Crack In The Ice - Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Liam went home the day after our last game of the first round.
After that, we flew to Colorado for the second round. The first match was promising as fuck. The second not so much. I was playing limited time on a bad shoulder, but I was still committed to make an impression. I might have committed too much, because one of the best moves of my career ended my playing time in the playoffs altogether.
Our team captain pointed out that, as far as ways to get put out of commission go, my play was about as impressive as it got. But both the doctors and my coach were adamant that I was out, and I got sentenced to intense physiotherapy.
We lost the game after I was pulled out. And we lost every game after that too, ending out run in this year's Stanley Cup.
Maybe that makes me a dick, but a part of me is glad the team's winning streak ended when I was taken out. It's bad team spirit, but it feels like one hell of a message to send.
Despite not being able to play, I waited for the team's time in the playoffs to run out so Dean and I could fly home together. Just in time for my brother's and Scarlet's engagement party.
"So. I'm confused," Zoey says.
Dean invited her to come with us. And because it's Dean, she said yes.
Zoey said it's because she wants to help make sure I have all the physio resources I need for my recovery at home, but I know she wouldn't have stepped half a foot in our remote corner of the country if Dean hadn't asked.
"I thought this was an engagement party for your brother," she says. "But I just saw a 'Good riddance, Augustine' sign and there are 'Congratulations on your promotion' balloons at the back. Also, I saw people asking to see the ring on a girl's finger and she looked a little young to be engaged to your brother."
Next to me, Liam grins. "Yeah, Elliott and Scarlet got engaged so we're celebrating them. But Gus is moving away to be an ice dancing star. And Owen recently started a new fancy job at my dad's fancy offices, but the store only had promotion balloons or retirement banners. And Chloe and James are engaged too, but they didn't want a party."
"Right," Zoey says drily.
Liam shakes his hands jazz-style. "Welcome to small town America."
Zoey rolls her eyes. "Lovely. Drinks?"
I snort. "Probably in the back room."
It's a little strange to have my agent, in her deep green pant suit, slithering her way past a mismatched sea of guests at the Lake City recreational center. It's also weird to see parents here, considering the things we used this space for in the past.
But weirdest of all is watching Warren and Vanessa Astor walk over to me.
"Hi, cariño," Liam's mom says with a warm smile. "Hope we're not too late."
"Not at all," Liam says. "Just in time."
Watching Liam kiss his mother's cheek, I wipe my clammy hands on my jeans. Almost everyone here is dressed in relaxed attire. But seeing Mr Astor in his pressed pants and dress shirt, I feel suddenly underdressed.
"Have you met Eli?" Liam asks, after giving his father a curt hug and flicking his little sister - who I hadn't seen lurking behind her parents - behind the ear.
"I believe so. A few times," Mr Astor says with a smile. Shit. He has Liam's eyes.
He stretches out a hand to me. "How are you doing?"
"Good, sir." I clear my throat. "Thank you, sir."
Mrs Astor gives me a wide-eyed look that makes me feel like I'm expected to say something. I don't know what, though. So my hands start to feel clammy again.
"They want an official introduction to the boyfriend," Liam's sister Leah says.
"We're not boyfriends," Liam says.
I look at him. "We're not?"
Liam's eyes widen. "Oh. I mean." He leans over to speak into my ear. "I didn't want to assume. We haven't actually used the word yet. Didn't know what you were ready for."
I bite back a scoff. "I kissed you on camera. Thought that might give you a hint."
Liam smiles. "So should I introduce you to my parents as my boyfriend then?"
I glance over at Mr and Mrs Astor, and Leah next to them. They've definitely heard at least some part of what we just said.
"Now it's weird," I mumble.
"Welcome to the family, Eli," Mr Astor says breezily, in a generous attempt to lighten the air. "We're very pleased to meet Liam's boyfriend."
"You need to come over for dinner soon," Mrs Astor adds. "I have baby photos of Liam and I never got to experience the motherly joy of embarrassing my children by showing baby pictures to their significant others. I even have an entire album dedicated to pictures of them bathing."
I snort, glancing at Liam.
