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rsadelleMaster Post - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
There aren't many cars around campus on Christmas, so Danny parks and goes to the door instead of just texting Caleb.
Caleb answers it carefully balancing three pies. "I know you said I didn't need to bring anything, but I was going to make a pie anyway, and then I got carried away."
Danny takes one of the pies from him. "Pie for breakfast?"
"Yeah," Caleb says with a look that almost counts as a smile. "What's left of that one's in the fridge upstairs."
"I doubt Scott made homemade pie," Danny says, "so these will be appreciated." They put the pies in the back and head to Scott's, where the pie Danny carries in just barely survives his greeting.
"You brought baked goods?"
"No," Danny says with a chuckle. "Caleb brought baked goods. Caleb, Scott."
They exchange nods and Scott says, "Come in! Everyone else is here. You're late, Briere."
"I'm not late," Danny says. "They're all early." He and Caleb follow Scott into the kitchen, where there is an array of hockey players standing around.
Scott makes space in the fridge for the pie, and then they turn around and Danny introduces Caleb around.
"You brought pie," Schenner says. "I like you already."
Caleb smiles at him. "You're cooking," he says. "I like you already."
Schenner laughs. "Good one."
"Why are you here?" Danny asks. "Shouldn't you be at Luke's?"
"They went to the in-laws'."
"For which we're all grateful," Scott says. "Otherwise who knows what we'd be eating."
"Grilled cheese," Laughton says, and everyone laughs, even Caleb.
"I don't see what's wrong with grilled cheese for Christmas," Claude says.
"Of course you don't." Scott claps him on the shoulder. "That's why we keep you around, G."
Caleb sidesteps the chirping and asks Schenner, "Do you want some help? I can follow directions."
Schenner glances at Danny before he says, "Yes. Here, cut this up."
"The college kid is making us look bad," Laughton says.
Claude says, "It doesn't take much."
Scott nudges Danny. "How is college? I haven't seen you in a while."
"Finals were brutal," Claude says, "for the rest of us."
Danny makes a face at him. "It's good," he says to Scott. "I made it through the first semester without failing or wanting to kill Claude."
Scott laughs. "That's a feat worth bragging about. I don't usually manage a season without that."
Claude shoves his way between them. "I'm not that bad."
Danny bumps him with his shoulder and stays leaning against him. "No, you're not, but finals and playoffs are."
"Enough flirting," Schenner says. "G, cut this up."
Caleb shoots a look at Danny. Danny shrugs and asks Scott how he's been.
Either by virtue of being the oldest or the worst in the kitchen, Danny and Scott get out of helping to cook and get to just enjoy the meal, which they all sit down to together and don't start eating until Scott offers up a grace that includes thanks for the great sport of hockey.
It's an easy, comfortable meal, and either Claude warned the rest of them or they're more sensitive than Danny would have given them credit for, because none of them ask about Caleb's family.
They're still hanging out after they've eaten when Caleb's phone rings. He takes it out, looks at it, and says, "I should. Is there somewhere I can take this?"
Scott says, "Master at the end of the hall," and Caleb answers his phone as he goes down the hall.
Caleb's gone for a while, long enough that they've all managed to get themselves up from the table to help clean up, and he comes back with red eyes.
Danny's been helping transfer leftovers to containers, but he leaves what he's doing on the counter and goes to hug Caleb, because he looks like he needs it. Caleb clings to him pretty tightly. Danny just lets him hang on as long as he needs to, and after a moment of silence, the other guys go back to what they were doing with only a slightly reduced noise level.
Caleb says, "Thanks," before he lets go.
"Of course." Danny keeps an arm around Caleb's shoulders, and Claude squeezes Caleb's shoulder as he passes by them.
"Drink?" Schenner asks. "Pie?"
"Pie," Caleb says.
"Pie!" Schenner shoves the last of the empty dishes into a messy stack next to the sink and gets the pies out of the fridge.
Scott has ice cream in his freezer, so they make up plates of pie and ice cream - Schenner ignores them laughing at him and gets out Scott's large pasta bowls instead of small dessert plates - and take them into the living room.
Caleb gets a lot of well-deserved compliments on the pie, and it's not just Schenner going back for seconds.
They're lazing around scraping at the last bits of pie and ice cream when Schenner claps his hands together and says, "Presents!"
There's a general bustle as they take their plates to the kitchen and a couple of people gather up packages or envelopes from under the tree or their coat pockets.
"You first," Schenner says, and he lobs a package at Scott.
Scott tears open the over-taped paper and holds up an assortment of socks with flower patterns to a lot of laughter.
"I know how you like them," Schenner says.
Scott throws a pair at him. "That's you."
Schenner throws them back. "Nope. All yours. Now you have your own."
There are a couple of other small gifts, and in the middle of it, Danny hands an envelope to Caleb.
"Danny," Caleb says when he opens it. "This is too much. I can't-"
Danny closes Caleb's fingers over the gift card. "Yes, you can. We're friends, and if you can gossip about my sex life, I can give you a Christmas present."
"Thank you," Caleb says after a moment, and he hugs Danny tightly.
"Your turn," Claude says, and then he's putting an envelope into Danny's hands.
Danny opens it to find a handful of printed pages and game tickets. The printed pages are flight and hotel confirmations, and the tickets are four to a Flyers game in Toronto and four to a Kitchener game in Mississauga. It's a family hockey vacation for Danny, Claude, and the boys.
"I already cleared it with Sylvie," Claude says. "And it's a holiday weekend here and a study week for Carson, so none of you will miss school."
"Claude," Danny says through a throat tight with emotion, "thank you."
Claude grins at him.
"Here." Danny hands over Claude's present, and Claude tears the envelope open and then stares at the paper inside it.
Schenner snatches it out of his hand and reads out loud, "Twenty lessons with personal chef Mitchell Forrester."
Claude laughs. "Really?"
"It was Cameron's idea," Danny says. "It's for the three of us."
Claude keeps grinning at him. "Thank you. It's great."
Danny gets off the couch and tugs Claude up so he can hug him. It goes on for a while, so Danny's not surprised to get chirped for it.
"I might have some mistletoe around here," Scott says, "if you want an excuse to make out too."
Danny and Claude draw apart slowly, and Claude flips Scott off.
"Or maybe you don't need an excuse," Scott says slowly, looking between them.
Danny sits back down on the couch, and Claude goes back to his chair, which means Scott has to choose who he wants to direct questions to.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Claude says. It's an obvious lie, and everyone but Caleb knows him well enough to know it.
"Seriously?" Scott starts to laugh.
"Give it up, G," Schenner says. "We all know what you look like when you've been getting laid, and you've been getting laid."
"How long-" Scott starts. "No, wait, since you lived together?"
"Would you believe," Claude says, "that we never did when we lived together?"
"No," Scott says.
"It's true," Danny says.
Scott looks from one of them to the other. "Why not?"
Danny says, "I'd just gotten divorced - you remember what that was like - and he was so young."
Scott looks at them again, and Schenner's also looking back and forth like he's trying to figure them out.
It's Laughton who finally asks, "So how long?"
"Uh." Claude looks at Danny.
There isn't really any getting out of it, so Danny sighs and nods at him.
"Later," Claude says. "The next season. Since then."
"Off and on," Danny adds. "Not that it's any of your business."
Caleb laughs. "I don't think you're getting out of talking about it with them either."
Scott glares at Claude. "Five years and you never told me about it?"
"It wasn't a big deal," Claude says, "and I didn't want to listen to the chirping."
"You're going to hear it now," Scott says. "And those weren't not a big deal Christmas presents."
Caleb doubles over with laughter. "Forget it," he says to Scott. "We've been trying all semester to get Danny to admit Claude's his boyfriend. It's not going to work."
Scott turns on Danny. "The college kids know?"
Danny sighs. "Just my study group."
Scott glares at him and Claude in turn. "I'm pissed that you didn't tell me, but congratulations. I hope you're happy."
Claude exchanges a look with Danny and says, "We'll be happier if we can stop talking about it."
There's no use pretending they're not going to hear about it later, or that the rest of Claude's team isn't going to find out, but it's a relief to have them give in to Claude's request and change the subject now.
It's late by the time the party breaks up, and they've managed to eat enough of Caleb's pies that the leftovers fit in one pie pan. Schenner looks longingly at the rest of it, but Laughton puts a hand over his eyes and holds him back.
Schenner struggles against his hold, laughing, but it lets them get out of there with all the pie in Caleb's custody.
Caleb thanks everyone politely, Danny hugs everyone, and Claude says he's getting a ride with Danny, which is met with a series of catcalls that follows them out the door.
It's a short enough drive to take Caleb back, and despite Caleb having all three pie pans stacked easily enough to carry himself, Danny parks and gets out of the car. He pulls Caleb into a hug because there can never be enough hugs on Christmas.
"Thanks," Caleb says when he finally lets go. "It made it easier."
Danny squeezes his shoulder. "Good. I'm around. Call me if you want to hang out."
Caleb nods and grabs the pie pans from the back seat. "Merry Christmas, Claude."
"Merry Christmas! Glad you could join us."
Caleb waves at them, and Danny waits until he's in the building before he pulls away from the curb.
"He going to be okay?" Claude asks.
"I don't know. I hope so." Danny takes his hand off the wheel for a moment to squeeze Claude's arm. "Thank you for inviting him too. He said it helped."
"Good," Claude says. "I knew you wouldn't come without him, and I'm glad you came." He reaches out and puts his hand on Danny's thigh. "You have an empty house, and I've had at least a bottle of wine."
Danny grins at him. "Yes, you can come home with me." He pushes Claude's hand away. "But stop groping me. I have to drive." He can see Claude's smirk out of the corner of his eye, and also the way Claude rubs himself through his pants. Danny tightens his hands on the steering wheel. "That's not helping."
"Not helping you." Claude doesn't stop; it's very distracting. "Can I fuck you?"
Danny swears at him and changes lanes to zip around a Volvo that's going too slow. "Yes, if you don't kill us first."
Claude takes his hand off himself. Danny distracts him from the topic of sex anyway.
"Is it okay that they know?"
It takes a moment before Claude answers, either because he's thinking about it or because it takes him that long to figure out what Danny's talking about. "I'm in for the chirping of my life," he says, "but it's okay. Is it okay with you?"
"Yes," Danny says. He reaches across for a quick squeeze of Claude's thigh. "My friends know; it's only fair that yours do too."
Claude tries to hold Danny's hand where it is, but Danny pulls it away with a laugh and the protest that he needs both hands to drive. Claude lets him go reluctantly but mostly behaves the rest of the way home. It only lasts until they're through the door of the house, and then Claude's hands are everywhere, on the buttons of Danny's shirt, grabbing his cock through his pants, gripping his ass.
Danny has to pry his hands away and push him toward the stairs. "Upstairs. Bedroom."
Claude makes a face at him. "There's no one else here. I've never gotten to fuck you in the kitchen."
Danny keeps pushing. "The condoms and lube are upstairs."
Claude turns around and kisses him. "Stay here," he says. "I'll get them."
"We're not fucking in the kitchen."
"Yes, we are," Claude calls from halfway up the stairs. He's going so fast Danny's amazed he hasn't tripped yet. "Or the couch. Your choice."
Instead of following Claude up the stairs, Danny makes sure all the downstairs blinds are closed, and he's leaning against the island in the kitchen when Claude gets downstairs.
"No way." Claude grins as big as Danny's ever seen him. "You've never let me fuck you in the kitchen." He puts the condom and lube down on the counter and traps Danny there.
"Merry Christmas." Danny grips the front of Claude's shirt and yanks him in for a kiss. "But you're cleaning up."
"Yes," Claude says. "Anything." He settles in, kissing Danny for a while, hands moving from the counter to Danny's body.
Danny returns the favor, running his hands through Claude's hair and down his back, and pulling him in so their hips are lined up. Danny tugs at Claude's shirt after a while, because he's all for going slow sometimes, but he also wants to get fucked.
