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rsadelleMaster Post - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
The boys sleep late, and Danny wanders out of the hotel to get something for breakfast. He ends up a couple of blocks away in a diner that turns out to have really good pancakes, and he hangs out for a while, sipping his coffee and alternately people watching and reading the news on his phone.
He tells the boys where he is when they text him to say they're up, and they come and join him. His waitress looks a little happier now that he's spending more money and not just taking up a table, and he makes sure to leave her a generous tip to make up for it.
They spend most of the day at the Hockey Hall of Fame. They've been there once before, but the boys were still pretty young, and it's more fun this time around. They all have opinions that they feel the need to voice, and it's a weekend, so the place is pretty full and they have plenty of people to bounce their opinions off of. Danny chimes in some, but mostly leaves them to it.
Conversation changes topics over dinner, but comes back to hockey when they head over to the ACC. They get there in plenty of time to watch warm-ups, and the boys go right down to the glass.
"We should have made signs," Carson says, looking around at the fans with posterboard pressed to the glass. "This is a prime chirping opportunity we're missing."
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities for chirping," Danny says.
"This one would have been the best," Carson says. He waits until Claude's skating somewhat in their direction on a drill, then cups his hands around his mouth and yells, "Hey, Giroux, you better win this one!"
Claude isn't the only one to turn and look at them. Danny sighs, and all three of the boys laugh like it's the funniest thing they've ever seen. Claude skates their way and points at them through the glass with a stern expression on his face, which just makes them laugh harder, and makes Danny laugh too.
Claude grins at them before he skates away, and the people nearby start to notice them, which is why Danny has a Sharpie in his pocket, although a Toronto crowd isn't nearly as interested in him as Philly crowds are.
It's a tough game, and the boys trade cheerful insults with the Leafs fans next to them, and they all keep up running commentary and analysis on the play. It goes to overtime, which just amps up the mood in the arena, and has the boys and the few other Flyers fans in the crowd jumping out of their seats when Claude feeds a pass to Jake that he sneaks past Reimer for the win.
There's a lot of grumbling from the Toronto crowd as the arena empties, and Danny and the boys let most of the crowd stream past them before they head out. Claude left them passes, so once things calm down, Danny takes the boys down to the locker room. They're still busy with press, so Danny and the boys hang out in the hallway and chat with everyone else standing around. With the win, everyone's in high spirits.
When the press starts to filter out, some of the reporters stop to ask Danny about the game.
"You've been at a couple of games recently," one of them says.
Danny smiles, shrugs, and says, "I like hockey. The team's doing really well, and this was a good time to go to a game with all three of my boys, which we don't get to do much anymore."
Another one of the beat reporters he's known for years asks Carson a couple of questions about playing in Kitchener. It's not the first time Danny's watched one of his boys being interviewed about playing hockey, but Carson answers like a pro, and it's just one more thing that reminds him how much his boys are growing up. Are grown up, really.
Some of the guys come out of the locker room after the reporters are gone, and they all know Danny and his boys well enough to stop and chat. Cameron tells Scott about Carson being interviewed, and Scott predictably grins at him.
"Trying to steal our thunder?"
"Well," Carson says, "you are getting older. I'm just taking my natural place as the next generation of hockey player."
"Older," Scott laughs. "I'll show you older. I can still take you."
Carson grins. "Wanna bet?"
Their tussling takes up everyone's attention, so Danny doesn't notice Claude until he puts an arm around Danny's shoulders. "What did Carson do?"
"How do you know it wasn't Scott?"
Claude laughs. "It wasn't Hartsy."
"Carson called him old."
Claude cracks up.
Scott and Carson break it up, and Scott points at Claude. "Watch it, buddy. You know I can take you."
"Sure," Claude says. "Don't you have a bus to catch?"
"Yeah, yeah," Scott says. He comes over and Claude lets go of Danny to exchange hugs with Scott. "Nice game. Have fun with the family."
"Thanks," Claude says. "Couldn't do it without you."
"Damn straight," Scott says, and he high-fives the boys on his way out with the a couple of the other guys hanging around.
"Ready to go?" Danny asks.
"Yep." Claude has his bag with him, and there isn't anyone else around keeping the boys occupied, so they make their way out of the arena and back to the hotel.
None of them are tired, and Claude's going to be wound up for hours, so they drop off the car and dump Claude's bag in Danny's room, and then they walk down to the diner Danny found earlier.
The waitress shows them to a large, curved booth, and they settle into it with menus and a lively discussion about whether burgers or pancakes are the better post-game, late-night food.