"I know where she keeps those photos," Leah says. "If you want to burn them."
"No need," Liam says. He looks at me. "I look cute as hell bathing as a baby. You'll fall in love with me all over again."
Before I can second guess it, I'm rolling my eyes.
"You kids have fun," Mr Astor says through a smile. "I'll find your brother to give him my congratulations."
As Liam's parents are swallowed by the crowd, his sister stays behind a bit.
Liam arches his eyebrows at her. "Can we help you?"
She shakes her head and takes off too.
I give him a look.
"What? She always stares," Liam says. "I wish she would just say stuff."
"Not everybody can just say stuff like you," I say. "Maybe she's shy."
Liam rolls his eyes. "I know she's shy. It's always been the biggest mystery of my life. My own blood. Shy."
I snort, giving his forehead a little push to make his head loll back. He smiles.
"Hey," a female voice comes up to us.
I'm surprised to see Scarlet with my brother at her side. Guess Liam's parents didn't find them after all.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey," Elliott says.
And after just long enough to make it unnecessarily awkward, "Heyyy," Liam says.
Ignoring him, I look at my brother, "Uhm, this is..."
"Liam," Elliott finishes. "Yeah." He smiles, reaching his hand out for Liam to shake. "How are you?"
Liam grins, taking my brother's hand. "Great, thanks. Congratulations on the engagement!" He looks to Scarlet. "You look great together."
"Thanks." She smiles. "You too."
Elliott looks between his fiance and me. "Uhm, yeah." He clears his throat. "You look, uh..." He scratches his head, smiling a little. "Happy, I guess."
I nod.
Elliott nods too. "Good."
There's another short pause.
"We should have you over for dinner," Scarlet says.
"Yeah," Elliott agrees.
"Oh," is my useless reply.
"That would be great," Liam says. "Thanks."
"Before the wedding?" Scarlet says.
"Definitely," Liam says. "Let us know when you're free."
"We will."
A split-second moment passes between them. Something half-amused, half-familiar.
I glance at my brother, whose face shows me he saw it too.
"I think my parents were looking for you," Liam says.
"Oh," Scarlet grabs Elliott's arm. "We should find them, then. See you."
"See you," Liam says back. Then he looks at me, biting back a smile.
"What?" I ask.
He sighs, shaking his head a little. "Nothing. Guess not everyone can just say stuff."
Two slim arms wrap around my waist from behind. "Hey, handsome."
I twist around in her hold to face her. "Olie."
Owen and Rachel - Olie's childhood friend and Liam's ex - stand behind her.
"So." Olie gives the two of us discerning looks. "Now that everything seems to have cleared up, can I just say." Her shrewd eyes set on Liam. "Glad it wasn't just a one-sided crush."
I frown. "What?"
"Nothing," Liam says.
Olie giggles. "I definitely caught him pining."
Liam scoffs. "I never pined."
"You pined a little," Rachel says.
"Dude," Liam whines.
"Eli pined too," Owen says. "Hard."
I open my mouth, but the defense never comes. I shrug instead. "I had some rough moments," I admit.
Liam looks at me. "You did?"
"Yeah."
"Me too," he says. "But you're like impossibly hot so it's not embarrassing or anything that I pined."
I snort, catching Owen's subdued smile.
"Glad you're both over the pining," Olie says.
"You look really good together," Rachel says.
Liam smiles and winks. "Thanks."
I try to decipher the look that passes between them. The warm smiles and familiar gazes.
"Please don't trade the pining for jealousy," Olie deadpans. "It's not cute."
"I don't know," Liam muses, eyeing me. "Think I could be into the possessive boyfriend thing. In moderation."
"Okay," Rachel says. "I'm gonna go get a drink. Like, away from here."
"I'll go with you," Owen says, following her.
"He wants to make sure you're not drinking underage," Olie calls after them.
"I'm twenty-two," Rachel says.
Owen rolls his eyes, putting a hand in Rachel's back to keep her moving. "I know. Olie's just being a brat."
When they're gone Olie ogles us both with an unabashed, greedy smile. "You two realize I'll need a step by step of this story."
"Starting before or after the part where you threw yourself at him while we were fucking?" Liam quips.
