CHAPTER SEVEN

"So, what happened?" Matty asked when they were seated at a small table with coffees and sandwiches he'd bought before Antoni could argue about it.

Like Matty had pulled a cork loose, Antoni's words came spilling out about the mess at dinner last night and the bad news about the van's engine this morning. Matty's heart ached because nobody should have to deal with all that on their own.

And obviously his family was helping a ton but clearly, he needed some luck on his side too.

Well fine, Matty would be his good luck.

"So, when do you want to move in?" Matty asked.

He pushed a turkey pesto sandwich closer to Antoni, who glared at it but when his stomach rumbled, loud enough for Matty to hear across the table, reached for it and took a bite.

"Um, well I wanna talk before we decide on that," Antoni said and Matty tried not to sigh because why was Antoni making it more difficult than it needed to be?

But he just nodded, carefully chewing his own chicken and roasted red pepper wrap.

"So, you're selling the house, right?" Antoni asked with a little frown.

"Well …" Matty shrugged. "That's the thing. I don't have to."

Antoni gave him a confused look. "Don't you have somewhere else you're moving?"

"No," Matty said. "I dunno. I just figured I'd put it up for sale and figure that part out later."

Antoni shook his head. "Right, okay. So that answers one thing, I guess. You really wouldn't mind staying there though?"

"Nope. I love the place. Just hate how empty it is and it's stupid for one person to live in that huge of a house."

"I get that." Antoni laughed softly. "It sure wouldn't be empty once we're there though."

Matty beamed. "I love that! It'll be so nice to hear kids laughing and having fun there."

"Yeah, but what about the crying and the screaming and the puking and—"

"Look, I have a couple younger siblings and a lot of cousins. I know it's not all sunshine and roses. And your kids have been through a lot already."

"They have."

"So, I know it's not gonna be easy. But I can handle being around some screaming and crying and yeah, even the puking. I've been through it all before with my teammates' kids. Besides, I play hockey. If I can't handle some loud noises, gross smells, and bodily fluids ending up everywhere, buddy, I am in the wrong sport."

Antoni laughed softly. "Fair enough."

"I know I blurted my offer out the other day but I've really thought this through since then. And I haven't changed my mind."

Antoni set his sandwich down with a frown. "It's just crazy. We don't even know each other."

"True." Matty gave him a sympathetic smile. "But I like what I see so far."

"You seem like a great guy too. It's just … I have to be sure I can trust you. If it was just me … that would be one thing. But those kids …"

"Get a background check done on me if you're worried." Matty smiled reassuringly at Antoni. "I swear, I've got nothing to hide. I've never been arrested. I was married once, divorced. No kids. I wanted kids but … well, like I said, it didn't happen."

"I just don't get it. Why would you do all this for us?" Antoni asked. "Let us invade your space that way?"

Matty looked down at his cup. This was hard to talk about but maybe if he did, Antoni would understand. "Because I'm lonely."

"Oh."

Matty offered him a weak smile. "I hate being in that big-ass house by myself. It's too quiet. I tried filling it up with teammates. I let some rookies stay with me for a while but they all got places of their own eventually. I tried letting some guys I knew through hockey stay there for a while but they just wanted to throw parties and I mean, I like a good team party but a couple of them were getting into stuff that … yeah, I'm not risking my career for that shit."

"Okay, I get that." Antoni nodded slowly. "Wouldn't it cramp your, um, love life though? I'm sure you date. You probably want to bring women back and …"

Matty looked away. "You'd be surprised. I don't—I don't get up to that sort of thing as much as you might think."

"No?"

He shook his head. "But maybe I'd cramp your style?"

"My style?" Antoni laughed hollowly. "Sure. I haven't hooked up or had a date since I got the news about Bethany and Corey. Who has time for that when there are kids to feed and a baby teething and lesson plans to write and—" He bit off the rant with a tired smile. "Anyway, it's just not my priority now."

