Page 38 of Goalie interference

Ash started to stir, grumbling something into my chest that didn’t make any sense, but thanking me clearly when I handed him water. I sat up with him, making sure he drank it slowly, but that he drank at least half of it before letting him lie back down.

He was so…soft again.

Nothing even close to the irritated, overstimulated ball of rage he was when he got here–I did that.

I fixed that.

My care for him and my attention to the Ash details made him a happy, soft ball of fluff at my side, snuggling into my chest with tired, fractured grumbles of how good he felt now.

I did that.

Because he trusted me.

He chose me.

And I wasn't going to let him regret that–I’d take care of him.

Chapter 19

Thayer

We found a balance that worked for us– it only took about a month, but we finally found it.

Ash was playing amazingly, and he was getting better at self-regulating when he was angry…with the assistance of some firm redirection from me when it got bad. I never put my hands on him in public–not anymore–but sometimes just my tone of voice was enough of a hit for him to start stabilizing.

It also helped a ton that it was a temporary solution–he knew he’d get his when we got home.

Ash basically lived at my house, only going back to his dorm now every few days when Carp would say something to him about it. He kept clothes at my house, and his gear now took up residency in my closet, right next to mine; only his didn’t have dust coating it.

We found a calm that worked for us both.

Dating was a bit hard in our situation, but Ash was just as happy with dinner on my balcony as he was the few times we'd ventured out on a real date to see a new movie. He just wanted the quality time with me, but he seemed to like it more when that quality time could be done in pajamas and snuggled under a blanket on my couch.

In public, we looked like any normal coach and player combination…so long as no one looked too closely.

“He lives,” Reed teased, raising his arm jokingly as I walked out to the sidelines of the rink. “I was starting to think you only existed in my memory–”

“You saw me yesterday, pal,” I chuckled, taking up the spot next to him against the boards to watch the guys warm up. “In fact, you see me almost every day–”

“I see you, but you don’t actually talk,” he chastised, granting me the reprieve of at least not looking at me while he did so. “You get here right as the guys need us and leave right after–you get off calls as fast as humanly possible.”

Okay…that was true.

It was hard having a secret boyfriend, especially one with as much energy as Ash. The kid could survive on a sugar-free Red Bull and a pack of gum for three days if you let him, which meant a lot of work for me.

And Reed had a bad habit of calling while I was taking advantage of that fun little quirk in Ash’s throat.

Besides, Ash was…Ash–he was a shithead.

He knew how bad this would be if anyone found out now, yet he’d laugh and mess with me when I was on the phone with Reed. He once stopped doing homework when he heard me on the phone, just so he could make my life harder with his pretty mouth on any piece of skin he could find.

“Been a busy month,” I mumbled, sucking in a slow, centering breath. “Settling in, family stuff–”

“New boyfriend,” Reed continued for me, smirking over at me when he saw my stumped face. “Come on, even without hearing the guy when I’d call you, you were way more available a month ago. Either you got a new boyfriend, or you adopted a kid I don't know about.”

“Might as well have,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes a little.

When I looked over again, Reed was still watching me, waiting for me to say if he was right or wrong.