They end up with a mixture of breakfast and dinner foods, everyone orders pie after their food, and Danny's the only one starting to get tired by the time they walk back to the hotel.
"I'm going to call Alexis," Caelan says when they get into the lobby, and he goes to sit on one of the couches while the rest of them go upstairs.
"We have to leave by noon tomorrow for everyone to catch their flights and buses," Danny tells Carson and Cameron before they go into their room across the hall from Danny and Claude.
Carson makes a face, but says, "We'll get up before then so we can have breakfast."
"Text us when you're up," Danny says. "We'll have breakfast with you."
Claude already has the door to their room open, so Danny leaves the boys to their own devices and follows Claude into their room. He waits for the door to swing shut, and then he presses Claude into the wall and kisses him hard.
Claude kisses him back just as hard, complete with hands wandering down over Danny's ass. "Is this what I get for an overtime game winning goal?"
"And a family trip with the boys," Danny says. He pushes Claude's coat off his shoulders to pool on the floor, then pulls his toque off and drops it with the coat.
"Remind me to do nice things for you more often." Claude cooperates in letting Danny get his suit jacket off to fall to the floor with everything else, and then he goes after Danny's coat.
Getting their shirts off involves a lot of kissing and fingers tangling, and Claude's hands find their way to Danny's ass again.
"There's a bed right there," Claude says while biting at Danny's neck.
"In a minute," Danny says. He tips his head to catch Claude's lips with his own, and then he slides to his knees and unbuttons Claude's pants.
"Fuck," Claude breathes. "Fuck, yes, please."
Danny pulls Claude's zipper down and tugs his pants and underwear down to his thighs. He makes Claude wait for a second, looking up to make sure he's paying attention, before he wraps his hand around the base of Claude's cock and takes just the head of it into his mouth.
He licks and sucks and mouths at Claude's cock for a couple of minutes, listening to Claude make noise above him, and then he stops, lets go, and stands up.
"Danny," Claude whines.
When Danny kisses him, Claude licks into his mouth and cups a hand over his cock through his jeans.
Danny pulls away. "Bed," he says. He steps back enough that there's space for Claude to kick off his shoes and the rest of his clothes, and he watches until Claude turns toward the bed. Then he takes his shoes and socks off, and opens the closet door to get the lube and condoms out of the bottom of his bag. He tosses them onto the bed next to Claude and strips out of his pants and underwear.
Claude pulls him close when Danny joins him on the bed. He kisses Danny, and Danny gropes for the lube while he kisses back.
"It's your choice," Danny says, flipping the cap open, "but I really want to ride you."
Claude groans and bites at Danny's mouth. "Yes," he says. He reaches for the lube, but Danny holds it out of his reach as he sits up and straddles Claude's hips.
Danny squeezes lube onto his fingers, and then reaches behind himself. Fingering himself open isn't quite as good for him as having Claude do it for him, but it means he can go faster, and it's worth the look of slack-jawed lust on Claude's face.
"Condom," he says when he's stretched enough to take Claude, and Claude fumbles with the condom wrapper for a moment before he stops looking at Danny and pays attention to what he's doing.
Danny doesn't take his fingers out of himself until Claude has the condom on and is looking at him again, and then he slowly slides down onto Claude's cock until his ass is resting against Claude's hips.
Claude makes a choked sound, and his hands settle onto Danny's hips. "I'm going to do so many more nice things for you."
Danny laughs a little and bends over to kiss him. "This is pretty nice."
"Nice," Claude chokes. "This had better be more than nice." He rolls his hips, and Danny goes with the movement.
"Good," Danny says. "Hot. Better than nice."
"It better be." Claude pulls him down to kiss him again.
They move together easily, and the boys are across the hall so they don't make much effort to be quiet. It is better than nice, with Claude lifting his hips to meet Danny's movements and the shift and press of sensation as Danny leans down to kiss Claude and sits back up to move against him.
Claude comes first, and Danny settles back onto his hips and jerks himself off, turned on enough to come before it gets to be too much for Claude and he shoves Danny off of him. Danny lies down next to him, stretching his legs out carefully.
"Fuck," Claude says. He pats Danny's chest with an uncoordinated hand that ends up staying there. "That was good."
Danny puts his hand over Claude's. "Mmmhmm. You did deserve it."
"Yes, I did," Claude says with smug satisfaction. He turns his head to look at Danny. "Not too much for you?"
"I'm not even forty," Danny says. "I can still keep up with you in bed."
Claude grins at him. "And I appreciate that. You were on your knees a lot."
Danny reaches down and rubs at one of his knees. They're twinging a little, but not too bad. "They're fine."
