It had been two days since Matty’s truly epic sex with Kevin, and two days since they’d talked. He’d been able to wave it off on Sunday, but fuck it, it was Monday now and he was pretty sure this was about the point he was supposed to worry.

He’d sent one thanks for the great date good night text after Kevin left and just got a smiley face and you too in return, so he hadn’t pushed it.

Did Hans get to him? Is he having a gay panic moment?

Matty debated with himself about showing up at his place to make him talk, but he figured he’d wait until Monday and give him some space to deal with everything. Plus, Kevin might legitimately be sleeping all day after prospects camp. It was brutally taxing on the body, after all.

It was weird being back in the arena without any plans to skate, pulling on his jersey but wearing shoes. There were a lot of better-qualified guys who were coaching them on ice. Their job was just motivation. They were talking to the kids, and some other guys were signing autographs or doing skating exercises with them.

This part was the easiest one, but it was kind of scary to think about what they’d say. They’d been coached in it, pulled aside at the end of prospects camp for their workshop in how to motivate young hockey players, but the words still had to be their own.

“Hey.”

That was Kevin’s voice, and it was warm and resonant.

Matty was already beaming as he turned around, then raised his eyebrows. Kevin already had his jersey on. The dark blue brought out the light blues in his eyes.

“Hey,” Matty answered. “You’re looking good.”

“You, too.” Kevin wasn’t acting standoffish at all as he came up next to Matty to half-hug him hello. He had that damn addictive spicy musky smell around him again. Must be his aftershave or something.

Matty ran his hand back through his hair and tried not to remember how delicious Kevin tasted, even after that damn garlic butter. “You got something ready? A speech?”

“Yeah. Do you?”

“Something of one. I figured I’d wing it. I’m usually all right at that,” Matty admitted.

“Cool,” Kevin smiled. “They made it sound pretty informal. And then the Q&A. I wonder what they’ll ask?”

“They’ll be easier on us than reporters, at least,” Matty winked, and Kevin’s answering smile made him grin.

“You boys ready?” That was Bryan, the guy in charge of wrangling the volunteers, dipping his head into the locker room.

“Good to go, sir,” Kevin answered with a playful salute. “Where are we heading?”

“The kids just had lunch. They’re getting excited. You might get swarmed,” Bryan warned with a laugh. “They just got done taking selfies with Walker.”

“Selfies?” Matty laughed. “They got phones?”

“Some do!” Bryan grinned. “You’d be surprised. Okay, this way.” He led them to one of the larger multipurpose rooms.

When they ducked inside, even Matty wasn’t expecting the cheer. They weren’t the most famous players, either of them, but the kids were already genuinely thrilled that they were there.

And Kevin was beaming, instantly at ease as he waved. “Hey, guys! Wow, there’s a lot of you. You all had fun this morning?”

A chorus of eager yeses answered the question, and Matty laughed. “Great. What was your favorite bit?”

There were a chorus of answers: skating, drills, and eating.

“Eating?” Matty laughed. “That sounds like me. If you keep going with hockey, be prepared to eat more than you’ve ever eaten,” he winked. “That can be fun, too.”

“So, these two are here to talk to you about hockey life,” Bryan spoke up from behind them. “You wanna introduce yourselves?”

“Sure.” Kevin spoke up before Matty could, already smiling ear to ear. He was so fucking adorable. Jesus Christ. “I’m Kevin Shaw. I played in New Brunswick last year, and I just got signed for a year to, well…” He gestured at his jersey and laughed. “Which is so, so cool. I’m really looking forward to that! But I think they wanted me there because… well, I’m so handsome,” he struck a pose for a second which made the kids laugh and Matty’s heart melt into a giant puddle in his chest. “And,” he winked, “because I have some pretty recent experience with the lower levels of hockey—AKA, where you guys will start out. Right?”

“Right,” a couple kids answered. They were falling for him hook, line, and sinker.

Matty was smiling like an idiot himself, trying not to watch Kevin too much. “And I’m Matty O’Brien. I played for them,” he gestured at Kevin’s jersey, “before, but I just got called up to the big boys’ team now,” he laughed. “So, yeah. I totally don’t sleep with this jersey under my pillow.”

The kids laughed for him, too. At least they indulged him with that. Phew.

Matty did pretty damn good, he thought, of winging his speech.

He talked about how hockey could be really hard, but working hard at it was the most important part. After a quick chat about the kinds of things involved in pro hockey training, from gym workouts to nutrition, he explained what he’d always thought about talent. It was cheesy but true—hard work beat talent when talent didn’t work hard.

That was when Kevin joined in. “Yeah, I’m the perfect example of that. I’m not really special,” he told the kids. “But I got in because I’ve worked my butt off for years at this, you know? I focused on this all through middle school, high school, university… and eventually they got tired of me and agreed to let me play,” he grinned as the kids laughed again.

“And that’s the other thing,” Kevin added. “It’s a career, you know? But it isn’t easy. So, you can’t just focus on hockey being the only thing in your life. Make sure you study hard in school and come up with a backup plan. Maybe you don’t mind teaching, or science, or being a nurse, or… whatever. There’s tons and tons of awesome things to do. You gotta make sure you’re not locking yourself in.”

“And focus on your friends and family, too,” Matty smiled. God, they were all watching so intently. There was a blond kid near the front who looked like he was about to start taking notes.

“That’s right,” Kevin agreed. “And eventually, boyfriends or girlfriends,” he grinned at them.

That got another laugh, along with some giggling and “ew”s from the kids.

“I know, I know. But the people around you will be working hard to help you succeed, too, so… you know, be great to them,” Kevin smiled. “And make sure they’re great for you. Make hockey not the only thing you eat, sleep, and breathe. Make it part of a big, exciting life. There’s a thousand other things you can do along with hockey. Don’t miss out on that.”

A chill ran down Matty’s spine at the simple, yet expressive words.

Part of a big, exciting life.

Shit, Kevin was a natural-born leader… maybe captain material. He’d never seen him like this—never had the chance to yet—but it made Matty fall in love with him just that little bit more. Plus, Kevin was totally being dad material right now.

Fuck’s sakes. Too. Soon.

The kids were starting to ask questions, so Matty focused on them again. He had hours and hours to think about Kevin, but only an hour with these kids. They deserved his full attention, or as much of it as he could spare when Kevin wasn’t flashing that huge, eager smile.