They still go slow, peeling clothes off one piece at a time and kicking them out of their way, until they're naked and Claude's still pressing him into the counter.
Danny runs his hands up and down Claude's back, and down to hold onto his ass. "I thought you were going to fuck me."
"Yes," Claude says. His eyes are dazed when he pulls away. "Yes." He palms Danny's hip. "Turn around."
Danny does, and Claude kisses the back of his neck before he gently pushes Danny down so he's bent over the counter. The granite is cold against his overheated skin, and he hisses, and then groans when Claude runs one dry finger over his hole.
The lube is also cold, but it heats up as Claude works him open, until he doesn't notice it as anything other than slick to make it easier for Claude to finger him. Claude keeps going long past the point where Danny's ready for his cock.
Danny shamelessly spills out moans and pleas that finally have enough effect that Claude pulls his fingers out and tears open the condom wrapper. He makes Danny wait for too long before he presses in slow and steady.
"Good?" Claude asks.
"Yes," Danny groans. He can't get much purchase on the smooth surface of the counter, but he does his best to push back towards Claude. It gets Claude moving, and it's smooth and even for a little while.
Claude bends over him, mouth on the back of his neck. "Danny," he says. "Can't believe you're letting me do this. You feel so good."
Danny turns his head and arches as best he can until Claude gets the hint and kisses him. "Come on," he says, because Claude isn't moving. "Fuck me."
Claude pulls away and fucks into Danny in harder, unpredictable thrusts that send Danny's chest sliding across the countertop. He tries to brace himself against it, but his hands slide on the granite and he ends up pushed around by Claude's thrusts, Claude's hands gripping his hips and anchoring them just a little.
"Fuck," Claude says. "Can you come?"
"Touch me," Danny says.
Claude does, lets go of his hip with one hand and strokes his cock out of time with thrusts that get sloppier. It's still good. It's so good.
Danny comes with a shout that echoes back at him off the granite. Claude's hand stays on his cock until Danny gasps out a plea for him to stop, and then it goes back to his hip, wet with his come this time, and Claude fucks hard into him until he comes.
Claude collapses over him, pressing him into the counter for a couple of minutes, before he pulls out. Danny stays where he is, not ready to move yet, and Claude comes back, leans over to kiss the back of his neck, and then turns him against the counter so he's leaning backwards over it with Claude pinning him there with his body and kissing him.
"Top three," Danny mumbles into Claude's mouth.
Claude kisses him harder. "This is why you should listen to my ideas. I'm going to take all the spots in your top twenty."
Danny opens his mouth wide to Claude's kiss. It's deep and messy and so fucking good. "You're getting closer." He doesn't want to stop kissing Claude, but he does push him away after a while, so he can stand up. His muscles protest and his back is cold.
"Okay?" Claude asks.
Danny stretches his arms up toward the ceiling, feeling all the muscles of his back lengthen. "Yes." He cups Claude's cheek with one hand and kisses him softly. "Granite counters aren't really made for sex." His knees are a little weak too, but that's from the sex, not being bent over the counter. "You're cleaning up. I'm going upstairs."
"You're a cruel man," Claude calls after him.
"That was the deal." Danny looks over his shoulder as he says it, and Claude's definitely watching his ass as he walks away.
Danny cleans himself up and crawls into bed. Unlike Claude, he doesn't have a problem sleeping alone after sex, and he dozes for a little while, until Claude opens the door and comes in with a pile of clothing he drops on the floor.
"Did you clean up?"
"Yes." Claude gets into bed and kisses Danny's neck. "There will be no embarrassing stains for anyone to notice."
Danny grins at him and wraps his arms around Claude to pull him close. He kisses Claude, and they make out slow and easy for a couple of minutes.
"Why top three?" Claude asks after a bit. "I think that was the best sex of my life."
"The counters are cold."
Claude looks at him, and then starts to laugh. "We'll have to do that again in the summer. When they're warmer."
Danny runs a hand down Claude's back to his ass. "Or I could fuck you over the counter next time."
Claude shudders and kisses him hard. "You better not be joking about that."
"No," Danny says. "Sex in the kitchen wasn't that bad an idea." He smirks at Claude.
"Not that bad an idea," Claude mutters. He kisses Danny like punctuation on the conversation. "Take a nap now so you can do that later."
Danny laughs. "I don't think we're going to manage that today. Some other time."
"I'm taking that as a promise," Claude says.
Danny kisses his cheek, his temple, his lips. "I promise."
They nap for a while and get up later for a late dinner. They don't have sex in the kitchen again, but Claude talks him into exchanging lazy handjobs with some kind of Christmas movie on TV. Danny slumps into Claude's side afterwards.
"Best Christmas ever, right?" Claude asks.
Danny rubs his cheek against Claude's shoulder. "Best one without the boys."
Claude squeezes his thigh. "You'll have them next year."
"Mmm, maybe. Unless Caelan starts choosing between us and Alexis's family."
"They can split it," Claude says. "Part of the day there and part of it here." He yawns and puts his arm around Danny's shoulder. "Can we go back to bed?"
"How are you so tired? You didn't do anything today."
"I drank a bottle of wine," Claude says. "And beat Laughton at ping pong. And had sex with you twice."
The boys are going to be back sometime in the morning, so Danny sends Claude upstairs and spends a couple of minutes making sure they've cleaned up any signs they had sex downstairs.
Claude's already stretched out in bed when Danny gets upstairs. Danny goes past him to clean up and brush his teeth in the bathroom before he climbs into bed with Claude.
*
The house is still quiet when Danny wakes up. He lies there listening to it, Claude's even breathing and no boys or dogs.
Claude's breathing shifts, and he turns his head to look at Danny. "Morning."
"Morning." Danny runs his hand through Claude's hair. "Hangover?"
Claude considers it for a moment before he shakes his head. "No. It wasn't that much wine, and I worked most of it off fucking you."
"Mmm." Danny runs his hand down, under the blankets and along Claude's side to his hip. "Want to do it again?"
Claude looks interested - his eyes flicker down to Danny's mouth, down as far as the blanket slipping down his chest - but then he meets Danny's eyes and asks, "Aren't the boys coming back this morning?"
"Yeah, but it's still early. They probably aren't even up yet, and Sylvie used to do day after Christmas breakfast for them." Danny slides his hand in, finding Claude's cock and stroking it gently. "I'll blow you."
"Yeah," Claude says. "Do that."
Danny pushes the blankets away as he moves down, so he can look at Claude while he blows him. He doesn't do anything fancy, just sucks slow and soft, and for so long that his jaw is sore by the time Claude comes with a soft groan.
"My turn," Claude says, and they switch places. It doesn't take as long - Danny's too hard from sucking Claude off for it to last that long - but it's still slow and soft, and Claude rests his cheek on Danny's thigh after.
Danny runs his hand through Claude's hair, and they lie there in silence for a while.
*
Danny drives into Philly the week before classes start to buy his books and have lunch with Caleb. Danny takes one look at the dark circles under Caleb's eyes, the way he looks like he's lost some weight, and hustles him into the car to take him somewhere with food better than the burgers and fries they probably would have walked to.
"You're not my dad," Caleb says when Danny asks if he's okay.
"No," Danny says. "You're my friend, and if you can pester me about my sex life, then I can make sure you're okay when you look like shit."
Caleb's head jerks up at the swear word - there's a reason Danny doesn't use them much - and then he relaxes a little bit and says, "This is a shitty time of year, and I've been working every shift I can." He shrugs. "It's a lot of hours, since people are gone between semesters, but at least I'm saving some money."
Danny steps carefully when he says, "You should come over. The boys are with their mom this week. We can hang out. Or you can come over next week when they're back if you need some company your own age."
Caleb shrugs. "Does Claude know you're inviting other men over while your house is empty?"
Danny's caught between laughing and making a face. "You're really not my type."
Caleb laughs at him. "And you probably wouldn't cheat on him anyway."
Danny sighs and says, "He's not my boyfriend," for the millionth time.
"Uh-huh," Caleb says.
Danny waves away that part of the conversation as a lost cause. "When don't you work? I'll come pick you up."
"Danny, you don't have to-"
"Caleb," Danny says, "my boys are at their mom's, and most of my friends work or are busy with the hockey season. Come spend time with me."
"Okay," Caleb says after a moment.
Danny nods. "Good." He looks at Caleb for a second and then asks, "Have you ever been to a hockey game?"
"No," Caleb says. "You don't need to go to that much trouble."
"I'm not going to," Danny says. "I'll make Claude get us tickets."
Caleb laughs. "Okay, fine. We'll go watch your boyfriend play hockey. Someday I'm going to have a boyfriend, and I'm going to drag you to whatever he's involved in."
Danny grins at him. "I'm looking forward to it."
Caleb relaxes a little after that, and they sit there talking until Caleb has to go to work.
Danny waits until he gets home before he calls Claude. "I need tickets," he says before Claude can do more than say hello.
"Call the box office."
"Funny," Danny says. "Two. Lower level, not in a suite."
"Two? Only taking one of the boys?"
"None of them," Danny says. "Caleb."
There's a moment of speaking silence.
"He's my friend," Danny says, "and he's having a tough time right now."
"Sure," Claude says, "and that's why he's going to end up living in your spare room."
"Just get me the tickets."
Claude laughs. "They'll be waiting for you."
Danny trusts him to take care of it, but he's also glad Claude texts him later to tell him it's done.
*
Danny wears jeans and a Flyers shirt and hoodie for the game, and he tucks a couple of Sharpies into his pocket before he drives into Philly and takes Caleb out for an early dinner before the game.
"We could eat at the rink," Danny says, "but this way it won't get in the way of watching the game."
"It won't get in the way of you watching the game," Caleb says. "I won't even know what I'm looking at. Hockey's played on ice, right?"
Danny laughs at his sly smile. "It's not that hard to figure out."
He makes sure they get to the rink early, so Caleb can get the full hockey fan experience. They walk down to the glass and join the groups of fans standing there to hold up signs and get a good view of warm-ups.
"Okay," Caleb says, looking around them and reading some of the signs. "Explain this to me."
"This is the warm-up," Danny says. "They had skate earlier this morning, but this gives them a chance to skate around and take a couple of shots before the game. A lot of people don't arrive until game time, so for fans, this is a good time to get a close-up view."
"And the signs?"
Danny shrugs. "They're not allowed to hold things up to the glass during the game. This is the only time they can get players' attention."
"Do you actually see the signs?" Caleb asks. "They seem pretty focused."
"There's a lot of waiting around in warm-ups," Danny says. "You have time to look around."
Claude skates by on a drill and slows and waves when he skates past them.
Danny and Caleb wave back, and everyone near them turns to see who Claude's waving at.
"Like that," Danny says, and he waits it out while people clustered around the glass nudge and whisper at each other until a kid about ten comes up to them.
"Are you Danny Briere?"
Danny crouches down to be at the kid's level. "I am. Who are you?"
The kid looks over her shoulder at the adult who's clearly in charge of her. "Rachel."
"Hi, Rachel. Do you like hockey?"
"Yes!" Rachel grins brightly. "I play, and tomorrow's my birthday and it's Christmas break so I got to come to a game."
"That's great," Danny says. "Who's your favorite player?"
"Scott Hartnell!"
Danny grins at her. "Scott's a great player."
"And he came to my school. We got to take pictures with him."
"That's pretty cool," Danny says. "Do you want to take a picture with me?"
"Yes!" Rachel turns around, and her mom already has her phone out.
Danny puts his arm around Rachel, and they both smile for the camera, and then Rachel hugs him and says, "Thank you!"
Danny says, "You're welcome," and pulls one of the Sharpies out of his pocket so he can sign Rachel's mom's hat when she says thank you and asks him to.
"This was the other reason to come early, wasn't it?" Caleb asks as Rachel and her mom go back down to the glass and a couple of other people come toward them.
"Yes," Danny admits. "It probably won't be like this while they're playing, but." He shrugs. "I've been to games before."