"That's tough, man." Matty shot him a sympathetic smile.

Antoni sighed. "I'll survive. Not saying I don't miss it sometimes, but yeah, you don't have to worry about that. I have my priorities right now and they're 100% on the kids."

"You're a good guardian," Matty said, because he wasn't making the mistake of calling Antoni their dad again. Even if none of the kids were around. He still felt awful he'd upset Alexis that way.

"I do my best. Even if it doesn't feel like it some days." Antoni fiddled with his coffee.

"No, you are though," Matty insisted. "And I think that moving into my place is you doing your best for them and you."

"It makes me feel like a failure."

"I get it but I think you're wrong. You're giving them a stable home," Matty insisted. "A place where they'll be safe and have plenty of room to run around and just be kids."

"I do want that for them."

"I know," Matty said softly, reaching out and patting Antoni's hand. "And my place is perfect."

"Won't we interfere with your hockey though?"

"Nah. Like I said, there's the guest house. We won't have to see each other if we don't want. And honestly, once the season starts, I'll be gone a lot."

Antoni froze. "Oh. I hadn't considered that."

"Yeah, I mean, when we're on a western conference road trip, I'll be gone for a couple of weeks at a time." Matty smiled. "Actually, that's perfect if you're there. I won't have to hire someone to check in on the place when I'm gone anymore."

"Oh." Antoni blinked. "I mean, yeah, if that would help you out, that's good."

"Definitely."

"Okay. I guess that makes me feel a little better if I'm giving something back and it's not just you doing me a favor." Antoni gave him a tentative little smile.

Matty did an internal fist pump. "Awesome. Okay, so I know you're not a hockey guy but are any of the kids into it?"

Antoni nodded. "Yeah. Alexis used to play. I had a tough conversation with her a few weeks ago about the fact I won't be able to afford it this fall though."

"Well, if you want, I might be able to pull some strings there and get her hooked up," Matty said with a little wink. "But there's also synthetic ice in my basement she can use."

"What the hell is that?" Antoni asked.

"It's these plastic tiles that lock together to make a skating surface. It's not a full rink or anything, I'm not quite that hardcore, but it kinda works like ice and its big enough to put skates on and practice shooting and all that."

"Huh. And you'd let her use that?"

"Of course." Matty was confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno. That's just so generous."

Matty shrugged. "I guess? I already own it so it's not like it's a big investment just for her or anything."

"What about the cost?" Antoni asked.

"Uhh, what cost?" Matty scratched his head. "I'm not charging Alexis rent to use my skating pad."

"No, the cost of rent. For us living there."

"Oh, you're not renting," Matty said with a smile. "You can just move in."

"No." Antoni's full mouth became a grim line and he squared his shoulders. "If I can't pay, I won't do it."

Matty sighed. Why was Antoni so determined to make life harder for himself?

"What do you pay now for your current rental?" he asked.

Antoni rattled off a number and Matty nodded. "Okay, you can pay me half of that."

He had no intention of doing anything with those payments but putting them in the bank for the kids and maybe adding some so they'd have a really good college fund. Yeah, he liked that idea. That was a way better use of his money than buying boats, that was for sure.

Antoni's eyes widened. "Half? Why? It's already probably a tenth as much as it should be for a place that size!"

"Sure, but you won't be using the whole house," Matty reminded him. "So why should you pay for a whole house?"

Antoni frowned down at his food. "Uh, I guess that makes sense."

They hammered out a few more details before Antoni finally gave him a reluctant nod. "Okay. As long as the background check is okay, let's do this."

"Awesome." Matty beamed. "I promise. The worst they'll find are some speeding tickets."

Antoni chuckled. "Sounds good."

"This is going to be so great," Matty said happily.

Antoni gave him a dazed little shake of his head. "I hope you feel like that after we move in."

