11. Nick

Nick

Nick woke before Rayne,who lay on his side facing Nick. The rising sun shone through the open window, casting a warm glow over Rayne's bare shoulder and gilding strands of his hair in shimmering gold. Dark, crescent-shaped lashes fanned the tender skin below his eyes, and a soft waffling sound drifted from his parted lips.

A smile tugged at the corners of Nick's mouth as he admired this man who had somehow so effortlessly become an integral part of his life.

The last few weeks with Rayne had been some of the best weeks Nick could remember.

Since their first date after Rayne had graduated fire training—a date that had lasted four days—Nick had spent every day that he wasn't on shift with Rayne. Even on the days when he was on shift, Rayne would pop into the station and bring him his favorite treats or gourmet coffees and funny little things to make him smile, no matter how tough his calls had been that day. The first non-food thing Rayne had brought was a little bobblehead doll of himself in his Boulder Blitz uniform. Apparently, they had bobblehead nights at the arena where his team played home games and fans got a keepsake of a different player once a month. Another time he brought a firefighter-themed word search puzzle book that not only Nick, but the whole station could work through, and one day he even brought Boulder Blitz T-shirts for the entire crew. Sometimes it was simply a post-it note. Nick kept the one that said I love the way you blush in his wallet.

Rayne's visits had become so popular that every time Nick came on shift, his coworkers had a pool going to guess what Rayne might bring that day.

On Nick's days off, Rayne spent his nights at Nick's house, and the sex between them somehow grew better every time, except it didn't feel to Nick like they were having sex anymore. It felt like making love.

When they weren't in bed melting each other's minds, they ran up Boulder Canyon together in the mornings or the extensive trails in Chautauqua Park that Rayne loved so much. And at night after dinner, they would watch replays of Rayne's hockey games on his Blitz Club app.

Nick had always enjoyed watching a good hockey game, but it was different when he knew a player on the ice. He cringed every time he saw Rayne take a hit and cheered every time Rayne checked another player. He didn't care for the fighting much, never had. To Nick, hockey was an amazing sport to watch, taking an incredible amount of talent and skill, and the fights only distracted from that. Rayne was reluctant to show his older game footage, back when he'd truly "rained the pain," but he was extremely proud to replay the last Blitz game of the season, where he'd knocked a guy four inches taller and a good forty pounds heavier than him clear off his feet, to steal the puck and set up the game-winning goal.

Nick knew Rayne was uncertain about his future in hockey, but after watching the game replays and Rayne at the ice rink with the kid's club, it was clear to Nick that he belonged on the ice. And not for the first time recently, Nick wondered what would happen if Rayne got an offer to play professionally in another city. Would he take it? Would that be it for the two of them, or would they try a long-distance relationship? Nick had no idea if he could do that, but if that's what it took to keep Rayne in his life, he would.

Could I move with him?

Nick frowned. No, he knew in his heart that he couldn't leave Boulder behind. This town was infused into every aspect of his life—every milestone moment, every event that changed his course, every up-and-down, all the things good and bad, that made him who he was, were here.

Rayne's eyelids fluttered open, and his sleepy blue eyes focused on Nick.

"Mmm . . . Good morning." Rayne hummed contentedly, and his eyes drifted closed again as he snuggled closer, resting his head on Nick's shoulder.

Nick kissed his silken hair, content to spend the day in bed, but a glance at the clock told him everything he wanted to do to Rayne would have to wait for a couple of days.

"I have to get ready for work," Nick whispered.

Rayne hugged him tighter. "No."

"Did you forget I'm on shift today?"

"No."

Nick chuckled. "Come on. I'll make it up to you later."

"Ugh. Fine." Rayne flopped onto his back with a scowl, but eventually rolled out of bed and followed Nick into the shower.

After a reluctantly PG-13 shower together, Nick dug around in his dresser drawer, smiling when his fingers latched onto the cool brass object he'd stashed there earlier.

"Sit with me for a sec," Nick said as he sat on the bed.

Rayne raised an eyebrow. "Why do I feel like I'm in trouble?"

"No trouble." At least he hoped what he was about to do didn't cause trouble between them.

Rayne joined him on the edge of the bed and looked at him with an expectant expression. Nick took his hand, spread his palm open, and placed the brass key on it.

Rayne stared at the key for an uncomfortably long time.

"What's this?" he asked, his voice ragged sounding.

"Your own house key," Nick said softly. "I want you to think of my home as your home."

Rayne was motionless, his head bowed, staring at the key in his hand for so long that Nick worried he'd done the wrong thing. That it was too soon, or the gesture put too much pressure on Rayne when his future was currently so uncertain.

But then Rayne folded his fingers over the key, squeezing his hand into a fist and pressing it to his chest, as though the key was something to cherish that he needed to protect. He looked up at Nick with glistening eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered. "This—" He took a shuddery breath. "This means everything to me."