Caleb wanders down closer as the crowd shifts to watch from just behind the glass while Danny smiles for a lot of pictures and signs hats, jerseys, and t-shirts. Danny glances up a couple of times to check on Caleb - he's an adult, but Danny did kind of drag him here, and he feels responsible - and is glad to see that Caleb's talking to a couple of people around him, and there's one teenager making hand gestures that mean he's probably explaining the drills to Caleb.
The press of people wanting to talk to him lets up a bit, and Danny walks down to join Caleb. "Getting an idea of what's happening?"
"Barely." Caleb smiles at the teenager next to him. "I'm not that much of a sports person."
"Hockey's not that complicated," Danny says. "And these are all pretty simple drills. They're winding down anyway."
They are winding down, and Claude skates over toward them, and points at Danny through the glass. Danny steps back so he's in just the right place to catch the puck Claude flips over the glass. He waves at Claude, then signs the puck and gives it to the teenager who was talking to Caleb.
"Boyfriend," Caleb says under his breath as people start to move away from the glass.
Danny doesn't bother disputing it, and they walk up the stairs and out into the concourse. They make a full lap of the place - Danny gets stopped for autographs a couple of times, and they run into a few people he knows from the Flyers organization - before they go back into the arena and find their seats.
It's starting to fill up, and Caleb looks around. "This is a lot of people."
Danny chuckles. "Wait until the game starts. If it's a sellout, every seat will be taken and all the suites will be full. The press is there," he points them out, "but there are cameras all over the place. We'll probably end up on the Jumbotron."
"I promise not to do anything embarrassing." Caleb looks around again. "I guess I knew sports were a thing, but I never really thought about it. People do this all the time."
"And not just for hockey."
"I guess not." Caleb brings his attention back to Danny. "Sorry," he says, "this was your life and everything."
Danny shrugs. "But not yours. I hope you like it, but not everyone does." That gets him some looks from people settling into their seats around them, but Danny ignores them.
They stop talking about hockey for a bit, and then the lights come down and the teams come out onto the ice.
"Wow," Caleb says to Danny when the crowd cheers for Claude. "They really like him."
"He's the captain," Danny says. "And he's been here for a long time."
They stand for the anthem, and Danny looks down at Claude in the center of the rink. He misses it, but he couldn't do it forever, and he does like being here to see Claude play. Maybe he can talk Claude into some on-ice work later this week, or maybe they can play against the boys again when they're back from Sylvie's.
"That means something good that he's in the middle, right?" Caleb asks about the opening faceoff.
"He's the first-line center." Danny glances at Caleb, and then starts over at the confused look on his face. He keeps up a steady explanation of the game and what's happening for Caleb, until he starts to get some of it on his own, and even Caleb is on his feet when Claude scores halfway through the first.
They do end up on the Jumbotron, during a break in play that's too unpredictable - the linesmen conferring at the glass - for them to do much other than show the crowd. Danny waves at the roar of sound as people recognize him, and Caleb smiles and looks up at the screen.
The Flyers win, and Claude gets second star of the game.
"Okay," Caleb says as they climb the stairs, "he's really good at that. And you were that good too?"
"Good," Danny says, "but I don't know that I was quite that good. He's probably one of the five best players in the world."
"One of?" Caleb asks. "Shouldn't you have more confidence in him than that?"
Danny shrugs and looks around; there are too many people too close to them for him to bring up Crosby. "There's dispute about who's the absolute best. Most people would put him in the top five at least."
"So what now?" Caleb asks. "Do we go congratulate the conquering hero?"
"If you want. He'll be doing press, but we can probably go say hi to the guys."
"I want the whole experience," Caleb says. He grins. "This way I can make Hunter extremely jealous."
Danny laughs. "All right, this way."
It takes them longer than it might, because Danny stops to sign autographs and take pictures, but they make it down to the room eventually. The press is still milling around, and a handful of them, mostly people who've been doing this so long that Danny knows them pretty well, descend on Danny. He waves Caleb out of the shot, and then he smiles and talks about the game and answers a couple of questions.
By the time they're done, Schenner has noticed Caleb and drawn him in to introduce him to the people he doesn't already know, and Claude catches Danny's eye and smiles at him over the heads of the last couple of reporters talking to him.
The reporters clear out, and Claude catches Danny in a sweaty hug. Caleb takes a step back, and Claude just grins at him.
"How'd you like the game?"
"I don't think I'm going to become a hockey fan," Caleb says with an apologetic shrug, "but it was fun." He grins at Claude. "And Hunter's going to be horribly jealous."
Claude laughs and claps him on the shoulder. "If he gets insufferable, I'll get tickets and you can bring him to a game." He looks at Danny. "Sarah too."
Danny nods. "We can probably do that. Nice win."
Claude beams at him. "Thanks."
"Do you want me to leave you two alone?" Caleb asks in a smirking undertone.
Claude eyes Danny speculatively for a moment before he can't hold the expression anymore and laughs instead. "You're worse than Hartsy."
"I told you," Danny says.
Luke pokes his head through the doorway, hair combed and suit on. "G, you're holding everyone up."
"It's not like the bar is going anywhere," Claude calls back to him, and he says to Danny and Caleb, "I think they might leave without me if I don't get going."
"Go," Danny says.
"Thanks for the tickets," Caleb says.
"Yeah," Claude says, "anytime, buddy."
It's still strange to leave the locker room and go back up to the main parking lot and not out to the player lot.
"This place empties out fast," Caleb says as they walk; there's almost no one left, not like the handful of people still hanging around downstairs.
"Game's over, people want to get home," Danny says, "especially on a weeknight."
"What about you? Are you going to get game-winning sex out of this?"
Danny pauses with the door to the car half-open. "When are you going to get a sex life I can ask you inappropriate questions about?"
"Approximately never at the rate I'm going," Caleb says. "So? Does the conquering hero get to come home to you and get laid?"
"Probably not," Danny admits. "If they're going out drinking, he'll probably crash at Scott's."
"Too bad for you," Caleb says. "That sweaty coming off a win thing is a good look."
It surprises Danny into a laugh.
"Not Claude," Caleb says, "not for me, but some of the rest of them. It was a good look." He's grinning with Danny looks over at him, but not enough for Danny to tell how much he's serious and how much he's just giving Danny shit.
"Well," Danny says, "some of them are your age, and there are plenty of sports on campus. I'm sure you can find an athlete who's gay or bi."
"Maybe," Caleb says. "I don't know that the post-win sweaty sex would really make up for being gone all the time. Especially if you don't even get the post-win sweaty sex."
"You find the right bar to hang around," Danny says, "and you could get just the post-win sweaty sex."
There's a moment of silence before Caleb starts laughing. "Are you really supposed to be encouraging me to have casual sex?"
"I keep telling you," Danny says, "I'm your friend, not your dad. If you were my kid, we'd be having a different conversation." He grins at Caleb. "As your friend, I think you should go get laid."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Danny drops Caleb off with promises to have lunch later in the week. He spends a minute thinking about texting Claude to see where he and the rest of the team are, but decides to let Claude have his moment and goes home to jerk off thinking about Claude sweaty and post-win instead.
*
Danny has a break between his bio class and OPIM, which is the first one he has with his study group. He uses the time to get coffee and spend some time in one of the lounges in Huntsman texting Caelan.
Sarah finds him the moment he walks into OPIM, waving at him across the room. Hunter's next to her with a death grip on a coffee cup, and there are a couple of empty seats on either side of them.
"Hi," Sarah says. She goes right in for a hug. "How was your break?"
"Good," Danny says. "How was yours?"
"Good," Sarah says. "I liked seeing my family, but I was so ready to get back to school." She leans around him to say, "Hi, Caleb," and Danny steps out of the way so she can hug Caleb.
"Hey." Caleb looks more relaxed than he did all break.
Danny sits down next to Hunter. "How was your break?"
"Too short," Hunter grumbles into his coffee cup.
Sarah rolls her eyes. "You're not even jetlagged. For real, though, how was your break?" she asks Caleb.
"It was okay," Caleb says. "I worked a lot." He catches Danny's eye, and then looks at Hunter and smirks as he says, "Danny took me to a hockey game."
Danny has three kids; he recognizes the jealousy in the mutinous look Hunter gives both of them.
"You don't even like hockey," Hunter says.
Caleb's smirk stays firmly in place as he says, "But hockey players," and gets a scowl out of Hunter.
"Thanks a lot," Sarah says. "Now we're going to have to listen to this all semester."
"Don't worry," Danny says. "I'll take all of you to a game later. Claude already said he'd get us tickets."
"Of course he did," Hunter says, most of his usual easy superiority back in place. "He's your boyfriend."
Their professor steps up to the front of the room, which doesn't leave Danny any chance to dispute that.
*
Thursday is Claude's birthday, but it's also a game day. Danny keeps an eye on the clock and calls Claude after he's out of class, late enough that Claude's probably up from his nap.
"Happy birthday," Danny says when Claude answers the phone.
"Thank you," Claude says. "Do I get a birthday blowjob out of it?"
Danny laughs. "You have a game."
"We have time," Claude says. "Maybe even time for you to come too if you're fast about it."
"Oh," Danny says, "is that what you want for your birthday, one quick blowjob?"
"If that's all we have time for," Claude says.
Danny laughs again. "Okay," he says. It is Claude's birthday, and it's not like he minds having sex with Claude. "You want me to come there?"
"No," Claude says. "I'll come there. Gregs is still here, and your house is empty." Cameron isn't home yet, so he's even right about that.
"Okay," Danny says. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
It's longer than he would have expected it to take before Claude shows up, but he has a suit bag with him that he drapes over the couch before he catches Danny in a quick kiss
"Happy birthday," Danny says again.
"Thank you," Claude says. "Down here or upstairs?"
"Upstairs." Danny pushes him in that direction and follows behind him.
Claude strips in Danny's room, throwing a grin at him. "This is how to do game day."
Danny says, "This is a special occasion," and strips out of his own clothes before pushing Claude down onto the bed. He can see the clock from where he is, so he knows about how much time he has. It's just enough that he doesn't have to rush it too much. He starts by kissing Claude, deep and slow.
Claude kisses him back and holds him close. If they had more time, Danny would just do this for longer, but since they're on a schedule, he pulls away sooner than he would like and starts kissing and touching his way down Claude's body. It's so familiar to him now that he knows where to bite down to make Claude shiver and how lightly to run his fingers over the bruise on Claude's side.
He gets to Claude's cock and glances at the clock before he goes down on him. He wants Claude to enjoy it, but given the time constraints, he doesn't try to drag it out. He takes Claude into his mouth and sucks him lightly for a few seconds before he sucks harder.
Claude's hand settles into his hair, not quite gripping, but firm enough to let Danny know how much he's enjoying it. Danny moves under the encouragement, bobbing up and down on Claude's cock and using his tongue to try to make it as good as he can.
He sucks harder when Claude gasps out a warning that he's close; that's the whole point, and Danny has no objections to swallowing. He manages to get most of it when Claude does come, only a little of it escaping down his chin.
Danny glances at the clock again. "We have enough time for you to blow me if you make it quick."
Claude looks at him with a sleepy smile. "Why should I? It's my birthday."
Danny raises his eyebrows. "Oh, so you don't want to suck my cock?" He sits up and strokes himself a couple of times, making it showy.
Claude groans. "Yes, I do. Come here." He gestures Danny forward. "I'm not moving."
Danny shuffles up the bed and kneels over Claude. Claude opens his mouth and takes Danny in easily. He's not putting much skill into it, but he just came and Danny knows he'd rather be napping than doing anything that requires effort. Plus, it's his birthday, so he shouldn't have to do much work.
Danny does the work, fucking Claude's mouth slowly, enough to get himself off but gentle enough not to be uncomfortable for Claude. He warns Claude when he's about to come; Claude puts his hand on Danny's hip to keep him there, so Danny comes in his mouth, pulling back a little at the end so he doesn't choke Claude.