"Hey," Matty said, reaching out to take his hand. "I can't imagine any reason why I'd change my mind but how about we write up a real rental agreement to protect you just to be safe? We'll make it for six months and see how things go. I can have my lawyer include stuff like giving you plenty of notice if for any reason I do want you to move out. I know I won't, but you'll have that protection just in case."

"Yeah?" Hope filled Antoni's eyes. "That would actually make me feel a lot better. You don't mind?"

"Nope. All I want is to help you and your family."

"That's … really sweet of you, Matty. God, I kept hoping a miracle would land in my lap and … here you are."

Matty rolled his eyes. "Yeah, they call me Miracle Matty," he joked with a laugh.

But Antoni smiled. A big, full smile that reached his eyes. Matty had never seen him smile like that before and it warmed his heart.

"Yeah, here you are," Antoni said softly, squeezing Matty's hand.

"Mom? Dad? Can I talk to you guys?" Antoni said later that evening as he loaded the dishwasher after dinner at his parents' house. The kids were occupied in the living room and Reese was safely tucked in the playpen there.

Antoni's parents paused, glancing up from the tasks they were doing.

"Is something wrong?" his mom asked.

"No," Antoni said slowly. "It's … I actually may have had some good luck for the first time in a while."

She smiled. "That's wonderful news. What is it?"

"Um, Matty—uhh, Matt Carlson offered to rent us some space in his house."

She blinked. "That's … generous."

"Yes. But there will be a rental agreement and everything and I'm going to have a background check run on him just to be safe," he said firmly.

After meeting with Matty earlier that day, he'd decided to dip into the money his parents had given him for the house down payment a little bit. Just enough to make sure that there wasn't something crazy in Matty's history or something.

"He's Matt Carlson," his dad said, scoffing. "What more do you need to know?"

Eliza leveled her husband with a look. "Just because someone is a public figure doesn't mean they're a good person, Enzo. It's smart that Antoni does his due diligence."

"Yeah, I don't want to take any chances," Antoni said. "And even then, it's no guarantee. But he's been nothing but wonderful to me and the kids since we met." Not that Antoni wanted to think too closely about how little time had passed since then but …

His mom softened. "It certainly seems like it."

"This will be great for the kids," Antoni continued. "The house is close to you guys and in the same school district, which is huge. The kids will have a great backyard and there's a tennis court and—apparently—a synthetic ice thingy in the basement that Alexis can use."

"Ohh, she'd love that," Enzo said.

"Yes."

His mom stepped closer, searching his face. "You think this will be good for you?"

"I think so," Antoni said. "Honestly, I've been so overwhelmed lately. I … it's so much. Worrying about finding a new place to live and bills and the thing with the van … I was pretty much at my breaking point."

"We would have been happy to give you more money—"

"I know," Antoni assured her. "And I appreciate it. I do. But you already do so much for me. I don't want you to have to eat into your long-term savings. This would be—moving into Matty's place is better, I think. For all of us. I'll be able to show the courts that the kids have a stable place to live. Matty's giving us a really good deal on rent so I'll be able to get the engine replaced on the van and get the kids back-to-school stuff and feel like we'll be able to … get on track for the first time since Bethany and Corey died."

He wasn't entirely sure if he was trying to convince his parents or himself that this was all true. But it felt true. It felt like Matty was offering Antoni the only way out that didn't lead to him keeling over from stress in the next few months.

It felt like Matty was saving him from drowning.

"Well, if you think it's the right move for you and the kids, then of course we support it," his mom said. "But if for any reason you need to leave, you let us know, okay?"

"I will," Antoni promised. "But just think of it this way. We'll be living two streets over. That's going to make babysitting and getting the kids off to school so much easier for all of us, right?"

"True," she admitted.

His father beamed. "Wow. I can't believe my son is moving in with Matty Carlson!"

Chuckling, Antoni shook his head. He was so damn predictable.

"Do you think he'd talk hockey with me?" Enzo asked hopefully.

"Probably," Antoni said with a laugh. "But let's not scare him off just yet. I really need this to work out. For all our sakes."