I choke on air.
"Okay, fine." Olie raises her hands in surrender. "Message received. Don't meddle, Olivia."
Liam's smirk looks prouder than he has any right to be.
"For the record," Olie says. "I think you're being rude. Considering I've been nothing but supportive of this union. But it's fine. I get it. You can't be appreciated everywhere. So I'll go annoy Owen instead."
"How is she still single?" Liam muses, as she trails away from us.
"Takes a healthy self-esteem and strong inner peace to keep up with her," I say.
Liam snorts. "And to think she thought that could be you. She would have broken you down in a week."
I roll my eyes. "Flattering that you think I'd last that long."
Liam's eyes find something in the crowd over my shoulder and then his hand nudges me on my good shoulder to see Dean and Nat coming over. They're both holding paper plates in their hands, but only Dean's is stacked with a dangerous amount of food.
"Have you tried the dip?" He asks, bypassing the hello. "Scarlet made it apparently. I wanted to get the recipe."
"Actually, I haven't eaten anything," Liam says.
"The dip's running out," Dean says seriously. "So you might want to hurry."
Liam looks at me hopefully.
"I'm good," I say.
"I'll go with you," Dean offers. "I want more dip."
I'm too busy holding back the smile as I watch them go to realize, until it's already too late, that leaves me alone with Nat.
Or, at least, as alone as you can be with someone in a crowded room.
"So," she says. "You and Liam are a nice pairing."
My eyebrows raise involuntarily. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," she says.
"It isn't... weird or anything?"
She smiles. "It's been six years, Eli. I've been over you for a while."
"Right. Yeah. I know." I clear my throat. "I just..."
"You were checking on the potential damage of finding out my first boyfriend is gay and dating my friend?"
Her amused tone isn't what I expected, but it relieves a small knot of tension in my stomach. "Yeah. That."
She laughs, pulling a tentative smile out of me.
"The gay thing," she starts, taking a slightly more serious tone. "I meant what I already said to you, after graduation. You had to process a lot at a really young age. I'm glad you found a way through it."
I nod. "Yeah. Just sucks that you were kind of... collateral damage."
"Like I said." She shrugs. "It was years ago. I had to find my way to deal with it too. I haven't been holding onto grudges of any kind. Not worth the energy."
"And the fact that it's Liam?" I ask.
She cocks her head to the side. "Small town, right?"
"Yeah. For what it's worth. I can't imagine two people more right for each other than you and Dean. He deserves someone like you. And he really likes you."
Nat smiles, looking over her shoulder to get a glimpse of Dean and Liam next to the dip. "He's pretty great."
"Yeah. He is." I nod.
"So is Liam," she says. "When he's not being an idiot."
"Yeah." I laugh. "To be fair, I've been an idiot too."
Her expression morphs into one of quiet indignation. "What. You? Bad at managing emotional baggage in a relationship? No."
My lips part. "Was that a joke?"
She shrugs. "I don't make jokes."
I smile. "It was. You made a joke at my expense."
She smiles.
"Guess I deserved that."
"Little bit." She holds her thumb and index finger half an inch from each other. "But you deserve the good part too. Don't forget that."
"We're back," Liam announces, sliding into to my side again. Dean settles next to Nat as Liam looks between the two of us. "I brought you chips and some dip," he tells me, showing me a plate.
"I said I'm good."
Liam takes a chip, sinks it in Scarlet's dip, and shoves it into my mouth.
Startled, I chew while trying to glare at him.
Liam gives me a stupid grin. "Well?"
"The dip is good," I say.
"Right?" His eyes widen. "Thought so too. Have another one."
He forces another chip into my mouth, not even trying to hide his amusement. Before he can try a third I kiss him.
When I pull back, Liam blinks at me. "What was that?"
"Me distracting you," I say, as I take his plate away.
"Hey," he complains. "I was trying to be nice."
"Force feeding me food I said I don't want isn't nice."
"You don't take good care of yourself. You need to eat. So I'm feeding you. Now give me my plate back."
"Promise to keep your chips to yourself."
"No."
"Liam."
"Are we interrupting?"
