The Play of His Life

by Amy Aislin

  Back then Riley’s mom had answered the door only to tell him that Riley was already on his way back to Denver. Didn’t Riley tell Christian that he couldn’t stay until the end of the week anymore? That he had to go back to school early for hockey?

  Still Christian hadn’t panicked even though a curl of apprehension had started unfolding in his chest. He’d simply sent Riley another text. Call me when you land.

  Nothing. No call, no text, no email. No letter via owl. It wasn’t until a few days later, when he was back at school in Vancouver, that he’d realized it was truly over.

  This time around? Nobody answered Riley’s door. Christian knocked again, louder. Looked through the front window for any sign of life. Nada.

  Frustrated, he was halfway to Warm Glow when he paused on the sidewalk next to their frozen pond. Shit. If he didn’t leave for the airport now he’d miss his flight. Digging into his pockets for his phone so he could call the airline and get on a later flight, he—

  Fuck his life. He’d left his goddamn phone at his mom’s. He had a brief moment of indecision where he took one step toward home then turned and took one toward Warm Glow. Then changed his mind and turned for home before changing his mind again and taking a step in the other direction. Basically, twirling in circles in one place, chasing his tail like a confused puppy.

  The loud patter of booted feet hitting the sidewalk in what sounded like a full-out run snapped him out of it and he turned for Warm Glow at a clipped pace. A clipped pace that slowed and eventually stopped when he realized it was Riley who was running full-tilt toward him. Dressed in the same outfit he’d worn to Christian’s last night—lived-in jeans and flannel shirt over a T-shirt—he waved his hand in the air when he spotted Christian and a smile split his face.

  “Wait!” he yelled from ten feet away.

  Seriously? Where the fuck else did he think Christian was going to go?

  Riley came to a stop in front of Christian, hair a mess, breath puffing out in front of him as he tried to catch his breath. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees.

  “Sorry,” he wheezed. “There was…gas leak…firefighters everywhere…took forever to figure out…where it was coming from. My phone died and I couldn’t…text you. Holy shit.” He finally caught his breath and unbent from his folded position. “I need to drop the weights and start doing some cardio.” Christian was slowly dying over here and Riley was making jokes? Annoyed with himself, with Riley, with the world in general, Christian growled low in his throat, fisted two hands in Riley’s flannel, and went in for the good morning kiss he’d desperately wanted to wake up to. Riley kissed him back as if he’d desperately wanted it too. One of his hands buried itself in Christian’s hair. The other fisted Christian’s coat at his lower back, bringing their bodies flush. Christian groaned at the taste of Riley and continued kissing him while morning commuters drove past—ignoring one obnoxious honk—and dog walkers walked by with their charges.

  It wasn’t until one particularly yappy poodle pawed at his leg that Christian pulled back, hands remaining on Riley’s back. Riley’s face was flushed, his eyes glowed, and his smile… It put every doubt Christian had to rest. He swore he could literally feel the tension bleeding from his body.

  Riley’s cold hands framed Christian’s face. “Can you delay your flight until later? I haven’t had a chance to book my ticket yet.”

  Christian shook his head but it didn’t help with the confusion clouding his brain. “Huh?”

  “I’m coming with you.” Riley’s smile dimmed somewhat. “I said so before I left this morning. Remember?”

  Christian was shaking his head.

  “I got the text from Sam,” Riley explained, sounding unsure. “You woke up as I was getting dressed. I told you to go back to sleep and to not leave for the airport without me ’cause I was coming with you. And you…grunted.” Realization tinged his voice and he chuckled softly. “And went back to sleep. Yeah, you don’t remember that at all, do you?”

  Christian was still shaking his head, Riley’s smile doing funny things to his chest that made him smile back.

  “So…where were you going just now?”

  Christian reached into his pocket. “I was coming to ask about this.” He handed Riley the necklace.

  “You found it!” Riley’s wet eyes didn’t surprise Christian one bit. “Where was it?”

  “Under my bed,” Christian said. Riley slipped it over his head, the T glinting metallic against his black T-shirt. Christian traced the T with a finger. “You’ve had this a long time.”

