bears players are still set up signing autographs. Most of the tables are already empty now since several players have already left. But Austin is still there.

He’s sitting casually in his chair talking to a few remaining fans. He looks tired, but the second he notices me approaching, his entire expression brightens. My pulse instantly speeds up, and wow, his smile probably shouldn’t affect me as much as it does.

Dane grabs two shirts from one of the nearby tables—a kid-sized one and an adult one.

“I need to get one for Jude too,” he explains. “He’ll appreciate this someday.”

“Of course he will,” I reply.

“You’re mocking me, but I’m being a good dad.”

“Yes, every baby needs an autographed Bears T-shirt.”

He ignores me completely as we step up to Austin’s table.

Austin smiles immediately. “Hey again.”

“Hi,” I say, trying very hard to sound normal. “So my brother got jealous of my merch, and now he needs autographs too.”

Dane glares at me. “That’s not what happened.”

Austin laughs softly. “Of course. I can help with that.”

He reaches for the shirts and a marker.

“This must be a long day for you guys,” I say.

He nods while signing the first shirt. “Yeah, it’s been a full one. But we’re almost done.” His mouth curves slightly. “Then I get to go home, throw clothes into a suitcase, and get ready for a road trip.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It’s part of the job.” He hands the signed shirt back to Dane before looking at me again. “You ready to head home too?”

I laugh quietly. “Very ready. I’ve been on my foot too long today. I may have overdone it a bit.”

He cringes. “That makes sense. You just got rid of the crutches.”

“I know. I might’ve pushed a little hard for that.”

He nods. “Trust me, I get it. Our team doctors really go through it. It’s hard work to convince athletes to take downtime.”

“Exactly.”