We both look over to see Chloe and James standing next to us. Dean and Nat are gone. I didn't notice them leaving.
Taking advantage of my distraction, Liam steals the plate back. I glare at him, but he grins, popping a chip into his mouth.
"Congrats on the engagement," I say, because I haven't actually had the chance yet.
James grins from ear to ear. "Thanks."
Chloe's face doesn't budge, though. "You two looked like you were having fun." I can't tell if that's supposed to be sarcastic in any way.
"I was feeding him," Liam says matter-of-factly.
"I didn't ask to be fed," I speak through my teeth.
"Have you tried the dip, James?" Liam asks, ignoring me.
"Uh, yeah. It's good."
"Yeah." Liam hums. "Just to clear the air. I'm sorry I called you a shrimp when we were in high school."
James frowns. "You didn't."
"Not to your face," Liam says.
Instinctively, my hand flies to smack him in the back of the head. Liam yelps, giving me an outraged look.
"If we're clearing the air," Chloe says coldly. The way her dark stare settles on me makes me freeze. "If you hurt him again, I will slash your throat with my rustiest skate blade."
My eyes widen. "Okay."
"Jesus, Chloe," Liam groans.
But the unimpressed look she gives him, makes him back off.
There's a few seconds of tense silence between us, before Connor walks over with Paige - Olie and Rachel's high school friend.
"Heya," he says, clueless to the environment before he got here. "How's my future brother?"
James smiles, bumping Connor's fist with his own.
"Oh, right," Liam says. "I just realized. This," he points between James and Connor, "will become ten times more annoying once they become in-laws."
Chloe rolls her eyes, but somehow the cold demeanor from before seems to have dissolved.
"So." Connor slides between me and Liam and puts one arm over my shoulders. "Eli. Liam." He puts his other arm over Liam's. "There's a bet going. Help your boy out. We're trying to figure out when you two got together."
Liam cocks his head. "Like, together-together, or just the first time we fucked?"
Connor bursts out laughing and I try to burn a hole in Liam's face with my glare. He smiles innocently at me.
"Sounds juicy," Connor says, letting go of my shoulder to put that hand on Liam's chest. "Tell me everything."
"Connor," Paige says softly.
"Sorry," Connor backs away, letting go of Liam. "None of my business. But I bet on last year when we were all home. So please make me a rich man."
"You might not like the answer," I say.
Connor's eyes bulge out of their sockets. "Shit. Seriously?" He looks between us. "Trey bet on before we finished high school."
Liam and I look at each other, and I see him bite back a grin.
"Wow, okay," Connor says, stepping away to join Paige. "I'm gonna pretend the bet didn't happen. Clearly can't afford it."
And with that, he walks away with an arm around Paige's waist. She looks over her shoulder to shoot us an apologetic look.
"That long, huh?" Chloe asks, her dark eyes back on me.
"I'm a man of mystery," Liam says.
"You're really not," Chloe retorts.
In yet another awkward pause, she looks at me in a way that makes me feel she doesn't trust me.
And, once again, I'm saved by someone else joining us.
"Have you seen my brother? I can't find him," Olie says.
"Last we saw him he went with Rachel to get drinks," Liam says. "But you were here."
Olie pouts. "They weren't there," she whines. "I can't just annoy a stranger. It's not as fun."
"We should go get something to drink too," Chloe says.
I'm not proud of the audible sigh of relief I let go. Especially since I can tell she noticed.
Still. As she walks away with James, I feel myself relax.
Liam gives me a suspicious look. "Are you scared of Chloe?"
"You're not?"
He snorts. "Chip?"
I roll my eyes. "Liam, no."
He shrugs. "More for me."
I let him maintain the eye contact as he eats a chip, then lean over to drop a kiss on his cheek. And then I let my arm wrap around his waist too.
Liam bites back a different kind of smile. Not the playful, unabashed ones from before. More intimate.
I don't miss the way he glances around the room full of people. A few weeks ago I would never have stood this close to him this publicly, let alone touch him.
"What?" He asks, chewing on another chip.
"Shh." I kiss his temple. "Don't talk with your mouth full."