  “Bought it at the same time I bought yours,” Riley admitted, swallowing roughly. “It was supposed to be your present for our fifth anniversary but…”

  But Christian had broken up with him a few months earlier. And Riley had kept the necklaces this whole time. It reminded Christian of the stack of birthday and Christmas gifts he had for Riley in his closet in Vancouver.

  “T,” Riley said, his eyes snagging Christian’s, hands back on Christian’s face. “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since we broke up that I haven’t thought about you.” His voice wobbled yet he kept going. “Wondered where you were and what you were doing and if you were still watching Supernatural. Or what you had for breakfast and if it was the same thing I had. If you were happy.”

  Christian’s own eyes watered and he leaned his forehead against Riley’s.

  “Please let me come with you,” Riley whispered, breath ghosting over Christian’s lips.

  “Riley, honey.” Christian leaned back an inch to look Riley in the eye. “I’m staying.”

  “Oh.” Riley’s eyes swam with confusion until he seemed to realize what Christian had said. “Oh! Okay. Wow. Okay. But I had everything all planned,” he said, earnest. “I have a job ad out for a manager for Warm Glow and…and…and my bag is packed and ready to go, and my neighbor… She’s going to check my mail for me and I even have a job interview lined up for next week!”

  “Riles, wait, slow down.” Christian took Riley by the waist and shook him slightly. “What job interview?” Because if it was something Riley really wanted then that was something they needed to consider.

  “Oh, I asked Coach Davenport to see if there were any coaching opportunities in Vancouver. Apparently there’s a team in…White Rock?…that needs an assistant coach.” Riley shrugged. “Could’ve been fun.”

  Riley didn’t seem all that enthused about it. Christian narrowed his eyes on him. “But?”

  “But…” Riley looked away, fingers playing with the zipper on Christian’s coat. “Um, there’s a job opening with the Milton Trailblazers. For a goaltending coach.”

  A goaltending coach. For an OHL team located a thirty-minute drive away. It was so perfectly right for Riley. Christian’s heart leapt, thrilled that Riley was finally ready to let hockey into his life again.

  “And you were just going to what?” Christian asked, incredulous. “Pass up that opportunity to move to BC with me?”

  When Riley lifted his head those ocean blue eyes were more serious than Christian had ever seen them. “I chose hockey over you once, T. I didn’t mean to, but I did. I’m never doing that again. I love you and wherever you go I go too from now on.”

  Christian let out a shaky breath that ended in a quiet chuckle. “Okay. Come here.” He pulled Riley to him and buried his face in Riley’s neck. “I love you, too.” Riley was warm and here and everything. Everything in Christian’s life had led them to this moment. “Scared me when you weren’t there this morning.”

  Riley held him tighter. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against Christian’s neck.

  “Cancel that interview in BC. Set one up with the Milton team,” Christian said.

  He felt Riley’s smile against his skin. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “’Cause you’re staying.”

  “Yeah, Riley, honey, I’m staying.” Except… “Um.” He pulled out of the hug. “Actually, I do sort of need to get on
a plane today.” He wasn’t a nice enough person to say that the panic in Riley’s eyes didn’t make him feel really fucking awesome. Because it totally, definitely did. “I’m coming back,” he promised. “But I do need to get back to work to hand in my notice and pack up my stuff and lease my apartment.”

  “Oh,” Riley said, then kissed him hard and fast. “That’s okay, then. So you’ll be back in, what? A week?”

  “In what fantasy universe does moving only take a week?”

  Riley shrugged. “I don’t know. How much stuff do you have there? And it’s not like you need to look for a place to live. You know you’re moving in with me.”

  “Only if you find a priest or an exorcist or a witch or something to clear out those ghosts. Hell, I’ll even take smudging.”

  Riley laughed and Christian couldn’t help but marvel at how he’d have that sound in his life from now until forever.

  “Deal,” Riley said. “Anything else?”

  Christian eyed the frozen pond to his right. At some point in the next few minutes he’d have to call the airline to reschedule his flight for later in the day, but after that?

  “Feel like a game before I leave?”