It takes him a minute to recover enough to look at the clock. They're still good on time, so brushes a kiss against Claude's cheek and gets up.
"What are you doing?" Claude asks.
"Getting your birthday present."
"I thought that was my present."
"Part of it." Danny gets the envelope out of the closet and brings it to Claude.
Claude tears open the envelope and pulls out the piece of paper inside. "Tee times?"
"For you and three others. Those are all days you're in town, but they can be rescheduled if you need to."
Claude drops the paper and the envelope on the bed next to him and turns toward Danny. "Thank you." He kisses Danny for a minute. "Do I have to take you with me?"
Danny laughs. "No," he says, "not if you don't want to."
Claude grins and kisses him again. "I probably will anyway."
Danny runs his hand down Claude's arm. "It's your present. I'll go with you if you want me to." He sits up and looks past Claude at the clock. "We're out of time. Go clean up. I'll bring your suit upstairs." He watches Claude walk into the bathroom before he pulls on some clothes and retrieves Claude's suit bag. Then he lounges on the bed and watches Claude get dressed.
Claude stands over Danny after he's dressed, nudging his way between Danny's legs and making Danny look up at him. "Are you going to watch my game?"
Danny puts his hands on Claude's hips. "Yes."
Claude smiles at him. "Can I come over after?"
"No," Danny says. He squeezes Claude's hips to soften it. "I have class at eight tomorrow."
Claude sighs and bends over to kiss him. "So unfair."
Danny rubs Claude's shoulders. "I'll see you on Saturday. You should go, or you'll be late."
Claude sighs again, and kisses Danny slower and deeper. Danny walks him down the stairs, and Claude kisses him again at the door.
"Two points," Danny says.
Claude flashes a grin as he leaves. "Two points."
Danny closes the door behind him and goes upstairs to clean himself up and put on a shirt. Claude's clothes from earlier are still on the floor of his bedroom. Danny picks them up and tosses them into the hamper.
*
"Friday," Sarah says at the end of recitation, "and it seems like classes just started."
"They did," Hunter says. "On Wednesday."
Sarah waves that away. "Lunch?"
Caleb says, "Sure," and Hunter shrugs.
"Danny?"
Danny thinks for a moment about the time. "Yes, but I can't stay for long."
They pick a place and start walking.
"You didn't sign up for Friday afternoon classes, did you?" Hunter asks, making it clear that that would have been a stupid thing to do.
"No," Danny says. "We're going out of town as soon as Cameron gets out of school."
"Classes just started," Sarah says. "You couldn't have gone over break?"
"Not for this," Danny says.
"Is this your family hockey thing?" Caleb asks.
"Yes."
"Family hockey thing?" Hunter asks skeptically.
"Carson, my middle son, has a game in Mississauga tomorrow night, and Claude has a game in Toronto Sunday night. Cameron and I are flying up there this afternoon, and Caelan, my older son, is flying in later tonight."
"It was his Christmas present from Claude," Caleb says.
"Wow," Sarah says after a long moment. "What'd you get him?"
Danny knows where this is going to go, but if he doesn't answer, Caleb will just tell them anyway. "Cooking lessons," he says. "For him, Cameron, and me. It was Cameron's idea."
Sarah starts laughing and doesn't stop until they settle in around a table. "You know you've gone way past boyfriends with that one," she says. "I think it's great, very romantic giving each other experience gifts to share, but you're into, like, married people territory with that kind of thing."
"My parents don't give each other those kinds of gifts," Hunter says. "Not even for their twenty-fifth anniversary."
Sarah settles back in her chair and eyes Danny. "Well, you're more like newlyweds, right? I mean, how long has this been going on?"
Danny tries to get away with not answering that one, but Caleb was there for that part of the conversation on Christmas and he says, "No. Five years."
"Five years?" Hunter's voice is too loud, and he looks around and lowers it. "You've been sleeping with Claude Giroux for five years?"
"Not continuously," Danny says. "Off and on."
"Oh my God," Sarah says. "You officially have the most interesting love life of anyone at this table."
"Why is that?" Danny asks. "You're the young college students. Aren't you supposed to be out there dating or hooking up or something else we can talk about?"
"I hook up," Hunter says. "But it's nothing this interesting."
"I hooked up with a guy I knew in high school over break," Sarah says. "He gave me a hickey, but it still wasn't this interesting."
"A hickey?" Caleb asks.
Sarah loosens her scarf and pulls the collar of her shirt down so they can all see the fading bruise on her neck. "It's a lot warmer at home than it is here. Do you know how hard it is to hide a hickey when you can't just wear a scarf all the time?"
"Why bother?" Hunter asks. "You're an adult."
"Yeah," Sarah says, "but that doesn't mean I want to answer awkward questions from my grandparents about what happened to my neck. And this still isn't as interesting as Danny's love life. You never told us it was five years."
"I tried not to tell you anything about it," Danny says.
"College, friends," Caleb reminds him. "You don't get out of talking about it with us."
"How have you been hooking up with him for five years?" Sarah asks. "And how can you still say he's not your boyfriend?"
"It was never like that," Danny says. "We're just friends, and sometimes when neither of us was dating anyone, we would hook up."
"I think it's like that now," Hunter says. "You should just go steady already, or whatever people your age do."
"Going steady was my parents' generation," Danny says. "Or maybe the one before that. I'm not that old."
"Whatever," Hunter says. "You're avoiding the point."
"Yes," Danny says, "I am."
"Do you think," Sarah asks Caleb, "we would get farther with Claude?"
"Nope," Caleb says. "One of his friends was trying on Christmas, and Claude said the same things Danny always tells us."
"Christmas?" Hunter asks. "You spent Christmas with them?"
"Yes," Caleb says, "and some of the guys from Claude's team."
"You spent Christmas with the Flyers?"
"Not all of them," Caleb says.
"I'll tell Claude to get us tickets for sometime next month," Danny says to try and forestall the kind of resentment he can see coming. They're like his boys, only worse about it because they're such different personalities. "We'll introduce you to everyone."
"You'll like it," Caleb says to Sarah. "Some of them are hot."
Sarah smirks. "Well, if you and Danny think so."
"Oh my God," Hunter says, "it's a sport, not a chance for you to drool over guys."
"I don't see why it can't be both," Sarah says. "And my hickey will have faded by then so it won't even look like I'm already taken."
Danny's about eighty percent sure she only says it to annoy Hunter.
*
When they get off the plane on Friday afternoon, Danny and Cameron check into the hotel and go out to wander around Toronto for a bit before they get back into the rental and drive back out to the airport to pick up Caelan.
It's been less than a week, but Danny's still glad to see Caelan. Caelan puts up with his hug for about a minute before he pulls away and says, "I'm starving. Do we have to wait for Carson?"
Danny pulls out his phone and checks the time. "Carson should be here by the time we get back to the hotel. We can have dinner after that."
Carson's the one who wasn't home for very long, and he puts up with more hugging from all of them when he gets to the hotel, and then Danny has to listen to the three of them argue about what they want for dinner. In the end, he steps in and makes the decision.
"What about Claude?" Caelan asks.
"He's coming up with his team tomorrow," Danny says. "They should be here after lunch. Before Carson's game."
"They don't have a game," Carson says. "Why couldn't he come up today?"
"He's staying with us until Monday," Danny says. "He couldn't do both."
Dinner is both like and unlike dinners while Caelan and Carson were home over Christmas. It's the same in that Danny has all three of his boys at one table, but different in that outside of their usual haunts, he can see how grown up they all are, even Cameron.
All of them are just far enough into the semester that they can compare notes about classes, which is a lot like doing the same thing with his classmates. It's surprising how much it's like that, actually, and Danny looks at them and thinks that pretty soon they really will all be adults and it'll be even harder to get all of them around a table.
"I'm glad we're doing this," he says when the arrival of their food causes a lull in conversation. "I miss having all of you around."
The boys all look at him, and he half expects them to roll their eyes at him, but they all nod and Carson says, "It's pretty cool that Claude arranged it. It was a good idea."
*
Caelan and Cameron are hanging out in Danny's room, the three of them taking turns battling out Fruit Ninja on Danny's iPad, when Claude texts to say he's there. Danny texts back with his room number and lets Cameron take over for him so he can answer the door when Claude knocks.
Claude grins when Danny opens the door, and he's already leaning in to kiss Danny before the door finishes swinging shut behind him. He at least has the sense to keep the kiss quick.
"Hi," Claude says after.
"Hi." Danny can't help but grin up at him.
Claude steps around him and into the room. "Hey, guys."
There's the sound of a loss from the iPad, and Caelan groans and stands up. "You made me lose." He goes over to Claude and hugs him.
"You should have paused it." Claude stands there with Caelan for a minute, not quite as long as Danny hugged him yesterday, and then lets him go and hugs Cameron. "Carson already with his team?"
"Yes," Danny says. "He'll come back with us after the game."
Claude nods, and then looks at the iPad. "What are we playing?" The boys teach Claude how to play, and he cheerfully loses to both of them and Danny enough times that he finally says, "I don't think I should play anymore," with a laugh.
"Sarah would be so disappointed in you," Cameron says.
Caelan looks at all of them with his face scrunched up. "Sarah?"
"The one from Dad's school," Cameron says. "She loves video games."
Caelan's face smooths out. "Then she really would be disappointed by Claude."
"She likes Claude just fine," Danny says. He puts his arm around Claude's shoulders. "Even if she is disappointed in his video game skills."
"You're only better because you were playing this with them before," Claude says with a gentle elbow to Danny's side.
The boys play another couple of games, and then Danny gets everyone to put on their coats and grab their phones and wallets so they can head out for dinner before Carson's game.
*
They get noticed at the game - it's major junior hockey in Canada; of course they get noticed - but people mostly leave them alone. The people around them join in their conversation about the gameplay, but that's more about the game than about Danny and Claude.
They cheer especially loud for Carson's goal, which gets them a couple of dirty looks from Mississauga fans around them, but none of them care.
It ends up being a one-goal game, but the Rangers win it in the end. They all have experience with how long it takes to get out of a locker room after a win, so they don't hurry out of the rink.
They're obviously lingering, so they get a few requests for pictures and autographs, and Cameron and Caelan take turns taking people's phones and snapping pictures of them with Danny and Claude.
They're posing for one of those when Carson comes toward them, hair wet and lugging a duffel. Danny smiles a little bit more, and Caelan snaps the picture and then turns around to see what they're looking at.
"There's the real star," Claude says. He drops his arm from around a fan's shoulders, and heads toward Carson. "Nice game, buddy."
Danny gives the fan a smile, and waits until Caelan gives the guy's phone back before he also goes to congratulate Carson.
"Just one goal and one assist?" Cameron says. "You should've gotten in a fight and gone for the Gordie Howe."
Carson just laughs and messes up Cameron's hair.
"Good game," Danny says. He puts one arm around Carson's shoulders. "Let's go. It's late, and Claude has to play tomorrow."
A family full of hockey players means that the entire drive back to the hotel is spent analyzing the game, and the conversation goes all the way up to their rooms. Danny and Claude say goodnight to the boys and let them continue the conversation in their own room, and Claude follows Danny into his room.
"You have a game tomorrow," Danny says, but he accepts Claude's arms around him and kisses back when Claude kisses him.
"I know," Claude says. "This is for luck."
Danny laughs at him. "You're Claude Giroux. You don't need luck."
Claude grins at him and pushes one hand under Danny's shirt. "Do I get something for being Claude Giroux?"
Danny grabs at Claude's arm and keeps him from moving his hand up any more. "You get to go sleep so you're ready for your game tomorrow."
"I could sleep here."
"You know we won't sleep if you stay," Danny says. "Not for a long time." He kisses Claude and then gently pushes him away. "Go."
"Tomorrow," Claude says, "you're not getting rid of me."
Danny smirks at him. "I wasn't planning on it."
Claude grins at him, and leaves to go to his own room.