Claude leans over and kisses him. "I'll clean up," he says, and he gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom.
Danny just watches him for a second, and then he whistles at Claude's ass.
Claude grins over his shoulder and disappears into the bathroom.
Danny's knees might be okay, but it's late and the whole day has left him more than ready to sleep. He keeps his eyes open until Claude comes back with a washcloth and doesn't let him clean himself up, and then he lets them fall closed.
Claude gets back into bed with him and pulls the blankets up over them. Danny can tell when he turns out the light, and then he leans in toward Claude's movement when Claude kisses him.
"Thank you for this trip," Danny says.
"You're welcome," Claude says. He kisses Danny again. "Thank you for the amazing sex. Top five."
Danny chuckles and lets Claude cuddle up to him before he falls asleep.
*
Danny and Claude wake up before the boys in the morning, so they repack their bags and head down the street to the diner for breakfast. They're perfectly capable of entertaining themselves and each other for a couple of hours - occasionally interrupted by fans wanting autographs or pictures - and the boys join them around eleven.
Danny keeps an eye on the clock and hustles them all out of there back to the hotel to get their stuff and take Carson to the train station.
They all get out of the car to say their goodbyes, and Carson tussles with Caelan and Cameron for a moment before he hugs Claude and says, "Thanks, Claude. Good Christmas present," and then lets Danny hug him for a long couple of minutes.
"Good luck with your exams next week," Danny says. "I'll come up and see you play again soon."
They leave Carson there and the rest of them head to the airport to return the rental car and catch their flights. Caelan's flight leaves first, so they hang out with him at the gate until his row is called, and then there's a flurry of hugs, and Caelan promises that he and Alexis are coming home for spring break.
"You'd better get us tickets," he says to Claude, "so we can see you play at home."
Claude says, "You bet, buddy," and they wave to Caelan as he gets in line.
Danny and Claude have two seats together on the flight home, with Cameron across the aisle.
"Back to the real world," Claude says.
"You didn't really leave it," Danny points out. He has a book with him, so he can get some of his bio reading done on the plane, and he opens it on his lap.
"Are you going to read the whole way?" Claude asks. "You're supposed to keep me entertained."
"Oh, is that why you arranged this?" Danny tilts the book toward him. "You can read along."
"No way," Claude says. "You're the one who wanted to go back to school, not me."
"Yes," Danny says, "and I didn't do any homework this weekend, so now I have reading to do."
Claude heaves a very heavy sigh, but he puts on headphones, messes with the in-flight TV options, and lets Danny get his reading done.
The flight back to Philly isn't that long, but Danny finishes his bio reading and tackles about half his OPIM homework. It's still not everything he has to do, so when they get across the river into Jersey and he asks Claude if he wants to be dropped off at his place or come home with him and Cameron, he warns him, "I still have homework to do."
Claude makes a face at him, and says, "My place, I guess. I should check in anyway. Make sure Gregs hasn't burned it down."
Danny grins at him and heads to Claude's place where he pulls into one of the empty spaces out front. Claude leans across the console, apparently not caring that Cameron's in the back seat, and kisses Danny.
Danny kisses him back for a moment, and can't help smiling at him when they pull apart.
"Great weekend, right?" Claude says.
"Great," Danny says, his smile broadening into a grin.
"Really great," Cameron says. "Are you done making out so we can go home?"
"Yes, we're done," Claude says with a laugh. He gets out of the car and grabs his bag while Cameron gets in the front seat. He waves at them as he walks to his door, and Danny pulls out of the space.
Danny drops Cameron off at Sylvie's and heads for home alone. He's not overly surprised when Claude texts him later about dinner, and he takes a break from his homework to go out with Claude. Claude comes home with him and amuses himself while Danny finishes what needs to be finished before tomorrow.
Danny joins Claude on the couch when he's done, and they watch TV without talking for a while, until they're both yawning too much to bother paying attention.
"I'll blow you in the morning," Claude says on the way up the stairs. "You'll have to wake me up for it, though."
"I don't have class until eleven," Danny says, and he stops climbing the stairs when the sound of Claudes footsteps behind him stops.
"You don't?"
Danny shakes his head. "Not on Tuesdays or Thursdays."
Claude kisses him, Danny having to bend down for it with Claude on the stairs below him. "Morning sex," he says when they pull apart.
Danny grins at him and heads up the stairs.
*
Claude wakes Danny up in the morning, gently but insistently.
"I want to blow you," Claude says.
Danny blinks himself all the way awake and kicks the blankets away.
