Page 119 of Two for Charging

“Wow, you are a dick.”

He glared at Vanderbilt. “You are one to talk.”

“Takes one to know one.” Vanderbilt grinned in a way he must think was charming. Luca’s taste in men ran more toward the adorably sincere than the incredibly smarmy, so he couldn’t see the appeal. “Look,” Vanderbilt added, “Hayes has been after me to make nice, so can we start over?”

At the start of the season, Luca had been sure nothing Hayes or Vanderbilt could say or do would make their behavior acceptable to him. Now, Luca had to admit that while he might not agree with them on much of anything or want to spend time with them one-on-one, there was more to life than fostering resentment. More importantly, his time was better spent concentrating on how to be a good member—Christ, a good leader—of the team than on dwelling on bygones.

All the same, he wouldn’t let Vanderbilt get away without acknowledging his own faults. “Will you start passing to me?”

“I’ll think about it. Will you stop elbowing me during practice?”

Luca frowned, but he supposed Vanderbilt had a point. “Perhaps, if you do the same, we can get along.”

“Deal. So what’s got you so tense?”

Sighing, Luca admitted, “I’m first up with the Secret Santa gifts.”

“Really?” Vanderbilt snickered. “Secret Santa?”

“As you have so kindly pointed out, social skills are not my greatest strength.”

“Nah, that’s your edgework. You’ll be fine. Breezy thinks the sun shines out your ass anyway.”

Luca knew that, which was why he wanted to do this right.

Finally, Chris walked in and made a beeline for Luca’s stall. He’d planned to talk to Michelle today about his sexuality and his relationship to Luca, and he’d been nervous before they left for the rink. So far, no one but Mooney knew, but he’d been kind enough to restrict his reactions to unsubtle winks when Luca left their shared room during roadies. Chris had spent a lot of the last two weeks googling to find other people who were demisexual—the word he’d chosen as the most fitting—and had been disheartened to discover so many who either didn’t believe in it or thought of it as a disorder.

“And?” Luca asked.

Chris beamed. “She says she’s proud of me. And look, she gave me a gold star!” He thrust out his arm, showing off the sticker on his bare forearm. Interactions like these made Luca put off making his own appointment with the team therapist. She seemed so…American.

“I’m glad. Now go get changed. Practice starts in ten.”

Turning to his own stall, Chris’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I’m first! Look, Luca, my Secret Santa went first! I get a present!”

“Yes, I can tell,” Luca said drily.

“Nope, you don’t get to ruin the magic and excitement for me. I wonder if I’ll be able to guess who it’s from.”

Luca hoped so. “Go on, then.”

Chris tore off the wrapping paper.

The instant he saw the packaging beneath, he started to laugh.

“Luca,” he said when he’d caught his breath. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” Luca admitted. “Please don’t make it talk all the time. If I wake up with it screaming in the middle of the night, I will move out.”

“She can live in the living room,” Chris said, clutching the Furby to his chest.

Vanderbilt looked between the two of them, aghast. “That’s what you got him? A fucking Furby? No wonder you were nervous. You suck at gifts.”

“It’s perfect!” Chris protested.

Luca could end it here. He had gotten Chris a gift he wanted, for some unfathomable reason, and Chris was happy with it. But Luca made himself a promise, and he would stick to it.

He stood up on the bench and whistled.