CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Unfortunately, Carolina wasn't as easy to beat as Boston had been. They were younger, faster, and their goalie was a lot more dialed in.

It took six games to beat them and by the time the final game wrapped up, Dom was exhausted.

He spent as much time as possible between series resting and was grateful when Charlie and Dustin planned a very low-key pool party to celebrate the win and the birth of Elena and Anton's baby.

So far, Dom had eaten a bunch of food, beaten Felix and Jordan on the golf simulator, and spent a fair amount of time ogling his boyfriend.

Nico, Matty, and Shea were currently splashing around in the pool with a bunch of the kids and every time Shea got out to retrieve a toy that got flung out of the water, Dom got distracted.

He looked so damn good in those clinging trunks, water streaming down his bare shoulders …

Charlie laughed every time he lost his train of thought.

"Sorry," Dom said, clearing his throat. "What were you saying?"

"I was saying that Dustin and I would like to have the two of you over for dinner at some point. Obviously not until the off-season but …"

"That would be nice," Dom said, forcing himself to look Charlie in the eye instead of glancing over at Shea again. "And we could have you over some time."

"Ooh, I would love that!" Charlie said. "I'm dying to see your condo."

Dom chuckled. "Sure, we can arrange that. Shea is teaching me to cook. Or, well, he was while I was out on LTIR. I haven't had time lately."

Charlie patted his arm. "We know. You're all useless during the playoffs. You just pass out on the couch like a lump on your off days."

"Hey," Dom protested. "We need a lot of sleep to recover!"

Charlie grinned. "I'm aware. I was a professional athlete, remember?"

"True," Dom said, feeling contrite. "I know figure skating is grueling too. My mother was a figure skater, you know?"

"Yeah?" Charlie tilted his head. "Oh, actually, I think I remember Birdie saying something about that when I moved here."

"What did I say?" Birdie shot them a puzzled look as she wandered past. "I heard my name."

"That Dom's mother is a former figure skater."

"Oh, right! She's French, yeah?"

"Yes."

"French-French or Quebecois?" Birdie asked. "I can never remember."

Dom chuckled. "French-French. Born in Rouen, lives in Burgundy now."

"Ooh, fun." Birdie dropped into the chair between Charlie and Dom. "Hey, that reminds me, Charlie, I have some of the best gossip to share. Look!"

Dom tensed as Charlie bent his head toward the phone Birdie held out to him.

"Oh my gosh, look how cute!" Charlie said. "Is that a French bulldog?"

"Yeah. One of Colton's old teammates rescued one. It turns out she's pregnant and she just had a ton of puppies. I'm trying to convince Colton to get me one for my birthday once they're old enough."

"Eee!" Charlie squealed. "Look how roly-poly they are! You're right. This is the very best gossip out there."

"I know right?" Birdie giggled. "I want to squish all of them. Look, Dom, they're adorable."

She turned her phone to face him and he laughed at their smashed faces and big round ears. "Sure, adorable. We'll go with that."

Birdie made a face, then laughed again, and he felt a sudden wave of guilt for having doubted her. Sure, maybe she was a little bit gossipy but it was never vicious.

Talking about his mother being a figure skater and sharing puppy photos wasn't the same as selling info about people's personal lives to someone who would spread it around the internet.

He shouldn't have doubted her. Had he been taking his jealousy of Colton out on her? If so, that was worse.

"Look at this speckled one!" she protested, swiping to another picture, then holding her phone out. "How can you resist that face?"

"Ooh, are we looking at puppies?" Shea asked. He bent down to see the screen better, dripping water onto Dom's skin as he settled a hand on his shoulder. Dom shivered at the warm touch and cool water trickling down his back. "Cute. Do you want to get one?"

"Me?" Dom said, surprised, turning to face him. "No. Why? Do you?"

"I dunno about a bulldog," Shea said, shrugging. "But I like pets. Dogs, cats, rabbits … doesn't matter."

"Do you want a pet?" Dom asked, surprised.

