Chapter 1
He watched Wes check his phone, again, for the third time in less than a minute.
Connor caught Luc's eye, frowning.
Wes had been on edge for days.
They had each pulled him aside to ask if he was okay, but Wes had just smiled tightly and said
of course.
Wes had lied.
Wes lied a lot.
Connor usually wasn't bothered by Wes's lies; they were usually harmless lies.
I'm looking forward to the team dinner tonight.
No, I'm not tired, put on a movie.
Sure, grab me a beer, I'll have one.
There is no Seattle Rose.
They were always white lies, usually Wes unhappy about doing something, mostly related to his captain duties, but always pushing through for the sake of team bonding and camaraderie.
Or, Wes protecting his privacy.
Connor had been careful over the years to only sporadically talk about Seattle Rose; it was the one thing that was sure to make Wes shut down.
Everything else, he would tolerate, and even endure some light teasing about.
Luc
always
got him a beer, teased him for not drinking it, then would gladly take it and drink it for Wes when he snuck out of nights out with the team.
But Seattle Rose was something else.
Connor had noticed her pop up on Wes's phone five years ago.
He hadn't thought anything of it to start with, but he had noticed that Wes wasn't exactly the most social guy.
He had certainly noticed when Wes's moods ebbed and flowed, when he took off in certain cities and not in others, when he snuck out of hotel rooms and when he didn't.
He had tried to push a little two years ago to figure out if Wes was dating her, but he had shut down, practically running out of the hotel room.
Then he had come back a few hours later, spent nearly an hour in the shower, and gone to bed before the sun had even set, and Connor had never mentioned her again.
But he had noticed, and so had Luc, that Rose was back in the picture.
Since their latest season had started, the messages had increased in frequency.
There were
phone calls
now – that was new.
Wes had been less available than ever.
It was strange.
Connor would have thought that being closer to Rose would have made him happier, more relaxed, but if anything, he was more on edge than ever.
Luc knocked his elbow, nodding to Wes, busy checking his phone
again.
"You think they are in a fight?" Luc asked, his Quebecois accent heavy.
"I don't think so," Connor said, watching as Wes snatched his phone up, clearly receiving a message.
His entire face lit up as he read the text, shaking off his glove to respond to the message.
"Definitely not a fight," Connor said.
"Must just be missing her," Luc said, frowning at Connor.
"You've been with Maya a long time.
Is that how it is after years and years?"
"I mean, it would be, if most of our messages weren't about the kids," Connor said.
He loved his kids more than anything in the world, but he was sure if there was a world where he and Maya weren't otherwise occupied with their kids and responsibilities, he'd be watching his phone with as much excitement as Wes was right now.
"You think he is in love?" Luc asked.
Connor watched Wes send his message, chewing on his lip as he smiled at the screen, waiting for a reply.
He could tell the moment he got one, because Wes lit up, practically beaming.
"Maybe," Connor said.
"I think Wes has a girlfriend," Connor said as Maya climbed into bed.
She looked gorgeous, in one of his old high school t shirts that had a rip under the armpit and a Claritin stain on the side.
"Seattle Rose?"
Connor nodded.
"I don't know why he hasn't told us about her."
"Maybe it's casual," Maya posited.
"You haven't seen the way he acts when his phone goes off," Connor shook his head.
"It's definitely not casual.
It's never been casual."
"Maybe it's more casual for Rose than it is for Wes?" Maya asked.
"I mean, she lives in Seattle, maybe the distance prevents it from being anything more than that."
"I can't imagine doing long distance for years," Connor said, wrapping his arm around Maya's waist and pulling her close.
"It's bad enough doing roadies every couple of weeks."
"See, I think I could do long distance," Maya teased.
"The whole bed to myself, nobody leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor..."
"So I should get traded?" Connor teased.
"Maybe I'll go to New York.
I'll be New York Connor."
"No, go somewhere sunny, like LA," Maya said.
"You can fly me out and take me to the beach."
Connor kissed her gently, thankful she was in her arms, and not another country.
"Nah, I don't think so," he said softly.
Maya shook her head, kissing him back, pulling him over her with a smile.
He settled between her legs as he kissed her, thankful that he was home as much as he was.
Connor didn't know how Wes and Rose did it.
Connor smiled at Luc, coming to stand next to him by the doors of the rink.
"What are you doing?"
Luc nodded to the parking lot.
Connor followed his eyes, catching sight of Wes, sitting in his car, smiling and laughing to someone on the phone.
"He looks happy," Luc said.
"Yeah," Connor agreed.
"Why do you look so bothered?"
Luc frowned as he turned to look at him.
"Why do you think he hasn't told us about her?"
"Rose?"
Luc nodded.
"I mean, he knows we know about her," Connor said.
"Yeah, but he doesn't talk to us about her," Luc said.
"We don't know anything about her.
Is she blonde?
What does she do for work?
Are they in love?
Calloway doesn't tell us anything."
"I mean, I think the fact that we know there's even a Rose is more than most people in his life get," Connor said.
He knew Wes well enough to know that nobody else knew about Rose, probably not even his parents.
"I don't expect him to introduce us, but fuck," Luc said, sounding pained.
"Would be nice if he trusted us."
"Maya thinks that maybe they're not serious," Connor suggested.
"That Wes's in love and she's not."
"No," Luc said immediately.
"They talk every day.
She wouldn't put all this effort in for someone she doesn't have feelings for.
Plus, it's Calloway."
"True," Connor acquiesced.
Any woman would be
not to see what a catch Wes was.
As offbeat as he was, he was easily the best person Connor knew.
And objectively, Wes was good looking.
Connor had heard the rookies complain year after year about going to the clubs with Calloway, and how no girls would give them a second look with Wes in the room.
He'd been voted the sexiest UHL player year after year, done countless modelling shoots.
Connor had
eyes.
"They're into each other," Luc said confidently.
"We've just gotta make Wes wanna tell us about her."
"How?" Connor asked.
Luc's plan mostly consisted of doing and saying nothing out of the ordinary, which was...surprisingly a good plan.
Wes wasn't great at picking up nuance, so subtle comments wouldn't have been productive, and he looked like a cornered animal whenever they were direct with him about Rose.
So, it was about balance.
They would wait for Seattle Rose to flash up on his phone before Luc would simply include her in the conversation, as if she was a part of their lives already.
Like when they had been eating lunch and Wes's phone buzzed as Luc talked about a new movie in the theatres, and he had casually slipped in that Wes should take Rose because it was a good date night movie, then promptly continued on, not giving Wes time to react.
Surprisingly, Wes had reacted fairly well to it.
He had taken it in stride over the last few weeks, barely reacting when Luc casually mentioned Rose.
Connor had followed his lead and started doing it too, but Wes hadn't brought Rose up of his own accord once.