You mean everything to me.

Nick opened his mouth to give voice to the thought when AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" blasted through the sudden quiet, giving him a start.

"That's my phone," Rayne said, flashing a grin. "It's my agent."

A trickle of unease skittered through Nick. This was it. This was when he'd find out what kind of future he'd have with Rayne. If any.

"Hey, Lizzie," Rayne answered, still holding the key Nick had given him to his chest.

"Rayne, honey! How are you?" Lizzie's voice carried loud enough for Nick to hear her clearly.

He stood to let Rayne have his privacy, but Rayne shot his arm out to stop him.

"Stay," he mouthed.

Nick sat back down and slipped his arm over Rayne's shoulders.

"I'm good," Rayne replied. "Getting lots of practice time in and even helping coach a local youth club."

"That's great," Lizzie said. "Listen. I have an offer for you. I think you're going to like it."

"Is it from the Blitz?"

Nick didn't miss the note of excitement in Rayne's voice. He warred with his own emotions—equal parts excited for Rayne and sad at the potential of losing him.

He truly hoped that Rayne would get another contract with the Boulder Blitz, selfishly, so that Rayne would still be close. Even though he would be travelling half the year, at least his home base would be here.

Nick's breath caught in his throat. More than just having the key so he could come and go as he pleased, Nick wanted this to be Rayne's home. He'd meant it when he'd told Rayne to think of Nick's home as his, too.

Nick looked around his bedroom through a shifted lens of perception, through eyes that were wide open now because of the man sitting beside him. How had he not realized that his bedroom—and he was sure more of the house, once he took a walk around without the blinders he'd been wearing since that fateful day two years ago—was like a shrine, frozen in a time when Geoff still lived. Geoff's photos on the walls, his clothes still filling the other half of the walk-in closet, his old hiking boots still by the back door.

And how did Rayne feel when he was here, with Geoff still so prominent?

It was time for a change. Time for Nick to move on with his life and open a new chapter, hopefully one with Rayne by his side.

"I'm sorry, Rayne. No," Lizzie was saying on the other end of the phone. "The offer is from the Saint Paul Slash."

Nick's heart dropped. Saint Paul, Minnesota was not Boulder. But it was only a two-hour flight. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. It would be hard for him to get to there with his shift work, but he'd manage somehow. And there would be plenty of times where Rayne's games would bring him closer—even to Loveland where the Blitz's home games were.

"It's a good offer, Rayne. I've emailed you the contract to review," Lizzie said. "You should really consider it."

Rayne ran his hand over his head and sighed. It was a dejected sound, and it broke Nick's heart. He wanted Rayne to have everything the world had to offer, to see him always shine and his eyes glitter with life and laughter.

"I'll give it some thought," Rayne finally said. "But have you talked with the management at the Blitz? Let them know my intention to stay with them?"

"I have." Lizzie paused for a second, her tone solemn. "They haven't come back to me with anything yet."

Nick hated how crestfallen Rayne looked and hugged him tighter to his side.

"Okay," Rayne said, his voice tight. "Thanks, Lizzie. Keep me posted."

"I will, and give a think on Saint Paul's offer," she said before signing off.

Rayne dropped the phone on the bed, but it slid off and landed with a thunk on the wood floor. He didn't make a move to pick it up.

"I guess you heard," he said without looking.

"Yes." Nick's throat was thick. Reluctantly, he asked, "Do you think you'll take the offer for Saint Paul?"

"No."

Nick furrowed his brows even as his heart lifted. "You're not going to at least consider it?"

"There's no point," Rayne said with conviction. "I already told Lizzie and my coach that I wanted to stay in Boulder. I'm tired of moving."

Nick didn't want to influence Rayne's decision. It was his career after all, but he didn't want Rayne to move either.

"Isn't it every hockey player's dream to make it to the NAPH and win the Cup?"

"Not every player." Rayne turned to face him, the house key still in his hand but no longer pressed to his chest. "Here's the thing." Rayne's gaze was searching as though he was looking for some kind of sign from Nick or contemplating what he wanted to say. "What I always wanted most in life was a home. Hockey saved my life and don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for that. Without hockey, I would probably be in jail or worse right now. I will forever cherish my years playing hockey. I'll always love the sport and find a way to be a part of it, but I don't need to play professionally to be happy."

He took a deep breath and released it. "I don't want to leave Boulder, and I don't want to leave you."

Joy burst in Nick's chest like fireworks on the Fourth of July. If Rayne was set on staying in Boulder, even turning down offers from teams out of state, then he wasn't going to argue. If there was one thing he knew, it was that he could give Rayne a home.

Nick pulled him into his arms and kissed him, infusing all the emotion he felt into Rayne.

"I want you to make the best decision for you," Nick said when he pulled back. "But I don't want you to leave either."