Claude doesn't waste any time after that, slithers down the bed, tugs Danny's pajamas off, and proceeds to lick and suck and touch until Danny arches off the bed with a shout as he comes.
Claude lets him recover for a minute or so before he sits up, cock hard and arching up towards his belly, and asks, "What are you going to do for me?"
"What do you want?"
Claude looks at him for a second, then says, "Can I?" He knee walks his way up the bed. "I want to fuck your mouth."
Danny adjusts his head on the pillow so he'll be a little more comfortable and licks his lips. "Yes," he says. "Come on."
Claude kneels over him and guides his cock into Danny's mouth. He goes slow at first, and a little faster once Danny can take it. He makes noise, looking down at Danny, touching his cheek, cupping his jaw to tilt his head and change the angle. Danny sucks and licks and makes it as good as he can, and he swallows when Claude comes.
"Morning sex," Claude says with lazy satisfaction after he falls sideways onto the bed afterwards.
Danny laughs and pats his hip before he gets out of bed and heads for the shower.
*
Sarah and Caleb are already in their usual seats when Danny gets to class in the morning, and they both zero in on him.
"So," Sarah asks, "how was your weekend?"
"It was good," Danny says. "How was yours?"
Sarah and Caleb both give him looks for that. He didn't think he was going to get away with it anyway.
"We had fun," Danny says. "Carson played a good game, Claude got the game winning goal in overtime in his game, and it was good to spend time with my boys."
"And your boyfriend," Caleb says.
"And Claude," Danny says.
There are more people filtering into the room, enough that their conversation can't remain private much longer, and Sarah says, "We're going to lunch after class, and you're going to tell us the rest of it."
Hunter slides into the empty seat on the other side of her. "The rest of what?"
"Danny's family vacation."
"The Flyers won. What else do you need to know about?" Hunter looks at Sarah and Caleb, and makes a face. "No one needs to know more about the rest of it."
"Then you don't have to come."
Hunter makes another face at her, but when class ends, he joins in the conversation about where they should eat and tags along with them.
"Aside from the hockey," Caleb asks when they're settled in around a table, "what did you do this weekend?"
"Not much," Danny admits. "The boys and I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and we spent a lot of time hanging out in the diner down the street from our hotel."
"Wow," Hunter says, "that's an incredibly boring vacation."
Danny shrugs. "It was more about having all of the boys together than doing anything exciting."
"Your kids and Claude," Sarah says.
"He went with us to Carson's game," Danny says, "but he was mostly with his team."
"Except when he was hooking up with you," Hunter says with a look on his face that says he doesn't really want to say it.
"He only stayed with me one night," Danny says. "Can one of you please start dating so we can talk about someone else's sex life?"
"Even if we do," Sarah says, "it's never going to be as interesting as yours."
*
Between all of their schedules - Danny's school, Claude's hockey, and Cameron's combination of school and hockey - they don't manage to have their first cooking lesson until the end of January.
Danny met with Mitchell, the chef, back in December, so he could get a sense of what they should learn and the layout of their kitchen, and so Danny could make a list if there was anything they needed that they didn't have. That means that they're all ready for it when Mitchell shows up on a Thursday afternoon with a couple of bags of groceries.
Danny introduces him to Cameron and Claude, and Mitchell smiles at all of them. "You're the hockey player, right?" he says to Claude. "And you," he turns to Cameron, "are learning to cook before you leave home."
"I'm also a hockey player," Cameron says. "And my dad doesn't know how to cook anything."
Danny shrugs; it's pretty much true.
Mitchell doesn't seem bothered by it. "If you want to try something more ambitious later on, we can do that, but mostly we're going to be making pretty simple, healthy meals that you'll be able to prepare yourself without much trouble."
"Even Dad?" Cameron asks, with way more skepticism than is warranted.
Mitchell grins. "Even your dad. I'm pretty good at this teaching thing."
"Dad's pretty bad at cooking."
Even Danny has to laugh at that one.
"Give your dad a break," Claude says. "I'll bet he can learn to cook at least one thing without burning it."
"All right," Mitchell says, cutting into the conversation. "The first step is washing your hands. You want to make sure you're not bringing anything you don't want to eat into your food."
They take overlapping turns at the sink, and Danny digs a couple of aprons out of the drawer. He takes the one with the boys' handprints on it, Cameron gets the kiss the cook barbecue one, and Claude ends up with the checked one Danny thinks the boys might actually have bought specifically for Claude one year.
Their first meal is chicken, pasta, and vegetables, the same kind of thing they've all eaten innumerable times. Mitchell guides them through the prep work, and keeps up a running commentary on cooking skills and ways they can modify each piece of the meal when they want some variety.