Part 5
There aren't many cars around campus on Christmas, so Danny parks and goes to the door instead of just texting Caleb.
Caleb answers it carefully balancing three pies. "I know you said I didn't need to bring anything, but I was going to make a pie anyway, and then I got carried away."
Danny takes one of the pies from him. "Pie for breakfast?"
"Yeah," Caleb says with a look that almost counts as a smile. "What's left of that one's in the fridge upstairs."
"I doubt Scott made homemade pie," Danny says, "so these will be appreciated." They put the pies in the back and head to Scott's, where the pie Danny carries in just barely survives his greeting.
"You brought baked goods?"
"No," Danny says with a chuckle. "Caleb brought baked goods. Caleb, Scott."
They exchange nods and Scott says, "Come in! Everyone else is here. You're late, Briere."
"I'm not late," Danny says. "They're all early." He and Caleb follow Scott into the kitchen, where there is an array of hockey players standing around.
Scott makes space in the fridge for the pie, and then they turn around and Danny introduces Caleb around.
"You brought pie," Schenner says. "I like you already."
Caleb smiles at him. "You're cooking," he says. "I like you already."
Schenner laughs. "Good one."
"Why are you here?" Danny asks. "Shouldn't you be at Luke's?"
"They went to the in-laws'."
"For which we're all grateful," Scott says. "Otherwise who knows what we'd be eating."
"Grilled cheese," Laughton says, and everyone laughs, even Caleb.
"I don't see what's wrong with grilled cheese for Christmas," Claude says.
"Of course you don't." Scott claps him on the shoulder. "That's why we keep you around, G."
Caleb sidesteps the chirping and asks Schenner, "Do you want some help? I can follow directions."
Schenner glances at Danny before he says, "Yes. Here, cut this up."
"The college kid is making us look bad," Laughton says.
Claude says, "It doesn't take much."
Scott nudges Danny. "How is college? I haven't seen you in a while."
"Finals were brutal," Claude says, "for the rest of us."
Danny makes a face at him. "It's good," he says to Scott. "I made it through the first semester without failing or wanting to kill Claude."
Scott laughs. "That's a feat worth bragging about. I don't usually manage a season without that."
Claude shoves his way between them. "I'm not that bad."
Danny bumps him with his shoulder and stays leaning against him. "No, you're not, but finals and playoffs are."
"Enough flirting," Schenner says. "G, cut this up."
Caleb shoots a look at Danny. Danny shrugs and asks Scott how he's been.
Either by virtue of being the oldest or the worst in the kitchen, Danny and Scott get out of helping to cook and get to just enjoy the meal, which they all sit down to together and don't start eating until Scott offers up a grace that includes thanks for the great sport of hockey.
It's an easy, comfortable meal, and either Claude warned the rest of them or they're more sensitive than Danny would have given them credit for, because none of them ask about Caleb's family.
They're still hanging out after they've eaten when Caleb's phone rings. He takes it out, looks at it, and says, "I should. Is there somewhere I can take this?"
Scott says, "Master at the end of the hall," and Caleb answers his phone as he goes down the hall.
Caleb's gone for a while, long enough that they've all managed to get themselves up from the table to help clean up, and he comes back with red eyes.
Danny's been helping transfer leftovers to containers, but he leaves what he's doing on the counter and goes to hug Caleb, because he looks like he needs it. Caleb clings to him pretty tightly. Danny just lets him hang on as long as he needs to, and after a moment of silence, the other guys go back to what they were doing with only a slightly reduced noise level.
Caleb says, "Thanks," before he lets go.
"Of course." Danny keeps an arm around Caleb's shoulders, and Claude squeezes Caleb's shoulder as he passes by them.
"Drink?" Schenner asks. "Pie?"
"Pie," Caleb says.
"Pie!" Schenner shoves the last of the empty dishes into a messy stack next to the sink and gets the pies out of the fridge.
Scott has ice cream in his freezer, so they make up plates of pie and ice cream - Schenner ignores them laughing at him and gets out Scott's large pasta bowls instead of small dessert plates - and take them into the living room.
Caleb gets a lot of well-deserved compliments on the pie, and it's not just Schenner going back for seconds.
They're lazing around scraping at the last bits of pie and ice cream when Schenner claps his hands together and says, "Presents!"
There's a general bustle as they take their plates to the kitchen and a couple of people gather up packages or envelopes from under the tree or their coat pockets.
"You first," Schenner says, and he lobs a package at Scott.
Scott tears open the over-taped paper and holds up an assortment of socks with flower patterns to a lot of laughter.
"I know how you like them," Schenner says.
Scott throws a pair at him. "That's you."
Schenner throws them back. "Nope. All yours. Now you have your own."
There are a couple of other small gifts, and in the middle of it, Danny hands an envelope to Caleb.
"Danny," Caleb says when he opens it. "This is too much. I can't-"
Danny closes Caleb's fingers over the gift card. "Yes, you can. We're friends, and if you can gossip about my sex life, I can give you a Christmas present."
"Thank you," Caleb says after a moment, and he hugs Danny tightly.
"Your turn," Claude says, and then he's putting an envelope into Danny's hands.
Danny opens it to find a handful of printed pages and game tickets. The printed pages are flight and hotel confirmations, and the tickets are four to a Flyers game in Toronto and four to a Kitchener game in Mississauga. It's a family hockey vacation for Danny, Claude, and the boys.
"I already cleared it with Sylvie," Claude says. "And it's a holiday weekend here and a study week for Carson, so none of you will miss school."
"Claude," Danny says through a throat tight with emotion, "thank you."
Claude grins at him.
"Here." Danny hands over Claude's present, and Claude tears the envelope open and then stares at the paper inside it.
Schenner snatches it out of his hand and reads out loud, "Twenty lessons with personal chef Mitchell Forrester."
Claude laughs. "Really?"
"It was Cameron's idea," Danny says. "It's for the three of us."
Claude keeps grinning at him. "Thank you. It's great."
Danny gets off the couch and tugs Claude up so he can hug him. It goes on for a while, so Danny's not surprised to get chirped for it.
"I might have some mistletoe around here," Scott says, "if you want an excuse to make out too."
Danny and Claude draw apart slowly, and Claude flips Scott off.
"Or maybe you don't need an excuse," Scott says slowly, looking between them.
Danny sits back down on the couch, and Claude goes back to his chair, which means Scott has to choose who he wants to direct questions to.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Claude says. It's an obvious lie, and everyone but Caleb knows him well enough to know it.
"Seriously?" Scott starts to laugh.
"Give it up, G," Schenner says. "We all know what you look like when you've been getting laid, and you've been getting laid."
"How long-" Scott starts. "No, wait, since you lived together?"
"Would you believe," Claude says, "that we never did when we lived together?"
"No," Scott says.
"It's true," Danny says.
Scott looks from one of them to the other. "Why not?"
Danny says, "I'd just gotten divorced - you remember what that was like - and he was so young."
Scott looks at them again, and Schenner's also looking back and forth like he's trying to figure them out.
It's Laughton who finally asks, "So how long?"
"Uh." Claude looks at Danny.
There isn't really any getting out of it, so Danny sighs and nods at him.
"Later," Claude says. "The next season. Since then."
"Off and on," Danny adds. "Not that it's any of your business."
Caleb laughs. "I don't think you're getting out of talking about it with them either."
Scott glares at Claude. "Five years and you never told me about it?"
"It wasn't a big deal," Claude says, "and I didn't want to listen to the chirping."
"You're going to hear it now," Scott says. "And those weren't not a big deal Christmas presents."
Caleb doubles over with laughter. "Forget it," he says to Scott. "We've been trying all semester to get Danny to admit Claude's his boyfriend. It's not going to work."
Scott turns on Danny. "The college kids know?"
Danny sighs. "Just my study group."
Scott glares at him and Claude in turn. "I'm pissed that you didn't tell me, but congratulations. I hope you're happy."
Claude exchanges a look with Danny and says, "We'll be happier if we can stop talking about it."
There's no use pretending they're not going to hear about it later, or that the rest of Claude's team isn't going to find out, but it's a relief to have them give in to Claude's request and change the subject now.
It's late by the time the party breaks up, and they've managed to eat enough of Caleb's pies that the leftovers fit in one pie pan. Schenner looks longingly at the rest of it, but Laughton puts a hand over his eyes and holds him back.
Schenner struggles against his hold, laughing, but it lets them get out of there with all the pie in Caleb's custody.
Caleb thanks everyone politely, Danny hugs everyone, and Claude says he's getting a ride with Danny, which is met with a series of catcalls that follows them out the door.
It's a short enough drive to take Caleb back, and despite Caleb having all three pie pans stacked easily enough to carry himself, Danny parks and gets out of the car. He pulls Caleb into a hug because there can never be enough hugs on Christmas.
"Thanks," Caleb says when he finally lets go. "It made it easier."
Danny squeezes his shoulder. "Good. I'm around. Call me if you want to hang out."
Caleb nods and grabs the pie pans from the back seat. "Merry Christmas, Claude."
"Merry Christmas! Glad you could join us."
Caleb waves at them, and Danny waits until he's in the building before he pulls away from the curb.
"He going to be okay?" Claude asks.
"I don't know. I hope so." Danny takes his hand off the wheel for a moment to squeeze Claude's arm. "Thank you for inviting him too. He said it helped."
"Good," Claude says. "I knew you wouldn't come without him, and I'm glad you came." He reaches out and puts his hand on Danny's thigh. "You have an empty house, and I've had at least a bottle of wine."
Danny grins at him. "Yes, you can come home with me." He pushes Claude's hand away. "But stop groping me. I have to drive." He can see Claude's smirk out of the corner of his eye, and also the way Claude rubs himself through his pants. Danny tightens his hands on the steering wheel. "That's not helping."
"Not helping you." Claude doesn't stop; it's very distracting. "Can I fuck you?"
Danny swears at him and changes lanes to zip around a Volvo that's going too slow. "Yes, if you don't kill us first."
Claude takes his hand off himself. Danny distracts him from the topic of sex anyway.
"Is it okay that they know?"
It takes a moment before Claude answers, either because he's thinking about it or because it takes him that long to figure out what Danny's talking about. "I'm in for the chirping of my life," he says, "but it's okay. Is it okay with you?"
"Yes," Danny says. He reaches across for a quick squeeze of Claude's thigh. "My friends know; it's only fair that yours do too."
Claude tries to hold Danny's hand where it is, but Danny pulls it away with a laugh and the protest that he needs both hands to drive. Claude lets him go reluctantly but mostly behaves the rest of the way home. It only lasts until they're through the door of the house, and then Claude's hands are everywhere, on the buttons of Danny's shirt, grabbing his cock through his pants, gripping his ass.
Danny has to pry his hands away and push him toward the stairs. "Upstairs. Bedroom."
Claude makes a face at him. "There's no one else here. I've never gotten to fuck you in the kitchen."
Danny keeps pushing. "The condoms and lube are upstairs."
Claude turns around and kisses him. "Stay here," he says. "I'll get them."
"We're not fucking in the kitchen."
"Yes, we are," Claude calls from halfway up the stairs. He's going so fast Danny's amazed he hasn't tripped yet. "Or the couch. Your choice."
Instead of following Claude up the stairs, Danny makes sure all the downstairs blinds are closed, and he's leaning against the island in the kitchen when Claude gets downstairs.
"No way." Claude grins as big as Danny's ever seen him. "You've never let me fuck you in the kitchen." He puts the condom and lube down on the counter and traps Danny there.
"Merry Christmas." Danny grips the front of Claude's shirt and yanks him in for a kiss. "But you're cleaning up."
"Yes," Claude says. "Anything." He settles in, kissing Danny for a while, hands moving from the counter to Danny's body.
Danny returns the favor, running his hands through Claude's hair and down his back, and pulling him in so their hips are lined up. Danny tugs at Claude's shirt after a while, because he's all for going slow sometimes, but he also wants to get fucked.