"Yeah, if you're up for it," Shea said, reaching out to filch a peapod from Dom's plate and crunched into it. "Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?"

"I've never had either," he admitted.

"Huh. Well, are we allowed to have pets in our building?"

"I believe so."

"Let's talk about it in the off-season then," Shea said, grabbing a meatball from Dom's plate.

Laughing, Dom swatted at his thigh. "Go get your own food, you mooch. I need all of the calories I can get right now."

Shea grinned, walking backward. "Fine. But think about a dog. Or a cat! Or a rabbit!"

"We'll talk about it," Dom called back.

When he turned to face Charlie and Birdie, they had identical expressions on their faces.

"What?" he said, feeling self-conscious.

"You two are adorable," Birdie said with a sigh.

"She's not wrong," Charlie said, patting Dom's shoulder as he stood. "I need to go make sure there's enough food out but, seriously, Dom. We're happy for you two."

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I appreciate that."

When it was just Dom and Birdie at the table, he resumed eating while she did something on her phone. It wasn't until she lowered it to the table that he realized she was talking to Mitchell.

He frowned, leaning forward and squinting at the screen. "Hey, I didn't mean to snoop, but you and Mitchell are friends, right?"

She nodded, looking puzzled. "Yeah, we went to school together and text quite a bit still. Why?"

Dom hesitated, thinking of what Kate had said about not worrying about it until the off-season. "Nothing. Just wondering."

Maybe after the playoffs he could suggest to Kate that Birdie could be some help in proving Mitchell was the leak.

After a quick swim and a dip in the hot tub, Dom stretched out on a lounger next to August and they fell into easy conversation about the upcoming series.

"You'll have to be careful about taking too many penalties against Buffalo," August said thoughtfully. "Their PK unit is too good."

Dom brushed his hair off his forehead. It was damp, frizzy from being wet and the humidity in the pool area. "Yeah, they're converting like crazy this year. Last year was bad enough but they took it up a notch."

"Top of the league," August said.

Dom shot him a small grin. "So tell me, how much do you miss refereeing?"

August gave him a small smile. "I miss it all of the time. I think anyone who's been a part of the game misses it. It's such a huge part of your life and when it's gone, it—it stings, you know?"

Dom nodded. "I've been thinking about that a lot lately with my retirement."

"I'm sure. Do you have any concrete plans for it yet?"

Dom told him about his desire to get a degree, and the plans he and Shea had for the summer. "I think they'll help."

"I'm sure they will," August said. "And you can always reach out if you need to talk. I was depressed for a while after I was banned from refereeing at the NHL level and I—it took me a long time to figure out who I was outside of that. At first, I could focus on Nico's recovery, but as he got better, I had to take a hard look at who I was and what I wanted from my life."

"I would imagine."

"So it's not just lip service," August said earnestly. "You can reach out any time you need it."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Zane Murphy and I have been talking too."

"He's a great guy."

"He seems like it," Dom agreed, then tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, how do you know him?"

"The Out in the NHL group chat," August said.

Dom grimaced. "I'm going to have to join that, aren't I?"

August shrugged. "It is a good way to stay in touch with the guys."

"I was afraid of that."

"Hey, I get it," August said in a low voice. "This group is a lot . I was pretty overwhelmed when I started dating Nico. But there's something special about the way they take care of each other."

Dom looked around, watching Jonah laugh with Alexis as they played table tennis, Antoni bring Elena a bottle of water and a plate of food, Natasha effortlessly scooping the newborn from her arms to give her a break.

Charlie was deep in conversation about something with Birdie, Kayla, Skylar, and Jordan, while Dustin stood nearby talking to Erik and Julius while one of the Makarov kids hung from his arm.

This was so much more than a team.

"They're a family," Dom whispered.

August gave him a smile. "They're your family. If you'll let them be."

Dom reached for his phone and navigated to the chat app, then hit Accept .

However this season ended, he didn't want to lose touch with any of these guys. They'd made the effort for him. It was time he did the same for them.

Family , he thought, looking around, then nodded. Yes, that sounded right.