Hawk rolled his eyes. “Old hocky nickname. My name is Hawk, and I played hockey. Hawk. Hockey. Hockey puck. Puck.”
“Wow, that is convoluted.”
“Hockey nicknames are.”
They got the menus and ordered drinks, waiting for the host lady to leave before they start talking again.
“So what’s this thing about pizza crust with honey?” Caleb asked. What he really wanted to ask was how Hawk felt about him, but he couldn’t do that just yet, he guessed. And certainly not in public like this.
“Oh, my god it’s so good. You’ll see. We’ll get a Colorado pie, and we’ll have honey on the crust. I want a salad wagon too.”
“I want all the things.” Caleb winked. “I mean I have to get back to working out at some point or I’ll be big as a house because I’ve never eaten as much as we have lately.” He was mostly teasing. He had a good metabolism but still, unlike a hockey player, he couldn’t eat 5,000 calories a day. Hawk wasn’t playing anymore, but he worked out obsessively.
It was a damn good look for him.
Hawk just snort-laughed. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. We’ll work it off.”
“So what does one have on a Colorado pizza asopposed to the New York style we had the other night?” Caleb was making small talk and he knew it, but this was I’m-learning-about-you small talk” so he didn’t think it violated the no-idle-chit-chat rule that they’d established.
“Here I like the sausage combo. It’s basically a supreme.” Hawk’s shoulders moved easily under his henley. They had taken their jackets off to hang them over the back of their chairs because it was warm inside the restaurant. Caleb liked the way the slight V-neck of Hawk’s shirt showed off his strong neck and just a hint of clavicle.
“I can go with that. Should we get an app?”
“Trust me once you see the salad wagon up close, you won’t need an appetizer. Although the honey cheese bread is really good; maybe we should get an order to take home.”
Caleb studied Hawk, noticing how much more at home he felt here. It was as if getting out of the city made him less tense, made all his muscles relax, and made him smile more. He liked this version of Hawk a lot.
“Sounds great.” He nudged Hawk with his good foot under the table. His other one was stretched out so that he could keep it from getting whacked. Warmth traveled up from where they pressed together, and he had to take a deep breath to center himself so he didn’t get too bouncy about it.
It was just a leg against his leg.
“You guys ready to order?”
Hawk handed the menus to the server. “Yeah, we’d love a sausage combo and two salad wagons please.”
She nodded. “You got it. I’ll get that out to you as soon as I can, and you can start on your salad any time.”
It was a comedy of errors getting Caleb a salad, but Hawk held his plate for him while he filled it with all sorts of vegetables and fruits and weird things like macaroni salad and dressing and then hauled it over to the table for him beforeheading back to get his own. It felt good. It felt easy and yet somehow strangely domestic.
“Montineau!” Another guy came by the table, clapping Hawk on the shoulder. “Alan said you were here, man. How you doing?” This guy had the same look as the skier. Caleb knew the type really well because he was one: Colorado mountain guys who did extreme sports.
“Good, good. How are you doing, Jake?” Hawk glanced at Caleb. “Caleb, this is Jake Cranston. He’s a cross-country skiing guide up here. Jake, this is my boyfriend Caleb.”
“Hey, nice to meet you.” Caleb held out a hand to shake, and he did not, he hoped, show that he was freaking out on the inside. In a good way. Hawk had just introduced him as his boyfriend.
“Dude, you shredded at the Olympics, man.” Jake pumped his hand. “It’s good to meet you. Hawk, you need to bring him by for a beer one night. I’ll leave you two alone, but I just wanted to stop and say hi.”
“We’re here for a couple of weeks, but right now we’re together, you know?”
“Yeah, you lucky dog. You’re a lucky guy too, Caleb. Have you seen this man’s ass?”
Caleb let out a weird hoot of laughter that made his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “Hockey player ass, am I right?”
“Fuckin’ A!” Jake clapped Hawk on the shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure. Bye.”
Caleb paused, trying to sort out what to talk about first. He chose something easy. “You know a lot of people here, huh?”