They still go slow, peeling clothes off one piece at a time and kicking them out of their way, until they're naked and Claude's still pressing him into the counter.
Danny runs his hands up and down Claude's back, and down to hold onto his ass. "I thought you were going to fuck me."
"Yes," Claude says. His eyes are dazed when he pulls away. "Yes." He palms Danny's hip. "Turn around."
Danny does, and Claude kisses the back of his neck before he gently pushes Danny down so he's bent over the counter. The granite is cold against his overheated skin, and he hisses, and then groans when Claude runs one dry finger over his hole.
The lube is also cold, but it heats up as Claude works him open, until he doesn't notice it as anything other than slick to make it easier for Claude to finger him. Claude keeps going long past the point where Danny's ready for his cock.
Danny shamelessly spills out moans and pleas that finally have enough effect that Claude pulls his fingers out and tears open the condom wrapper. He makes Danny wait for too long before he presses in slow and steady.
"Good?" Claude asks.
"Yes," Danny groans. He can't get much purchase on the smooth surface of the counter, but he does his best to push back towards Claude. It gets Claude moving, and it's smooth and even for a little while.
Claude bends over him, mouth on the back of his neck. "Danny," he says. "Can't believe you're letting me do this. You feel so good."
Danny turns his head and arches as best he can until Claude gets the hint and kisses him. "Come on," he says, because Claude isn't moving. "Fuck me."
Claude pulls away and fucks into Danny in harder, unpredictable thrusts that send Danny's chest sliding across the countertop. He tries to brace himself against it, but his hands slide on the granite and he ends up pushed around by Claude's thrusts, Claude's hands gripping his hips and anchoring them just a little.
"Fuck," Claude says. "Can you come?"
"Touch me," Danny says.
Claude does, lets go of his hip with one hand and strokes his cock out of time with thrusts that get sloppier. It's still good. It's so good.
Danny comes with a shout that echoes back at him off the granite. Claude's hand stays on his cock until Danny gasps out a plea for him to stop, and then it goes back to his hip, wet with his come this time, and Claude fucks hard into him until he comes.
Claude collapses over him, pressing him into the counter for a couple of minutes, before he pulls out. Danny stays where he is, not ready to move yet, and Claude comes back, leans over to kiss the back of his neck, and then turns him against the counter so he's leaning backwards over it with Claude pinning him there with his body and kissing him.
"Top three," Danny mumbles into Claude's mouth.
Claude kisses him harder. "This is why you should listen to my ideas. I'm going to take all the spots in your top twenty."
Danny opens his mouth wide to Claude's kiss. It's deep and messy and so fucking good. "You're getting closer." He doesn't want to stop kissing Claude, but he does push him away after a while, so he can stand up. His muscles protest and his back is cold.
"Okay?" Claude asks.
Danny stretches his arms up toward the ceiling, feeling all the muscles of his back lengthen. "Yes." He cups Claude's cheek with one hand and kisses him softly. "Granite counters aren't really made for sex." His knees are a little weak too, but that's from the sex, not being bent over the counter. "You're cleaning up. I'm going upstairs."
"You're a cruel man," Claude calls after him.
"That was the deal." Danny looks over his shoulder as he says it, and Claude's definitely watching his ass as he walks away.
Danny cleans himself up and crawls into bed. Unlike Claude, he doesn't have a problem sleeping alone after sex, and he dozes for a little while, until Claude opens the door and comes in with a pile of clothing he drops on the floor.
"Did you clean up?"
"Yes." Claude gets into bed and kisses Danny's neck. "There will be no embarrassing stains for anyone to notice."
Danny grins at him and wraps his arms around Claude to pull him close. He kisses Claude, and they make out slow and easy for a couple of minutes.
"Why top three?" Claude asks after a bit. "I think that was the best sex of my life."
"The counters are cold."
Claude looks at him, and then starts to laugh. "We'll have to do that again in the summer. When they're warmer."
Danny runs a hand down Claude's back to his ass. "Or I could fuck you over the counter next time."
Claude shudders and kisses him hard. "You better not be joking about that."
"No," Danny says. "Sex in the kitchen wasn't that bad an idea." He smirks at Claude.
"Not that bad an idea," Claude mutters. He kisses Danny like punctuation on the conversation. "Take a nap now so you can do that later."
Danny laughs. "I don't think we're going to manage that today. Some other time."
"I'm taking that as a promise," Claude says.
Danny kisses his cheek, his temple, his lips. "I promise."
They nap for a while and get up later for a late dinner. They don't have sex in the kitchen again, but Claude talks him into exchanging lazy handjobs with some kind of Christmas movie on TV. Danny slumps into Claude's side afterwards.
"Best Christmas ever, right?" Claude asks.
Danny rubs his cheek against Claude's shoulder. "Best one without the boys."
Claude squeezes his thigh. "You'll have them next year."
"Mmm, maybe. Unless Caelan starts choosing between us and Alexis's family."
"They can split it," Claude says. "Part of the day there and part of it here." He yawns and puts his arm around Danny's shoulder. "Can we go back to bed?"
"How are you so tired? You didn't do anything today."
"I drank a bottle of wine," Claude says. "And beat Laughton at ping pong. And had sex with you twice."
The boys are going to be back sometime in the morning, so Danny sends Claude upstairs and spends a couple of minutes making sure they've cleaned up any signs they had sex downstairs.
Claude's already stretched out in bed when Danny gets upstairs. Danny goes past him to clean up and brush his teeth in the bathroom before he climbs into bed with Claude.
*
The house is still quiet when Danny wakes up. He lies there listening to it, Claude's even breathing and no boys or dogs.
Claude's breathing shifts, and he turns his head to look at Danny. "Morning."
"Morning." Danny runs his hand through Claude's hair. "Hangover?"
Claude considers it for a moment before he shakes his head. "No. It wasn't that much wine, and I worked most of it off fucking you."
"Mmm." Danny runs his hand down, under the blankets and along Claude's side to his hip. "Want to do it again?"
Claude looks interested - his eyes flicker down to Danny's mouth, down as far as the blanket slipping down his chest - but then he meets Danny's eyes and asks, "Aren't the boys coming back this morning?"
"Yeah, but it's still early. They probably aren't even up yet, and Sylvie used to do day after Christmas breakfast for them." Danny slides his hand in, finding Claude's cock and stroking it gently. "I'll blow you."
"Yeah," Claude says. "Do that."
Danny pushes the blankets away as he moves down, so he can look at Claude while he blows him. He doesn't do anything fancy, just sucks slow and soft, and for so long that his jaw is sore by the time Claude comes with a soft groan.
"My turn," Claude says, and they switch places. It doesn't take as long - Danny's too hard from sucking Claude off for it to last that long - but it's still slow and soft, and Claude rests his cheek on Danny's thigh after.
Danny runs his hand through Claude's hair, and they lie there in silence for a while.
*
Danny drives into Philly the week before classes start to buy his books and have lunch with Caleb. Danny takes one look at the dark circles under Caleb's eyes, the way he looks like he's lost some weight, and hustles him into the car to take him somewhere with food better than the burgers and fries they probably would have walked to.
"You're not my dad," Caleb says when Danny asks if he's okay.
"No," Danny says. "You're my friend, and if you can pester me about my sex life, then I can make sure you're okay when you look like shit."
Caleb's head jerks up at the swear word - there's a reason Danny doesn't use them much - and then he relaxes a little bit and says, "This is a shitty time of year, and I've been working every shift I can." He shrugs. "It's a lot of hours, since people are gone between semesters, but at least I'm saving some money."
Danny steps carefully when he says, "You should come over. The boys are with their mom this week. We can hang out. Or you can come over next week when they're back if you need some company your own age."
Caleb shrugs. "Does Claude know you're inviting other men over while your house is empty?"
Danny's caught between laughing and making a face. "You're really not my type."
Caleb laughs at him. "And you probably wouldn't cheat on him anyway."
Danny sighs and says, "He's not my boyfriend," for the millionth time.
"Uh-huh," Caleb says.
Danny waves away that part of the conversation as a lost cause. "When don't you work? I'll come pick you up."
"Danny, you don't have to-"
"Caleb," Danny says, "my boys are at their mom's, and most of my friends work or are busy with the hockey season. Come spend time with me."
"Okay," Caleb says after a moment.
Danny nods. "Good." He looks at Caleb for a second and then asks, "Have you ever been to a hockey game?"
"No," Caleb says. "You don't need to go to that much trouble."
"I'm not going to," Danny says. "I'll make Claude get us tickets."
Caleb laughs. "Okay, fine. We'll go watch your boyfriend play hockey. Someday I'm going to have a boyfriend, and I'm going to drag you to whatever he's involved in."
Danny grins at him. "I'm looking forward to it."
Caleb relaxes a little after that, and they sit there talking until Caleb has to go to work.
Danny waits until he gets home before he calls Claude. "I need tickets," he says before Claude can do more than say hello.
"Call the box office."
"Funny," Danny says. "Two. Lower level, not in a suite."
"Two? Only taking one of the boys?"
"None of them," Danny says. "Caleb."
There's a moment of speaking silence.
"He's my friend," Danny says, "and he's having a tough time right now."
"Sure," Claude says, "and that's why he's going to end up living in your spare room."
"Just get me the tickets."
Claude laughs. "They'll be waiting for you."
Danny trusts him to take care of it, but he's also glad Claude texts him later to tell him it's done.
*
Danny wears jeans and a Flyers shirt and hoodie for the game, and he tucks a couple of Sharpies into his pocket before he drives into Philly and takes Caleb out for an early dinner before the game.
"We could eat at the rink," Danny says, "but this way it won't get in the way of watching the game."
"It won't get in the way of you watching the game," Caleb says. "I won't even know what I'm looking at. Hockey's played on ice, right?"
Danny laughs at his sly smile. "It's not that hard to figure out."
He makes sure they get to the rink early, so Caleb can get the full hockey fan experience. They walk down to the glass and join the groups of fans standing there to hold up signs and get a good view of warm-ups.
"Okay," Caleb says, looking around them and reading some of the signs. "Explain this to me."
"This is the warm-up," Danny says. "They had skate earlier this morning, but this gives them a chance to skate around and take a couple of shots before the game. A lot of people don't arrive until game time, so for fans, this is a good time to get a close-up view."
"And the signs?"
Danny shrugs. "They're not allowed to hold things up to the glass during the game. This is the only time they can get players' attention."
"Do you actually see the signs?" Caleb asks. "They seem pretty focused."
"There's a lot of waiting around in warm-ups," Danny says. "You have time to look around."
Claude skates by on a drill and slows and waves when he skates past them.
Danny and Caleb wave back, and everyone near them turns to see who Claude's waving at.
"Like that," Danny says, and he waits it out while people clustered around the glass nudge and whisper at each other until a kid about ten comes up to them.
"Are you Danny Briere?"
Danny crouches down to be at the kid's level. "I am. Who are you?"
The kid looks over her shoulder at the adult who's clearly in charge of her. "Rachel."
"Hi, Rachel. Do you like hockey?"
"Yes!" Rachel grins brightly. "I play, and tomorrow's my birthday and it's Christmas break so I got to come to a game."
"That's great," Danny says. "Who's your favorite player?"
"Scott Hartnell!"
Danny grins at her. "Scott's a great player."
"And he came to my school. We got to take pictures with him."
"That's pretty cool," Danny says. "Do you want to take a picture with me?"
"Yes!" Rachel turns around, and her mom already has her phone out.
Danny puts his arm around Rachel, and they both smile for the camera, and then Rachel hugs him and says, "Thank you!"
Danny says, "You're welcome," and pulls one of the Sharpies out of his pocket so he can sign Rachel's mom's hat when she says thank you and asks him to.
"This was the other reason to come early, wasn't it?" Caleb asks as Rachel and her mom go back down to the glass and a couple of other people come toward them.
"Yes," Danny admits. "It probably won't be like this while they're playing, but." He shrugs. "I've been to games before."
