All things considered, Floyd was looking pretty damn great compared to when Kevin had last seen him, mid-May. He’d seemed like a ball of nervous energy, but now he was quite pleased with himself. Why shouldn’t he be? He had himself a goddamn boyfriend, some hot cop to boot.

Ugh. Kevin was going to wind up being the last single one in their group.

He held out hope, though. He’d never known Ryan—the strong, quiet carpenter type if there ever was one—to express an interest in dating. He was definitely gay, but he seemed to have other things to worry about, like his own carpentry business.

Fair enough, really. Kevin had been in that boat until he’d met Matty, who was in his own industry and perfect for him.

Kevin tried to shake off those thoughts as he drove to his parents’ house. Even though it had only been a couple weeks since he’d last seen them for about half a day, he was looking forward to getting to stay with them properly.

“Hey, Mom and Dad. I’m home,” he called as he pushed open his parents’ front door.

“Kevin!” His mother was tall and broad-shouldered, a defense player in her own hockey days, and her hair was greying in elegant streaks. She was beaming as she crushed him in a hug and he laughed, hugging her back.

Then he hugged his father and clapped his back, hauling his bag into the house to let the doors close behind him.

“Welcome home,” his father told him. “Come on through.”

Once Kevin dropped off his bag in his old room—now the guest room, which felt weird—he headed back downstairs to chat with them.

“I’m barbecuing supper, if that’s all right,” his father told him. “Come on out.”

Kevin followed his parents out to the porch and closed the door, grabbing a plastic deck chair to sprawl in with a can of beer. “So how are things?”

“Quiet without you and your brother in town.”

Kevin’s brother worked in Vancouver, so they only saw him every couple years when he flew out for holidays or special occasions like weddings. Kevin had lived in his own place, but at least in the same city until he’d moved to Toronto. It sounded like they had empty nest syndrome now.

“Aww,” Kevin frowned. “Are you at least getting out and doing things?”

“Oh, all the time,” his mother assured him as his dad flipped the burgers. “And I have my servant here to cook meals for me…”

“At your disposal, ma’am,” his father pretended to bow, heading in to grab the vegetables.

“What about you?” his mother asked.

When his dad came out again and started putting the foil-wrapped packets on the grill, Kevin nodded. “Great. Training’s been going fine—I’m a lot stronger already.”

“That’s great news. How about friends?”

Kevin chuckled. “Making a few of them, yeah. They’re all friendly, don’t worry about me.”

“Good,” his father concluded. “What’s your training routine like? Intensive?”

“About the same as at home, really,” Kevin told him. “Just, I do more of it at the gym now. One gym or another—there’s my trainer’s gym, and then a neighborhood gym closer to home that I go to when I don’t have to head uptown to his.”

“Right. So, I hear your friends are doing well.”

“Yeah!” Kevin sipped his beer and shook his head. “Mm, Floyd’s got a boyfriend now.”

His mother laughed. “So all of you are…?”

“You can say it, Mom,” Kevin teased. “We’re not allergic to the word.”

“Well… gay.”

Kevin nodded. “Pretty much. Some of them might be bi, I dunno, but most of us have boyfriends now. Except me and Ryan.”

“Think that’ll change while you’re out there? Toronto’s a bigger city.”

“Mom, don’t pressure me,” Kevin laughed. “I’ll find someone when I find them.”

“I just don’t want you to be lonely,” his mother said.

His father nodded in agreement with his mother’s words and Kevin’s heart squeezed. It was touching that his family cared so much about him, especially when he looked at some of his friends. Chase’s family actively hated him, and Floyd’s family seemed neglectful to the point of abuse.

Kevin knew how lucky he had it, and he appreciated it every time he came home.

He decided to be painfully honest. “I don’t know,” Kevin admitted. “All my buddies—well, almost all—have settled lives now, you know? Meanwhile I’m getting ready to spend five to ten years, maybe more if I’m really good, doing this. Is this really the right choice? I wonder about that sometimes. I can’t date while I play… I don’t want to be the poster boy. Cam almost was.”

“Right,” his mother nodded, sipping her lemonade and gazing over the back deck before she looked back at him. “And being closeted isn’t really a choice?”

“If I date, I want it public. I don’t want to hide him—whoever he is—” here, Kevin tried not to think about Matty when he said him, “—from everyone. He’d deserve to be alongside me like any WAG.”