"A lot of this is in the recipe binder," he says, gesturing at the binders with printouts of today's meal he stacked on an out of the way corner of the counter. There's one for each of them, and Mitchell said he'd bring them each a set of pages for every new recipe they make. "It's good to go over it while you're cooking too, so you get a sense for the rhythm of it."
Nothing burns and there are no injuries, and when everything is done, Mitchell teaches them to plate it neatly.
"You don't have to do this," he says, "but presentation can make your meal more enjoyable, and it's a good thing to know if you ever want to impress someone with your kitchen skills."
Danny expects chirping from either Claude or Cameron on that one, but neither one of them hassles him about it, and they all manage to make up a respectable looking plates.
When Danny made arrangements for their lessons, he insisted that Mitchell join them to eat what they're cooking, so the four of them take their plates to the table and Danny opens a bottle of wine to go with dinner.
"To our first cooking lesson," Claude says, holding up his glass.
They all join him in a toast, wine glasses clinking off of Cameron's glass of soda, and then they try the food.
"This came out really good," Cameron says.
"I do know what I'm doing," Mitchell says mildly.
"Yeah," Cameron says, "but Dad doesn't, and Claude only sort of does."
Danny can't help laughing. "That's why we're doing this," he says. "So we will know."
"Caelan and Carson are missing it," Cameron says after a minute where they all focus on the food. Danny's not entirely sure he'll be able to replicate it on his own, but it did turn out delicious.
"Next time they come home," Claude says, "we'll have to show them what they missed."
"Caelan and Carson?" Mitchell asks.
"My brothers," Cameron says. "Caelan's in college and Carson's in the OHL."
Mitchell looks blank.
"Hockey," Danny explains. "In Canada."
"Ah," Mitchell says. "You could teach them some of what you've learned next time they're here. You know you have it down when you can teach it to someone else."
Cameron nods. "Just like hockey."
Mitchell looks like he doesn't know what to say, and Danny laughs and says, "You're going to have to get used to hockey as a standard with us."
*
It takes less work than Danny thought it might to find a time when Caleb, Sarah, and Hunter are all free to go to a game, and he has Claude get them tickets for a Saturday night in February.
They meet for dinner first, the other three walking over to meet Danny and coming into the restaurant shivering even in their coats and hats.
"Whose idea was February?" Sarah grumbles, rubbing her hands together. "It's freezing."
"You need better gloves," Caleb says.
"That's not going to do anything about the weather being unbelievably cold."
"Toughen up," Hunter says without sympathy. "This isn't California. Get used to it."
"I don't have to get used to it," Sarah says. "Tons of tech companies are headquartered in Silicon Valley. I'm sure I can convince everyone else to move there to start our gaming company. The weather can be part of my pitch."
Danny doesn't have any doubt about her ability to do just that.
They don't linger over dinner so they can get to the rink in time for warm-ups.
"It's worth it," Caleb says to Sarah when she looks skeptical about that. "There are signs and they don't wear their helmets so you can see what they look like."
Hunter rolls his eyes at them. "And you can get close enough to really see what they're doing."
Danny catches the looks Caleb and Sarah exchange behind Hunter's back and barely manages to stifle his laugh.
Once they're inside, they head down toward the glass, with Hunter in the lead. He's the one who cares the most about this part; he might as well be the one to choose where they're going to watch warm-ups from.
It's much the same experience as when Danny brought Caleb to a game. The three of them go down to watch from just behind the glass, with Hunter and Caleb explaining things to Sarah, and Danny hangs back a little to sign things and take pictures.
Danny makes it down to the glass before warm-ups are over, and Claude flashes him a grin as he skates by.
"I don't know how the whole world doesn't know about you two," Sarah murmurs.
"It doesn't cross their minds," Caleb says. "People see what they want to see."
"We should have made a sign," Sarah says. "'College students for Claude' or something."
"That's terrible," Hunter says.
"So come up with something better," Sarah says.
Hunter looks away from the ice for just long enough to throw her a disparaging look.
Warm-ups wind down, and Claude shows off his stickhandling as he skates over to them with a puck that he flips over the glass for Hunter. For all his usual cool, Hunter grins at it just as much as the kids across the ice getting a puck from Scott. He isn't a total asshole, though, and he gives the puck to Danny to sign and then gives it to one of the little kids near them.
When they find their seats, Hunter insists on sitting next to Danny. The other two don't protest, and they end up with Sarah on Danny's other side and Caleb on the other side of her. It doesn't quite evenly distribute their hockey knowledge, but it's good enough.