Caleb wanders down closer as the crowd shifts to watch from just behind the glass while Danny smiles for a lot of pictures and signs hats, jerseys, and t-shirts. Danny glances up a couple of times to check on Caleb - he's an adult, but Danny did kind of drag him here, and he feels responsible - and is glad to see that Caleb's talking to a couple of people around him, and there's one teenager making hand gestures that mean he's probably explaining the drills to Caleb.
The press of people wanting to talk to him lets up a bit, and Danny walks down to join Caleb. "Getting an idea of what's happening?"
"Barely." Caleb smiles at the teenager next to him. "I'm not that much of a sports person."
"Hockey's not that complicated," Danny says. "And these are all pretty simple drills. They're winding down anyway."
They are winding down, and Claude skates over toward them, and points at Danny through the glass. Danny steps back so he's in just the right place to catch the puck Claude flips over the glass. He waves at Claude, then signs the puck and gives it to the teenager who was talking to Caleb.
"Boyfriend," Caleb says under his breath as people start to move away from the glass.
Danny doesn't bother disputing it, and they walk up the stairs and out into the concourse. They make a full lap of the place - Danny gets stopped for autographs a couple of times, and they run into a few people he knows from the Flyers organization - before they go back into the arena and find their seats.
It's starting to fill up, and Caleb looks around. "This is a lot of people."
Danny chuckles. "Wait until the game starts. If it's a sellout, every seat will be taken and all the suites will be full. The press is there," he points them out, "but there are cameras all over the place. We'll probably end up on the Jumbotron."
"I promise not to do anything embarrassing." Caleb looks around again. "I guess I knew sports were a thing, but I never really thought about it. People do this all the time."
"And not just for hockey."
"I guess not." Caleb brings his attention back to Danny. "Sorry," he says, "this was your life and everything."
Danny shrugs. "But not yours. I hope you like it, but not everyone does." That gets him some looks from people settling into their seats around them, but Danny ignores them.
They stop talking about hockey for a bit, and then the lights come down and the teams come out onto the ice.
"Wow," Caleb says to Danny when the crowd cheers for Claude. "They really like him."
"He's the captain," Danny says. "And he's been here for a long time."
They stand for the anthem, and Danny looks down at Claude in the center of the rink. He misses it, but he couldn't do it forever, and he does like being here to see Claude play. Maybe he can talk Claude into some on-ice work later this week, or maybe they can play against the boys again when they're back from Sylvie's.
"That means something good that he's in the middle, right?" Caleb asks about the opening faceoff.
"He's the first-line center." Danny glances at Caleb, and then starts over at the confused look on his face. He keeps up a steady explanation of the game and what's happening for Caleb, until he starts to get some of it on his own, and even Caleb is on his feet when Claude scores halfway through the first.
They do end up on the Jumbotron, during a break in play that's too unpredictable - the linesmen conferring at the glass - for them to do much other than show the crowd. Danny waves at the roar of sound as people recognize him, and Caleb smiles and looks up at the screen.
The Flyers win, and Claude gets second star of the game.
"Okay," Caleb says as they climb the stairs, "he's really good at that. And you were that good too?"
"Good," Danny says, "but I don't know that I was quite that good. He's probably one of the five best players in the world."
"One of?" Caleb asks. "Shouldn't you have more confidence in him than that?"
Danny shrugs and looks around; there are too many people too close to them for him to bring up Crosby. "There's dispute about who's the absolute best. Most people would put him in the top five at least."
"So what now?" Caleb asks. "Do we go congratulate the conquering hero?"
"If you want. He'll be doing press, but we can probably go say hi to the guys."
"I want the whole experience," Caleb says. He grins. "This way I can make Hunter extremely jealous."
Danny laughs. "All right, this way."
It takes them longer than it might, because Danny stops to sign autographs and take pictures, but they make it down to the room eventually. The press is still milling around, and a handful of them, mostly people who've been doing this so long that Danny knows them pretty well, descend on Danny. He waves Caleb out of the shot, and then he smiles and talks about the game and answers a couple of questions.
By the time they're done, Schenner has noticed Caleb and drawn him in to introduce him to the people he doesn't already know, and Claude catches Danny's eye and smiles at him over the heads of the last couple of reporters talking to him.
The reporters clear out, and Claude catches Danny in a sweaty hug. Caleb takes a step back, and Claude just grins at him.
"How'd you like the game?"
"I don't think I'm going to become a hockey fan," Caleb says with an apologetic shrug, "but it was fun." He grins at Claude. "And Hunter's going to be horribly jealous."
Claude laughs and claps him on the shoulder. "If he gets insufferable, I'll get tickets and you can bring him to a game." He looks at Danny. "Sarah too."
Danny nods. "We can probably do that. Nice win."
Claude beams at him. "Thanks."
"Do you want me to leave you two alone?" Caleb asks in a smirking undertone.
Claude eyes Danny speculatively for a moment before he can't hold the expression anymore and laughs instead. "You're worse than Hartsy."
"I told you," Danny says.
Luke pokes his head through the doorway, hair combed and suit on. "G, you're holding everyone up."
"It's not like the bar is going anywhere," Claude calls back to him, and he says to Danny and Caleb, "I think they might leave without me if I don't get going."
"Go," Danny says.
"Thanks for the tickets," Caleb says.
"Yeah," Claude says, "anytime, buddy."
It's still strange to leave the locker room and go back up to the main parking lot and not out to the player lot.
"This place empties out fast," Caleb says as they walk; there's almost no one left, not like the handful of people still hanging around downstairs.
"Game's over, people want to get home," Danny says, "especially on a weeknight."
"What about you? Are you going to get game-winning sex out of this?"
Danny pauses with the door to the car half-open. "When are you going to get a sex life I can ask you inappropriate questions about?"
"Approximately never at the rate I'm going," Caleb says. "So? Does the conquering hero get to come home to you and get laid?"
"Probably not," Danny admits. "If they're going out drinking, he'll probably crash at Scott's."
"Too bad for you," Caleb says. "That sweaty coming off a win thing is a good look."
It surprises Danny into a laugh.
"Not Claude," Caleb says, "not for me, but some of the rest of them. It was a good look." He's grinning with Danny looks over at him, but not enough for Danny to tell how much he's serious and how much he's just giving Danny shit.
"Well," Danny says, "some of them are your age, and there are plenty of sports on campus. I'm sure you can find an athlete who's gay or bi."
"Maybe," Caleb says. "I don't know that the post-win sweaty sex would really make up for being gone all the time. Especially if you don't even get the post-win sweaty sex."
"You find the right bar to hang around," Danny says, "and you could get just the post-win sweaty sex."
There's a moment of silence before Caleb starts laughing. "Are you really supposed to be encouraging me to have casual sex?"
"I keep telling you," Danny says, "I'm your friend, not your dad. If you were my kid, we'd be having a different conversation." He grins at Caleb. "As your friend, I think you should go get laid."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Danny drops Caleb off with promises to have lunch later in the week. He spends a minute thinking about texting Claude to see where he and the rest of the team are, but decides to let Claude have his moment and goes home to jerk off thinking about Claude sweaty and post-win instead.
*
Danny has a break between his bio class and OPIM, which is the first one he has with his study group. He uses the time to get coffee and spend some time in one of the lounges in Huntsman texting Caelan.
Sarah finds him the moment he walks into OPIM, waving at him across the room. Hunter's next to her with a death grip on a coffee cup, and there are a couple of empty seats on either side of them.
"Hi," Sarah says. She goes right in for a hug. "How was your break?"
"Good," Danny says. "How was yours?"
"Good," Sarah says. "I liked seeing my family, but I was so ready to get back to school." She leans around him to say, "Hi, Caleb," and Danny steps out of the way so she can hug Caleb.
"Hey." Caleb looks more relaxed than he did all break.
Danny sits down next to Hunter. "How was your break?"
"Too short," Hunter grumbles into his coffee cup.
Sarah rolls her eyes. "You're not even jetlagged. For real, though, how was your break?" she asks Caleb.
"It was okay," Caleb says. "I worked a lot." He catches Danny's eye, and then looks at Hunter and smirks as he says, "Danny took me to a hockey game."
Danny has three kids; he recognizes the jealousy in the mutinous look Hunter gives both of them.
"You don't even like hockey," Hunter says.
Caleb's smirk stays firmly in place as he says, "But hockey players," and gets a scowl out of Hunter.
"Thanks a lot," Sarah says. "Now we're going to have to listen to this all semester."
"Don't worry," Danny says. "I'll take all of you to a game later. Claude already said he'd get us tickets."
"Of course he did," Hunter says, most of his usual easy superiority back in place. "He's your boyfriend."
Their professor steps up to the front of the room, which doesn't leave Danny any chance to dispute that.
*
Thursday is Claude's birthday, but it's also a game day. Danny keeps an eye on the clock and calls Claude after he's out of class, late enough that Claude's probably up from his nap.
"Happy birthday," Danny says when Claude answers the phone.
"Thank you," Claude says. "Do I get a birthday blowjob out of it?"
Danny laughs. "You have a game."
"We have time," Claude says. "Maybe even time for you to come too if you're fast about it."
"Oh," Danny says, "is that what you want for your birthday, one quick blowjob?"
"If that's all we have time for," Claude says.
Danny laughs again. "Okay," he says. It is Claude's birthday, and it's not like he minds having sex with Claude. "You want me to come there?"
"No," Claude says. "I'll come there. Gregs is still here, and your house is empty." Cameron isn't home yet, so he's even right about that.
"Okay," Danny says. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
It's longer than he would have expected it to take before Claude shows up, but he has a suit bag with him that he drapes over the couch before he catches Danny in a quick kiss
"Happy birthday," Danny says again.
"Thank you," Claude says. "Down here or upstairs?"
"Upstairs." Danny pushes him in that direction and follows behind him.
Claude strips in Danny's room, throwing a grin at him. "This is how to do game day."
Danny says, "This is a special occasion," and strips out of his own clothes before pushing Claude down onto the bed. He can see the clock from where he is, so he knows about how much time he has. It's just enough that he doesn't have to rush it too much. He starts by kissing Claude, deep and slow.
Claude kisses him back and holds him close. If they had more time, Danny would just do this for longer, but since they're on a schedule, he pulls away sooner than he would like and starts kissing and touching his way down Claude's body. It's so familiar to him now that he knows where to bite down to make Claude shiver and how lightly to run his fingers over the bruise on Claude's side.
He gets to Claude's cock and glances at the clock before he goes down on him. He wants Claude to enjoy it, but given the time constraints, he doesn't try to drag it out. He takes Claude into his mouth and sucks him lightly for a few seconds before he sucks harder.
Claude's hand settles into his hair, not quite gripping, but firm enough to let Danny know how much he's enjoying it. Danny moves under the encouragement, bobbing up and down on Claude's cock and using his tongue to try to make it as good as he can.
He sucks harder when Claude gasps out a warning that he's close; that's the whole point, and Danny has no objections to swallowing. He manages to get most of it when Claude does come, only a little of it escaping down his chin.
Danny glances at the clock again. "We have enough time for you to blow me if you make it quick."
Claude looks at him with a sleepy smile. "Why should I? It's my birthday."
Danny raises his eyebrows. "Oh, so you don't want to suck my cock?" He sits up and strokes himself a couple of times, making it showy.
Claude groans. "Yes, I do. Come here." He gestures Danny forward. "I'm not moving."
Danny shuffles up the bed and kneels over Claude. Claude opens his mouth and takes Danny in easily. He's not putting much skill into it, but he just came and Danny knows he'd rather be napping than doing anything that requires effort. Plus, it's his birthday, so he shouldn't have to do much work.
Danny does the work, fucking Claude's mouth slowly, enough to get himself off but gentle enough not to be uncomfortable for Claude. He warns Claude when he's about to come; Claude puts his hand on Danny's hip to keep him there, so Danny comes in his mouth, pulling back a little at the end so he doesn't choke Claude.