“WAG?” his dad frowned while his mother laughed.

“Wife and girlfriend,” his mother supplied. “We had those too, in my league.”

“Carol!” his father laughed.

Kevin grinned broadly, fetching plates for his father to serve the burgers and veggie packets. “Yeah, hockey’s a lot more gay at the local level. The further up you get, the less people want to talk about it. But they will.”

“You don’t think they’ll react badly?” his father asked with a skeptical frown.

Kevin shook his head. “There’ll be consequences, sure, but… there’s a lot of media attention, too. Nobody wants to be the di—uh, div deliberately boarding the newly-outed guy. And a lot of guys would accept having me on their team. Most guys get it.”

“Good,” his mother murmured and moved to the table, pulling a chair out of his father’s way for him to carry plates. “So you’re still worried about it being the wrong choice?”

When he talked through it, Kevin had to admit… not really. There were potential downsides, but nothing he couldn’t tolerate. If he dated another player, the schedule would be rough as hell, but long-distance wasn’t necessarily fatal to a relationship.

“I think you need to trust your gut instinct,” his father told him. “Don’t lose touch with yourself. You’ve always had a good, safe head on your shoulders.”

It was true—Kevin had never gotten into fights over his sexuality or been bullied like a lot of the guys he knew. Some of that was down to the older gay guys, a few years older than him, fighting their way up through the grades and teaching lessons the hard way. It wasn’t just that, though. The other reason was that Kevin knew when to stay quiet and laugh along.

He hated that he knew that.

After supper, the sun slowly setting in the west, they stayed outside to play Scrabble over wine and beer, the insect repeller running at full speed. A little drunk, a little buzzed just from being home, Kevin spent every minute his parents wanted to spend with him.

Finally, when it was dark, his parents retreated indoors to an early bedtime, and Kevin stayed outside a little while longer to enjoy the clear, dark sky. The last clouds had cleared, and it was going to be a crisp, dark, perfect night to see the stars out here.

He missed that about Toronto—the constant glow and smog made it hard to enjoy the sights of nature.

Matty would see similar sights up in northern Ontario, where the city receded into country, farmland, mines, and scrub brush. Matty had driven home yesterday, and he hadn’t addressed what had happened yet.

Kevin had to bring it up sometime soon. After all, Matty could well tell his new teammates about him, and he didn’t want that coming out until he was ready for it. But surely he had more to lose, right?

He chewed his lip, then pulled his phone out for a quick text, glancing up at the first few stars starting to twinkle through the fading twilight.

How are things going?

It was just moments before he had a response.

Great. Hanging out with family tonight, staying up late with beer. Talking to my cousins and bro too.

Kevin half-smiled. That sounded idyllic, just like his own evening. And he was a family guy, staying home instead of going out with buddies.

Yeah? Sounds sweet. My bro’s out in Vancouver.

LOL is that why you wanna ditch TO for it?

Nah we’d get in each other’s faces.

It was true, too. They’d always grown up squabbling. Their relationship was better now that they weren’t around each other in person to compete over everything.

Younger or older brother?

Kevin smiled. Matty was holding a conversation, so he wasn’t completely turned off by… well, the slip in discretion. He answered quickly, wanting to keep him talking while he was here.

He’s older. Works in pharmacy tech out there now, something geeky.

Yeah my bro’s an engineer at the mine out here.

Kevin raised his eyebrows.

So you have parents wondering what the fuck you’re doing playing hockey instead of a respectable career?

Matty’s response made him laugh.

Not now that I got called up ;)

Kevin could only dream of that kind of salary. Right now, he was making enough to be comfortable, though, so he reminded himself not to get too greedy.

He just chuckled, then tapped his phone on his thigh. Now was the best possible time to bring up the kiss… but probably not directly. Neither of them wanted records of this.

Besides, maybe it would be better to do when he could see Matty’s face in person.

Gotta go we’re playing Monopoly. God help us all.

He laughed, then sent a quick answer.

Good luck. See you man.

The stars were twinkling brightly now, so he stayed out for an hour more just enjoying the sweep of bright specks across the whole horizon. When Kevin didn’t hear from Matty again, he figured it was about bedtime anyway.

He wasn’t waiting up for a text from a guy. No way.