  Grinning, Riley linked their fingers together and turned them in the direction of his house so they could grab some gear. When Riley shivered, Christian let his hand go to put his arm around him, letting Riley huddle into his side.

  “Remind me to grab a coat,” Riley said.

  “You’re lucky there’s no windchill today.” Christian ran his hand along Riley’s upper arm. “Why aren’t you wearing one anyway?”

  “I was in a hurry. Had to get to you.”

  Christian smiled and kissed the top of Riley’s head, letting that thought settle securely into his bones as he walked home with his guy.

  Riley hesitated. The big, white door blocking his entry into Christian’s Vancouver apartment loomed ominously in front of him, a wall that said “You can’t have him!”

  Or maybe that was his insecurities talking.

  His phone went off in his pocket, an obnoxiously loud hockey goal horn. Christian.

  Packing is finally fucking done. Fuck, who knew I had so much fucking stuff?

  Three F-bombs in only two sentences. Even for Christian that was a lot. He must really be sick and tired of packing. The phone buzzed in his hand before Riley could type a reply.

  I can’t fucking wait to see you.

  Definitely his insecurities.

  According to Riley’s research, the quickest drive from Vancouver to Oakville was through the northern United States. Quickest being relative, at only 40 hours of driving time, not including food and pee breaks and sleep.

  Which meant if Christian left tomorrow like he was planning, he’d arrive in Oakville in, oh, about way-too-damn-long-for-Riley’s-sanity.

  Riley wasn’t having it, which was how he’d found himself here late on a Sunday afternoon in early February: in Vancouver, outside Christian’s apartment. It’d been over four weeks—thirty-two whole days but who was counting?—since they’d seen each other. He couldn’t take another day.

  Yet, for some reason, he hesitated before knocking on the door. Four weeks ago, Riley had thought that Christian’s move to Oakville would only take a week. Fast forward to the present and the delays in Christian’s move had Riley questioning whether his boyfriend actually did want to move back home.

  Stupid, of course. They spoke twice a day, sometimes more, and texted copiously. Riley knew Christian was coming home but his brain wouldn’t turn off the doubts and what-ifs. He’d kept himself busy since Christian left, hoping to keep his mind occupied. He started a new job, hired a new manager for Warm Glow, hosted his parents for a brief visit in mid-January, made a point of getting together with his former teammates, played a couple of hockey games with his rec league, visited Christian’s mom, and even took up a new hobby in an effort to pass the time: he was now embarrassingly addicted to Pet Rescue Saga.

  Sucking in a lungful of air, he raised his hand to knock.

  “Riley?”

  Startled, he almost choked on oxygen. A guy a couple of inches shorter than him walked toward him from the elevator. Riley had met him…shit, probably eight years ago or so, when he’d flown to Vancouver to see Christian on one of his very few weekends off during university. Eric had been Christian’s roommate at the time.

  “Hey, man!” Eric held his hand out for a shake. “It’s good to see you. Chris didn’t mention you were coming to make the trip with him.”

  “Yeah, uh…” Riley scratched his temple. “He doesn’t know.”

  “Aw.” Eric grinned at him. “He’s gonna be so happy to see you. He’s been a grouchy bastard since he got back from his Christmas vacation.”

  Christian was always a bit of a grouchy bastard, but if Eric was pointing it out, then his man must’ve been even grouchier than normal.

  Eric walked right into Christian’s apartment as if he owned the place. Riley frowned, not liking that one bit.

  “Yo, Chris!” Eric shouted into the barren apartment.

  The only signs that someone sort-of lived here were the nails hammered into the walls where pictures or art must’ve once hung and the boxes stacked next to the front door, all neatly labeled. There were less than Riley would’ve thought, but he knew that Christian had decided to sell the nonessentials: rugs, dishes, pots and pans, his couch, TV, and bed. Riley already had everything at his place. All Christian needed was himself, his clothes, and his personal items.

  There was one fairly large box with Riley’s name on it, but he didn’t have a chance to wonder further before Eric yelled, “You have a visitor.”

  “If it’s my landlord again,” came Christian’s muffled response from a bedroom to the left, “tell him I’ve already taken care of everything.”