It takes him a minute to recover enough to look at the clock. They're still good on time, so brushes a kiss against Claude's cheek and gets up.
"What are you doing?" Claude asks.
"Getting your birthday present."
"I thought that was my present."
"Part of it." Danny gets the envelope out of the closet and brings it to Claude.
Claude tears open the envelope and pulls out the piece of paper inside. "Tee times?"
"For you and three others. Those are all days you're in town, but they can be rescheduled if you need to."
Claude drops the paper and the envelope on the bed next to him and turns toward Danny. "Thank you." He kisses Danny for a minute. "Do I have to take you with me?"
Danny laughs. "No," he says, "not if you don't want to."
Claude grins and kisses him again. "I probably will anyway."
Danny runs his hand down Claude's arm. "It's your present. I'll go with you if you want me to." He sits up and looks past Claude at the clock. "We're out of time. Go clean up. I'll bring your suit upstairs." He watches Claude walk into the bathroom before he pulls on some clothes and retrieves Claude's suit bag. Then he lounges on the bed and watches Claude get dressed.
Claude stands over Danny after he's dressed, nudging his way between Danny's legs and making Danny look up at him. "Are you going to watch my game?"
Danny puts his hands on Claude's hips. "Yes."
Claude smiles at him. "Can I come over after?"
"No," Danny says. He squeezes Claude's hips to soften it. "I have class at eight tomorrow."
Claude sighs and bends over to kiss him. "So unfair."
Danny rubs Claude's shoulders. "I'll see you on Saturday. You should go, or you'll be late."
Claude sighs again, and kisses Danny slower and deeper. Danny walks him down the stairs, and Claude kisses him again at the door.
"Two points," Danny says.
Claude flashes a grin as he leaves. "Two points."
Danny closes the door behind him and goes upstairs to clean himself up and put on a shirt. Claude's clothes from earlier are still on the floor of his bedroom. Danny picks them up and tosses them into the hamper.
*
"Friday," Sarah says at the end of recitation, "and it seems like classes just started."
"They did," Hunter says. "On Wednesday."
Sarah waves that away. "Lunch?"
Caleb says, "Sure," and Hunter shrugs.
"Danny?"
Danny thinks for a moment about the time. "Yes, but I can't stay for long."
They pick a place and start walking.
"You didn't sign up for Friday afternoon classes, did you?" Hunter asks, making it clear that that would have been a stupid thing to do.
"No," Danny says. "We're going out of town as soon as Cameron gets out of school."
"Classes just started," Sarah says. "You couldn't have gone over break?"
"Not for this," Danny says.
"Is this your family hockey thing?" Caleb asks.
"Yes."
"Family hockey thing?" Hunter asks skeptically.
"Carson, my middle son, has a game in Mississauga tomorrow night, and Claude has a game in Toronto Sunday night. Cameron and I are flying up there this afternoon, and Caelan, my older son, is flying in later tonight."
"It was his Christmas present from Claude," Caleb says.
"Wow," Sarah says after a long moment. "What'd you get him?"
Danny knows where this is going to go, but if he doesn't answer, Caleb will just tell them anyway. "Cooking lessons," he says. "For him, Cameron, and me. It was Cameron's idea."
Sarah starts laughing and doesn't stop until they settle in around a table. "You know you've gone way past boyfriends with that one," she says. "I think it's great, very romantic giving each other experience gifts to share, but you're into, like, married people territory with that kind of thing."
"My parents don't give each other those kinds of gifts," Hunter says. "Not even for their twenty-fifth anniversary."
Sarah settles back in her chair and eyes Danny. "Well, you're more like newlyweds, right? I mean, how long has this been going on?"
Danny tries to get away with not answering that one, but Caleb was there for that part of the conversation on Christmas and he says, "No. Five years."
"Five years?" Hunter's voice is too loud, and he looks around and lowers it. "You've been sleeping with Claude Giroux for five years?"
"Not continuously," Danny says. "Off and on."
"Oh my God," Sarah says. "You officially have the most interesting love life of anyone at this table."
"Why is that?" Danny asks. "You're the young college students. Aren't you supposed to be out there dating or hooking up or something else we can talk about?"
"I hook up," Hunter says. "But it's nothing this interesting."
"I hooked up with a guy I knew in high school over break," Sarah says. "He gave me a hickey, but it still wasn't this interesting."
"A hickey?" Caleb asks.
Sarah loosens her scarf and pulls the collar of her shirt down so they can all see the fading bruise on her neck. "It's a lot warmer at home than it is here. Do you know how hard it is to hide a hickey when you can't just wear a scarf all the time?"
"Why bother?" Hunter asks. "You're an adult."
"Yeah," Sarah says, "but that doesn't mean I want to answer awkward questions from my grandparents about what happened to my neck. And this still isn't as interesting as Danny's love life. You never told us it was five years."
"I tried not to tell you anything about it," Danny says.
"College, friends," Caleb reminds him. "You don't get out of talking about it with us."
"How have you been hooking up with him for five years?" Sarah asks. "And how can you still say he's not your boyfriend?"
"It was never like that," Danny says. "We're just friends, and sometimes when neither of us was dating anyone, we would hook up."
"I think it's like that now," Hunter says. "You should just go steady already, or whatever people your age do."
"Going steady was my parents' generation," Danny says. "Or maybe the one before that. I'm not that old."
"Whatever," Hunter says. "You're avoiding the point."
"Yes," Danny says, "I am."
"Do you think," Sarah asks Caleb, "we would get farther with Claude?"
"Nope," Caleb says. "One of his friends was trying on Christmas, and Claude said the same things Danny always tells us."
"Christmas?" Hunter asks. "You spent Christmas with them?"
"Yes," Caleb says, "and some of the guys from Claude's team."
"You spent Christmas with the Flyers?"
"Not all of them," Caleb says.
"I'll tell Claude to get us tickets for sometime next month," Danny says to try and forestall the kind of resentment he can see coming. They're like his boys, only worse about it because they're such different personalities. "We'll introduce you to everyone."
"You'll like it," Caleb says to Sarah. "Some of them are hot."
Sarah smirks. "Well, if you and Danny think so."
"Oh my God," Hunter says, "it's a sport, not a chance for you to drool over guys."
"I don't see why it can't be both," Sarah says. "And my hickey will have faded by then so it won't even look like I'm already taken."
Danny's about eighty percent sure she only says it to annoy Hunter.
*
When they get off the plane on Friday afternoon, Danny and Cameron check into the hotel and go out to wander around Toronto for a bit before they get back into the rental and drive back out to the airport to pick up Caelan.
It's been less than a week, but Danny's still glad to see Caelan. Caelan puts up with his hug for about a minute before he pulls away and says, "I'm starving. Do we have to wait for Carson?"
Danny pulls out his phone and checks the time. "Carson should be here by the time we get back to the hotel. We can have dinner after that."
Carson's the one who wasn't home for very long, and he puts up with more hugging from all of them when he gets to the hotel, and then Danny has to listen to the three of them argue about what they want for dinner. In the end, he steps in and makes the decision.
"What about Claude?" Caelan asks.
"He's coming up with his team tomorrow," Danny says. "They should be here after lunch. Before Carson's game."
"They don't have a game," Carson says. "Why couldn't he come up today?"
"He's staying with us until Monday," Danny says. "He couldn't do both."
Dinner is both like and unlike dinners while Caelan and Carson were home over Christmas. It's the same in that Danny has all three of his boys at one table, but different in that outside of their usual haunts, he can see how grown up they all are, even Cameron.
All of them are just far enough into the semester that they can compare notes about classes, which is a lot like doing the same thing with his classmates. It's surprising how much it's like that, actually, and Danny looks at them and thinks that pretty soon they really will all be adults and it'll be even harder to get all of them around a table.
"I'm glad we're doing this," he says when the arrival of their food causes a lull in conversation. "I miss having all of you around."
The boys all look at him, and he half expects them to roll their eyes at him, but they all nod and Carson says, "It's pretty cool that Claude arranged it. It was a good idea."
*
Caelan and Cameron are hanging out in Danny's room, the three of them taking turns battling out Fruit Ninja on Danny's iPad, when Claude texts to say he's there. Danny texts back with his room number and lets Cameron take over for him so he can answer the door when Claude knocks.
Claude grins when Danny opens the door, and he's already leaning in to kiss Danny before the door finishes swinging shut behind him. He at least has the sense to keep the kiss quick.
"Hi," Claude says after.
"Hi." Danny can't help but grin up at him.
Claude steps around him and into the room. "Hey, guys."
There's the sound of a loss from the iPad, and Caelan groans and stands up. "You made me lose." He goes over to Claude and hugs him.
"You should have paused it." Claude stands there with Caelan for a minute, not quite as long as Danny hugged him yesterday, and then lets him go and hugs Cameron. "Carson already with his team?"
"Yes," Danny says. "He'll come back with us after the game."
Claude nods, and then looks at the iPad. "What are we playing?" The boys teach Claude how to play, and he cheerfully loses to both of them and Danny enough times that he finally says, "I don't think I should play anymore," with a laugh.
"Sarah would be so disappointed in you," Cameron says.
Caelan looks at all of them with his face scrunched up. "Sarah?"
"The one from Dad's school," Cameron says. "She loves video games."
Caelan's face smooths out. "Then she really would be disappointed by Claude."
"She likes Claude just fine," Danny says. He puts his arm around Claude's shoulders. "Even if she is disappointed in his video game skills."
"You're only better because you were playing this with them before," Claude says with a gentle elbow to Danny's side.
The boys play another couple of games, and then Danny gets everyone to put on their coats and grab their phones and wallets so they can head out for dinner before Carson's game.
*
They get noticed at the game - it's major junior hockey in Canada; of course they get noticed - but people mostly leave them alone. The people around them join in their conversation about the gameplay, but that's more about the game than about Danny and Claude.
They cheer especially loud for Carson's goal, which gets them a couple of dirty looks from Mississauga fans around them, but none of them care.
It ends up being a one-goal game, but the Rangers win it in the end. They all have experience with how long it takes to get out of a locker room after a win, so they don't hurry out of the rink.
They're obviously lingering, so they get a few requests for pictures and autographs, and Cameron and Caelan take turns taking people's phones and snapping pictures of them with Danny and Claude.
They're posing for one of those when Carson comes toward them, hair wet and lugging a duffel. Danny smiles a little bit more, and Caelan snaps the picture and then turns around to see what they're looking at.
"There's the real star," Claude says. He drops his arm from around a fan's shoulders, and heads toward Carson. "Nice game, buddy."
Danny gives the fan a smile, and waits until Caelan gives the guy's phone back before he also goes to congratulate Carson.
"Just one goal and one assist?" Cameron says. "You should've gotten in a fight and gone for the Gordie Howe."
Carson just laughs and messes up Cameron's hair.
"Good game," Danny says. He puts one arm around Carson's shoulders. "Let's go. It's late, and Claude has to play tomorrow."
A family full of hockey players means that the entire drive back to the hotel is spent analyzing the game, and the conversation goes all the way up to their rooms. Danny and Claude say goodnight to the boys and let them continue the conversation in their own room, and Claude follows Danny into his room.
"You have a game tomorrow," Danny says, but he accepts Claude's arms around him and kisses back when Claude kisses him.
"I know," Claude says. "This is for luck."
Danny laughs at him. "You're Claude Giroux. You don't need luck."
Claude grins at him and pushes one hand under Danny's shirt. "Do I get something for being Claude Giroux?"
Danny grabs at Claude's arm and keeps him from moving his hand up any more. "You get to go sleep so you're ready for your game tomorrow."
"I could sleep here."
"You know we won't sleep if you stay," Danny says. "Not for a long time." He kisses Claude and then gently pushes him away. "Go."
"Tomorrow," Claude says, "you're not getting rid of me."
Danny smirks at him. "I wasn't planning on it."
Claude grins at him, and leaves to go to his own room.
Part 5