Chapter Fifteen

Trevor was expecting the next morning to be awkward.

When he opened his eyes, squinting in the low light, his head was pillowed on a strong chest, and there was an arm wrapped around him, trapping him in place. It should have been constricting, strange, but it felt right, and Trevor let himself look.

Nick was in his bed, face lax in sleep, and light casting shadows across his face. He was handsome, hair flopping awkwardly over his forehead, chest rising and falling steadily. Trevor didn’t want to think too much about how easily he could get used to this, to the feel of Nick beneath him on the bed, waking up to someone else who looked at him the way Nick did.

Trevor’s mom had always told him he fell too hard and too fast, getting involved too quickly and then everything would fall apart when his respective partner wasn’t as interested as he was. Trevor would always be afraid of that happening; now that he had been made aware of it, every interaction he had with someone he wanted to sleep with, wanted a life with, he couldn’t help but analyze every move he made. He didn’t want that with Nick, didn’t want to overthink every moment in case he drove Nick away.

He wasn’t the only one that would be affected by losing Nick.

Sighing, knowing that his daughter would most likely wake in the next half an hour, Trevor shifted, dislodging Nick’s arm carefully, pressing a kiss to Nick’s shoulder. Nick sighed, shifted slightly on the bed, but didn’t wake. Slipping out of bed, Trevor lingered in the bathroom door, letting himself take his fill, Nick’s body looking too good against the sheets. Shutting the door between them, Trevor had to lean against it and close his eyes.

“Take it easy, Raines,” he told himself seriously. Nick was one relationship he didn’t want to mess up.

By the time he’d showered and sorted himself out, he pulled open the door gently, not sure if Nick would still be asleep. The bed was empty, covers pulled back and no sign of Nick. Trevor closed his eyes, breathing through his nose slowly. It didn’t mean Nick regretted what they had done last night. Trevor was taking over the bathroom, he might just want to shower himself and get dressed. Trevor talked himself down from a couple of freak-outs as he dressed, afraid that, even though Nick had made the first move, he shouldn’t have done anything in return. He should have kept a strict distance between them. If he’d messed things up for Gabrielle, he would never forgive himself. She deserved better than to have someone else in her life walk out and leave her behind. What kind of father did that make Trevor?

Scrubbing a towel through his hair as he walked downstairs gave him something to do. He could hear Gabrielle’s voice as he padded through the hall, realizing too late that he’d forgotten to put socks on. The cold tile was a shock to his system and he shuddered as he stepped into the kitchen, brought up short by the sight of Nick standing at the stove, a pan on the heat. His hair was damp, curling at the ends, and he was wearing a change of clothes.

Trevor forced his racing heart to calm down as Nick looked back over his shoulder, catching sight of Trevor in the doorway. His eyes immediately softened and his lips quirked up into a smile, the blinding kind that stole Trevor’s breath from his chest.

All of the panic, all of the thoughts he’d been trying to quell were immediately shoved down and out of the way, a relief so stark that it almost made his knees buckle.

“Morning,” he said instead, hating how much his voice quivered.

Nick’s brow furrowed, but Trevor hoped his own grin eased some of the tension.

“Morning, Daddy,” Gabrielle said, tipping her head back. He pressed a kiss to her chin just to hear her giggle. “That’s my chin!”

“Silly me,” Trevor said, letting the light, airy feeling in his chest spread to every inch of him. He was happy, dammit, and he was going to let himself feel it. He dipped down, kissing Gabrielle’s cheek. “How about there?”

“No, Daddy.” Gabrielle laughed, ducking away from him as he planted kisses all over her face. “Stop!”

“All right,” Trevor said easily, brushing a hand over her hair. When he met Nick’s eyes, Nick was staring at them, something unbearably fond in his eyes. God, Trevor didn’t even want to put a name to this feeling in his chest, still terrified of it.

“Good morning,” Nick said. Trevor desperately wanted to kiss him, but there was Gabrielle to think of, and he didn’t want to confuse her, not when he barely knew what this thing between he and Nick actually was. Instead, Trevor brushed up next to him, peering into the pan. Eggs were cooking away, just as Trevor liked them. “Everything all right?”

Trevor shrugged easily. “You weren’t there when I finished showering.”

Keeping his voice low, in case Gabrielle’s exceptionally good hearing, when she wanted it to be, picked up on their conversation.

Nick leaned in a little too close, nudging at Trevor’s shoulder. “I was kinda gross. Needed a shower, and someone was in yours.”

Trevor huffed a laugh, hating himself for doubting Nick. “At least the eggs are good.”

“They are,” Gabrielle piped up from the table, already digging into hers. There was so much ketchup all over them that Trevor doubted she was really tasting the eggs, but he wasn’t about to comment. He was reducing the amount she dribbled over everything, but eggs were a no-go. Again, Trevor was learning to pick his battles.

“Well, good.” Trevor dropped into one of the chairs at the table. “So, I spoke to Nick about coming to a game.”

Gabrielle’s eyes widened, clutching at her fork. “Did Mr. Nick say yes?”

“Mr. Nick did,” Nick said, lips quirking up into a smile as Gabrielle let out a little squeal. “We’ll have to wait for Daddy to get us tickets though.”

“That’s all right,” Gabrielle said with a sigh. “I guess I can wait.”