  Riley’s stomach did something funny at Christian’s rumbly voice.

  “It’s not your landlord,” Eric said, hopping up onto the kitchen island.

  “Did you bring food?” was Christian’s reply.

  “Was I supposed to?”

  A sigh from the bedroom.

  “You know,” Eric said to Riley. “I’m almost glad you’re taking the grouchy fucker off my hands.”

  Riley could tell he didn’t mean it. He was smiling, but his eyes were sad.

  “Please, you know you’ll miss me.” Christian emerged from the bedroom in old sweats, a T-shirt, and the T necklace Riley had gifted him for Christmas. He held an anorexic roll of packing tape and scissors. Riley’s heart jumped into his throat when his boyfriend’s icy blue eyes latched onto his.

  Christian froze. Riley’s doubts doubled. Then Christian’s face went through a series of expressions that had Riley’s worries finally fizzing to a quick death: surprise, disbelief, shock, amazement, gratitude, and then, to Riley’s delight, excited pleasure.

  “Riles,” Christian whispered. He thrust the tape and scissors at Eric, then headed for Riley at a clipped pace.

  Pulse racing, Riley dropped his backpack and met Christian halfway. Christian’s hands framed Riley’s face and his lips took possession of Riley’s, gently, as if reacquainting himself.

  God, the feel of Christian under Riley’s hands, the smell of him, the taste… Riley’s senses overloaded and he let out a sobbing breath and deepened the kiss.

  The past four weeks had been torture, thrusting him back in time to his college years. Him in Denver; Christian here, in Vancouver. Constant texting and phone calls and planning short visits around their busy schedules. Doing the long-distance thing until Christian broke up with him because he couldn’t handle the separation anymore.

  Not that they’d really been doing a long-distance thing this time around. It was temporary, only temporary, while Christian packed up his stuff for the move. Sure, try telling Riley’s insecurities that. If he’d constantly worried over the past thirty-two days that Christian was going to change his mind and break up with him, well, it wasn’t his fault.
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br />   But now he was here, in Christian’s arms. Christian smelled so good and tasted so good. Riley gave up any pretense at a civilized hello kiss and attacked Christian’s mouth. Christian groaned and wrapped his arms around him, inserting a muscled thigh between Riley’s. Riley’s dick thickened in his jeans. Inevitable given the past few weeks of nothing but his own hand and phone sex.

  “Jesus,” Eric muttered from his perch on the counter. “Get a room, guys.”

  They ignored him.

  Christian’s lips were soft yet insistent against his, his tongue firm and wet in his mouth. Riley made a throaty sound deep in his chest that had Christian squeezing his ass and driving their semis together. He kept running his hands over Christian’s back, his shoulders, up into his hair, reacquainting himself with his boyfriend.

  Riley felt like he could finally think again.

  There was a thump when Eric jumped off the counter. “I’m going to wait outside. Don’t take too long.”

  The door closed behind him.

  Christian pulled back, only to place a quick kiss on Riley’s lips.

  “Hey, T,” Riley said.

  Christian chuckled. “Hi.” He pecked another fast kiss on Riley’s lips. “What are you doing here? Actually, you know what?” He brought Riley in for a hug. “I don’t even care. I’m just so fucking glad to see you.” His breath whispered against Riley’s neck, making him shiver. “I missed you so fucking much.”

  Riley buried his own face in Christian’s neck and inhaled sharply. “I missed you, too.” He slipped one hand under Christian’s T-shirt to run a hand over bare skin. “I thought you might like company on your drive east.”

  “Yeah?” Christian dropped tiny kisses along Riley’s jaw. Riley sighed in bliss and ran his fingernails along Christian’s spine. His man shuddered, pulling back the barest inch, enough so that they could see each other. “What about work?”

  “I took a couple days off,” Riley said. His hands wandered over Christian’s chest, his sides, his stomach.

  Christian’s abs tightened against his touch even as his eyes darkened with concern. “Is that a good idea?” he asked. “You only started working there two weeks ago. I’m surprised they gave you the time off so soon.”