Hunter watches with the intensity of a sports fan, and Danny would be matching him if he weren't also carrying on conversations with Sarah and Caleb. The game only holds their interest so far, but it's a social occasion as well as a game, so he provides a buffer between their wandering interest and Hunter's focus.
"It's way less boring than football," Sarah says at intermission. "They just keep moving."
"Football's not boring," Hunter says.
Caleb laughs at both of them. "It's more fun because we know someone in the game."
"I've seen football games where I knew some of the people playing," Sarah says, and then at their looks, "What? I went to games in high school."
"High school," Hunter says dismissively. "You didn't go to a real football school."
Sarah rolls her eyes at him and stands up. "This break lasts a little while, right? I want a hat or a scarf or something."
They all go with her, and Hunter gets into it as much as Sarah and Caleb, grinning at Sarah in an orange scarf and putting a black hat on Caleb's head.
"Not me," Caleb says, pulling the hat off and returning it to the rack. "Maybe you, in this." He puts an orange hat on Hunter's head.
Sarah shudders. "Take that off." She grabs for it. "You should never wear orange."
"I know," Hunter says. He takes the hat off and plops it onto Danny's head instead.
"I have plenty of hats," Danny says, and he takes it off and puts it on Sarah's head.
Sarah adjusts it and peers out at them from under the brim. "What do you think?"
"You actually look good in orange," Hunter admits grudgingly.
Sarah turns toward a mirror and looks at herself. "Better than the scarf?"
"They both look good," Caleb says. "It's a lot of orange, though."
"I don't mind standing out." Sarah turns to look at herself from a slightly different angle. "I could use a new scarf, and I still haven't spent all my Christmas money." She nods at herself in the mirror and takes both of them to the cash register.
They stop on the way back to their seats for popcorn and drinks, Hunter hustling them along the whole way so they don't miss puck drop.
Sarah drapes her scarf across her shoulders and adjusts the fit of her hat. "Do I look like I belong now?"
"More than the rest of us," Caleb says with a laugh. It's true enough; they're all wearing dark clothes that make Sarah's orange accessories stand out even more. "You'll make us look good when we end up on the Jumbotron."
"Do you think we will?" Sarah asks.
"We did last time," Caleb says. "Because of Danny."
"Oh," Sarah says. "I guess. I've known you so long now that I forget that you're famous."
Danny smiles at her, and Hunter ignores them all in favor of yelling about a blown tripping call.
They do, of course, end up on the Jumbotron. Danny smiles and waves, Sarah throws her hands up in the air, and Hunter says, "Stop being so embarrassing," but smiles anyway.
The Flyers win, and Sarah nudges Caleb when they stand up at the end of the game. "Post-win, huh?"
Caleb grins back at her. "Totally worth it."
Hunter scowls at them, and Danny herds them out of their seats to forestall the argument.
There are always plenty of people Danny knows hanging around the locker room, and he chats with them and introduces Hunter, Caleb, and Sarah to some of them before they slip into the room.
Claude catches sight of them from the middle of his media scrum and flashes a smile that Danny returns.
Scott joins them where they're lingering the middle of the room, Hunter and Sarah looking around and Caleb playing it cool. "Came to support the old team?" He pulls Danny into a quick, one-armed hug.
"And bring friends to see them," Danny says. "This is Sarah and Hunter."
Scott shakes their hands. "Nice to meet you." He pats Caleb on the shoulder. "Good to see you again, Caleb."
"It's great to meet you," Hunter says. "You've done great things for Philadelphia."
"Thanks," Scott says. "You know Danny from school?"
"Yes," Hunter says, lighting up at the attention. "This is our study group."
Caleb takes Sarah over to meet Laughton and Schenner, and Danny leaves Hunter talking to Scott to go say hi to some of the other guys. He knows the press has cleared out when Claude's hands settle onto his shoulders and Claude kisses his cheek.
No one seems to be particularly surprised by it, so Danny turns to brush a kiss across Claude's lips. "Nice game."
"Thanks." Claude settles his arm around Danny's shoulders. "How did the kids like it?"
Danny waves across the room at where Hunter is very seriously talking to Jake and Sarah and Caleb are laughing with the Schenns.
Claude laughs. "Sarah," he calls across the room, "you're wearing our colors."
Sarah turns away from the Schenns and flashes him a thumbs up as she comes over to them. "I had to fit in somehow."
Claude tweaks the brim of her cap. "You came to a game. We appreciate all our fans."
Sarah makes a face that's half apologetic. "I don't know if I'm really a fan." She holds up one end of the scarf. "But this looks good on me."
