There were hockey people—from coaches to current and former players, to broadcasters, and investors—hanging around, eating their weight in grilled meat and vegetables and laughing and having a ball together.
They’d all been invited to bring a plus one with them too, and Caleb had been happy to take a summer session off and come down with him and hang out for a week or two.
God knew Kane Dubrow had more money than sense.
He nudged Caleb’s foot with his toes, finally getting a glance over the top of the dark glasses. “You doing okay?”
“Shit, are you kidding? This is the life man. We get an all-expenses-paid vacation because someone wants you to do a half an hour of podcasting? You can’t beat that.”
Caleb was learning to appreciate hockey too. They’d started watching games together during the finals, and they’d watch the Stanley Cup final with Hawk explaining the rules as they went.
So now Caleb could talk hockey to Hawk’s former teammates when they got together, and to his broadcasting buddies and all sorts of other people. Just like he could tell people all about snowboarding tricks and amplitude and landing crisply.
Kane Dubrow came and sat next to him on the side opposite from Caleb, a plate of food in his hand. “You having fun?”
“Hell. yes. This is great. The weather is amazing.” The temperature was a balmy eighty-five degrees. The sun was just right in the sky. The altitude didn’t bother him because of where they lived in Colorado, and honest to God he was having the best time with his boyfriend.
Caleb had moved in as soon as his folks had left, and theday-to-day joy of having Caleb there with him, waking up, having breakfast with him… Hawk couldn’t really express it.
“Yeah, I love it here. I’m in the process of buying a house. This is where I’m from originally, you know?”
“I think I did know that. Your dad retired here and went to coaching junior hockey, right?” A glance at Caleb showed he was listening intently, his dark glasses were sliding down so he could see them clearly.
“Pretty much. I think he just wanted to focus on me getting ready to have a hockey career, you know? I was able to get on with the Ice Wolves down in Albuquerque and not have to go billet someplace far away.”
“Nice.” He liked Kane a lot, which he didn’t expect because they had been bitter rivals on the ice.
“Anyway, I know you’re mostly working for the ThunderSnow, and you’ve got a lot on your plate with your podcasting and everything, but I was hoping you’d help me out with something.”
Hawk glanced at Caleb, who raised an eyebrow, then nodded just the slightest bit.
“Lay it on me.”
“I know you have a lot of contacts in the hockey world, and your podcasting stuff does a lot of good for the sport, so I was hoping you’d sign on to help me hype up this project. I really think the New Mexico market has room for a team, and if not, building a practice arena here won’t hurt anything.”
“So what you’re asking me to work with you part-time or something?” Things he said didn’t have to be socially acceptable with a hockey player. They were all rough and ready.
“That’s exactly what I’m asking. That would mean you’d have to come down here every so often, but it’s not far from Denver, and it’s a great place to spend time.”
“I like the idea, but I’ll have to talk to Caleb here about it and get back to you.”
Kane lanced at Caleb waggling his eyebrows. “Convince him, Lancaster. There’s a lot of good ski mountains around here, and in the summer there’s good hiking, rafting, anything you can want.”
“Ooh, now you’re bribing me.” Caleb chuckled. “I like it.”
“I always go for the significant other.” Kane raised one shoulder and a shrug. “I’ll shoot you some specifics via an email, okay, so you can see what kind of money we’re talking about, what kind of living situation you might be able to arrange, that kind of stuff.”
“I appreciate you, and I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.” He reached over with the hand not holding the sweaty beer bottle to shake Kane’s hand.
“Just remember I can always use good people like you, and you can always supplement your income.”
Hawk laughed, shaking his head as Kane got up after that and strode away.
“That was wild,” Caleb said, sitting up straight on the lounger and scooting over to where they were, only a few feet apart. “What do you think?”
“I think we should ponder it. It’s worth not saying no right away, and it could be a great opportunity.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. My school is mostly remote. You’re very part-time right now with the ThunderSnow, and you can do your podcasting anywhere.” Caleb reached out to grab his hand, toying with his fingers. “You know I would go where you went anyway.”