Trevor and Nick exchanged a look, Trevor smothering his laugh behind his hand. It had been a long time since he’d felt this happy and though he knew he could easily get used to it, the part of him that always expected the worst was telling him to be careful.

Disregarding that voice for the moment, Trevor accepted his eggs with a grateful smile, shoving down the urge to press a kiss to Nick’s lips in thanks. The eggs were good. Trevor had never been a particularly good cook, so the fact that Nick was always coming up with meals that were tasty – and part of his meal plan – made him a little jealous.

“Daddy.” Gabrielle was scraping the last of her eggs onto her fork using her finger. She poked her tongue out between her teeth, huffing in triumph when she managed to scoop up what remained of her ketchup-covered breakfast. “I wanna wear my shirt.”

Trevor frowned. “Which shirt?”

“With your number on,” Gabrielle said, and Trevor could tell the duh went unspoken.

“A jersey,” Trevor told her.

“Jersey,” Gabrielle parroted back. “Shirt.”

“All right, babe,” Trevor said, smiling widely.

“But,” Gabrielle continued, dropping her fork onto the plate and wiping her hands on her pants. She made a face and then looked at him, eyes wide with innocence. Trevor sighed, resigning himself to grabbing her a change of clothes. “Mr. Nick doesn’t have a jersey to wear.”

Nick paused, his own forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth, and Trevor gave him a mock scowl.

“Mr. Nick doesn’t have a jersey?”

Shoveling the forkful of eggs into his mouth, Nick affected the same look of innocence Gabrielle had tried. Just like with his daughter, Trevor’s heart softened, the traitor, and he gave a long-suffering sigh.

“I’m sure I’ve got a jersey that Nick could borrow.”

Nick’s face did something complicated at that pronouncement, but he was flushing, the tips of his ears visibly red, and Trevor grinned. It was a good look on him, flushed but unrepentant.

“Who can afford to spend a million dollars? I could buy the entire Calgary team for the amount it costs me to buy a Dragons jersey.” Nick was smiling, softening the jibe, and Trevor shrugged.

“That’s the price you pay for success, baby,” Trevor said, wiggling his eyebrows. He wasn’t going to apologize for winning three times since being drafted. It was a team effort, but Trevor was never going to stop being proud of his contribution. It wasn’t as if they didn’t help out the less fortunate or those living hand to mouth. The merch was a little harder to come by, but Trevor had heard the front office talking about giveaways and plans to make things more accessible. “Though we do help those less fortunate. A category,” he added, “You no longer fall into, my friend.”

“Pity,” Nick said, in the manner of someone who wasn’t sorry in the slightest. “I guess I’ll have to use my savings to buy something appropriate.”

Trevor shrugged. “I have plenty. You think I don’t have my own jersey, Berchard?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, Trevor, I think you have just enough ego to definitely have your own jerseys in your wardrobe.”

“What’s an ego?” Gabrielle asked nose scrunched up in concentration as she played one of the many games on her tablet. She was allowed half an hour at the breakfast table before it was taken away and she generally liked to get it in while Trevor and Nick were discussing the day or going through the motions of pretending they didn’t want to crawl back into bed, especially if Trevor had training or a game.

“It means Daddy thinks a lot of himself,” Trevor tried to explain, floundering. He shot a look at Nick, thanking him for the difficulty.

Gabrielle frowned, but she looked between Trevor and Nick and shrugged. “Daddy is very good at hockey.”

“That he is,” Nick said with a smile, though it turned into a smirk when he looked at Trevor. “He knows it too.”

“Duh, Mr. Nick,” Gabrielle said, cheeks tinged pink as she ducked back to her game. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Nick said affably.

Trevor was staring at him, settling into his happy mood. There wasn’t a game scheduled until Monday and though he could have done with the distraction of a game, he would have to arrange for tickets to be available. He told Nick as much when Gabrielle was preoccupied with her game once again.

“Sure,” Nick said with a shrug. “My parents fly out this morning.”

“Won’t they be expecting you?” Trevor asked, looking at the clock. It was getting nearer to ten, and he had already planned to take Gabrielle to the park that morning.

Nick snorted. “I offered them a lift, but they turned me down. I think they’ve had enough of me.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Trevor said before he could stop himself. He flushed immediately, scraping his eggs around his plate. He could feel Nick’s gaze on the side of his face and tried to ignore it.

“Trevor,” Nick said, his voice thick with emotion. When Trevor met his eyes slowly, Nick was smiling. Darting a quick look at Gabrielle, he reached down under the table and squeezed Trevor’s knee. “I don’t get tired of you, either.”

Trevor shrugged easily, despite the grin splitting his face. “Who said I didn’t get tired of you?”

Gabrielle shut off her pad. “Daddy, that’s not a nice thing to say to Mr. Nick.”

“Sorry,” Trevor said, hoping he didn’t sound it at all. From the smile on Nick’s face and the kick to his shin, he’d managed it.

“Can we go to the park now?”

Trevor gave her a long look. “We have to find something for you to change into before we can go anywhere.”

Gabrielle looked at him and then at Nick. “Mr. Nick, would you like to come with Daddy and me to the park?”

At Nick’s startled look, Trevor decided to put him out of his misery, shrugging his shoulder and letting him know, as best he could when he was being silent, that it was all right for Nick to come along.

“I would love to,” Nick said. He was looking at Gabrielle when he said it, but Trevor felt warmed down to his toes anyway.