"It does," Claude says with a laugh. He turns to Danny. "You need some friends who appreciate the game."
"I appreciate the players," Sarah says, and she turns to watch John-Michael walk across the room.
"You and Caleb," Claude says.
Danny laughs. "Hunter appreciated the play. Do we need to go rescue Jake?"
"In a minute," Claude says. He introduces Sarah to John-Michael, who smiles and compliments her taste in Flyers gear. Then he and Danny go over to Jake's stall.
"And there's our captain," Jake says when he spots them.
Hunter turns toward them. "Claude, that was a great game."
"Thanks," Claude says. He looks Hunter up and down. "No orange? Even Sarah's wearing Flyers gear now."
"I look terrible in orange," Hunter says.
"He really does," Caleb says, joining them. "Not his color at all."
Jake escapes to the showers while they're talking, and Sarah comes over to join them after a minute.
"We should go," Danny says, "let you get a shower."
Claude says, "Thank you for coming," to Caleb, Hunter, and Sarah.
"Thank you for the tickets," Hunter says, and Caleb and Sarah echo him.
Danny turns into Claude's touch to his shoulder, and they kiss briefly.
"I think Hartsy's dragging me out," Claude says, "but can I come over later?"
"Yes." Danny lets his hand linger on the back of Claude's neck. "Wake me up if I'm asleep."
Claude kisses him one more time before he heads for the showers and Danny turns to face his study group.
"You were right," Sarah says to Caleb thoughtfully. "Hockey players."
"Sweaty and post-win," Caleb agrees.
Sarah grins. "We know Danny likes it."
Hunter rolls his eyes. "Let's go before you get any more embarrassing."
Sarah and Caleb laugh, and Danny herds them all out of the locker room.
Even Hunter's in good spirits, and they cheerfully talk over each other on the way out of the arena and into the car.
"So, seriously," Sarah says on the way back to campus, leaning forward from the back seat, "how hot did you find Claude tonight?"
"Please stop," Hunter says before Danny has to figure out how to answer that.
"No, no," Sarah says. "I want to know. Scale of one to ten."
Danny glances at her in the rearview mirror, catching her grin even in the dark. Next to him in the front seat, Caleb is watching him with a matching grin. He doesn't need to look to know how Hunter's looking at them.
"Eight," he says.
"Only eight?" Sarah asks.
Danny shrugs. "It's not like it was the playoffs."
That makes all three of them laugh, which is what he was aiming for, and Sarah and Caleb debate where the rest of the players they met would fall while Hunter protests, without much force, their approach to hockey.
They're still laughing and arguing when Danny drops them off on campus. They all thank Danny, and Sarah says, "Be sure to congratulate Claude later," with an emphasis on "congratulate" that makes Caleb smirk and Hunter groan.
Danny says, "Good night," and is still laughing when he heads home.
He doesn't know how late Claude's going to be out, and Claude has a key, so he goes to bed when he gets home. Claude wakes him up some indeterminate amount of time later, hand on his shoulder and soft voice in his ear, bedside lamp turned on low.
Danny comes out of sleep slowly, and smiles at Claude. "Hi."
"Hi." Claude grins at him and bends over to kiss him.
Danny wakes up a little more with the contact, the taste of alcohol on Claude's lips. "Come to bed." He smirks. "Sarah said I should congratulate you." He puts the same emphasis on the word that Sarah did.
Claude cracks up.
Danny laughs with him. "I know," he says. "They like to meddle." He reaches for Claude and tugs on the edge of his suit jacket. "Come to bed."
Claude strips carefully, draping his suit, tie, and shirt over the chair in the corner, letting his boxer briefs and socks drop to the floor. He gets into bed, letting in a rush of cooler air as he does. Danny shivers, and Claude scoots closer, bare skin against Danny's.
"Are you going to congratulate me?" Claude asks.
"Congratulations," Danny says, and he kisses Claude, silencing his laugh and turning it into a groan.
They kiss for a long time, and move against each other slowly, content to rub against each other, letting what there is between them build slowly until Danny gathers both their cocks in his hand and strokes until they both come.
Danny wipes his hand mostly clean with a tissue from the bedside table and turns off the lamp.
"You can tell Sarah you did what she suggested," Claude says, and it sends both of them into a fit of giddy laughter.
"I don't think they need to know more about our sex life than they already do," Danny says.
"As long as it's enough to be jealous," Claude says. He shifts so they're more comfortable. "It's a good one."
"Yes," Danny agrees. He runs his hand down Claude's side. "Really good."
*
"I can't do lunch today," Sarah says before stats. "I have plans."
"Me too," Hunter says. "Frat thing."
That leaves just Caleb and Danny standing in the hallway after class while Sarah and Hunter take off for their other plans. Caleb looks more disappointed than the situation seems to warrant; they don't always have lunch together after class.
"Everything okay?" Danny asks.
Caleb lifts one shoulder in reply. "It's my mom's birthday."
There's a world of things Caleb isn't saying under that sentence. "Do you want to come over to my house and hang out? I have stuff for sandwiches, and we can get a head start on this problem set."
"Am I going to get in your way?"
"Not at all."
Caleb nods. "Okay. Can we swing by my dorm? I have some other reading I should do too."
"Of course."
They talk about the classes they aren't sharing on the walk to Caleb's dorm to get his other reading, and that ranges into conversation about other people they know that they continue on the way to Haddonfield. Caleb doesn't mention his family again, and Danny doesn't push.
Danny makes sandwiches for lunch, and then they settle in to work on their homework. They take a break for a snack when Cameron gets home, but Caleb seems to want to keep busy, and Danny doesn't mind getting ahead in his reading.
The front door opens a while later, and Danny looks up, because Cameron's upstairs, which means it's probably Claude.
"I brought Hartsy and pizza for dinner," Claude says as he comes into the kitchen, Scott trailing behind him. "Hey, Caleb."
"Hi." Caleb waves at both of them.
Danny shakes his head slightly at Claude and Scott, and neither of them ask about Caleb being there.
"Cameron upstairs?" Claude asks.
"Yes."
Claude steps out of the kitchen and yells, "Cameron, pizza," up the stairs.
"Very civilized," Scott says.
Danny closes his book and his notebook, and Caleb does the same. They move their homework out of the way, and Danny goes to the fridge. "I think we still have a bag of salad."
"We have two," Cameron says as he comes into the kitchen. He hugs Claude, does some sort of half handshake, half hug with Scott, and gets a bowl out of the cabinet for the salad.
Danny leaves Cameron and Claude to argue about tomatoes and salad dressing and gets out plates.
"Can I help?" Caleb asks.
Danny almost tells him he doesn't need to, but then decides today is probably the kind of day when it would do Caleb good to help and hands him the plates and forks to set the table. Danny gets drinks for everyone, Cameron wins the argument about tomatoes, and they put pizza and salad in the center of the table.
"How's school?" Scott asks. "Getting the hang of it now?"
Danny smiles. "Getting the hang of it, yes. It's still hard, but I'm used to it again."
"Hard doesn't begin to cover it," Caleb says. "OPIM is killing all of us except Sarah. It's a computer modeling class," he explains to Scott and Claude's confused looks. "She says she doesn't want to be a programmer, but she understands this stuff much better than the rest of us."
"The good thing," Danny says, "is that she understands it well enough to explain it to the rest of us when we get lost."
"Better than the TAs," Caleb says.
"How exactly did you all meet?" Scott asks.
"We had some of the same classes," Danny says, "so we formed a study group."
"Sarah formed us into a study group," Caleb says. "She ambushed us at the beginning of last semester. Hunter invited himself."
Danny laughs. "He's not that bad."
"He kind of is," Cameron says. "Sarah's awesome."
Scott looks like he's trying very hard not to laugh.
"You just like her because she's better at video games than the rest of us," Claude says.
Cameron shrugs. "It's more fun with someone who knows what they're doing."
Scott does laugh at that. "Yeah, G's not good for that."
Claude tries to protest, but he doesn't have much ground to stand on, and even trying to use Danny as an example of someone he's better than doesn't work for him because Cameron dismisses that as a function of Danny's age.
"It's raising kids," Danny says. "Not much time for video games." He smirks. "Claude doesn't have that excuse."
Claude throws up his hands. "I brought you pizza, and this is the thanks I get?"
"Thank you, Claude," Danny says. "Your video game skills are still terrible."
Even Claude laughs at that.
Cameron goes upstairs not long after they're done eating, either to work on his homework or to practice his video game skills. Claude helps Danny clean up, and Caleb ferries plates from the table to the kitchen.
They move to the living room and sit around talking about nothing too heavy - Scott and Claude's thoughts on their game, Danny and Caleb's classes - for a while.
Scott eventually looks at his phone and says, "I should probably take off. Caleb, you want a ride?"
"Oh," Caleb says, and he glances at Danny. "If it's not out of your way."
"No, I'm headed back into Philly anyway, and this way Danny won't have to make the drive. I'm sure he can give Claude a ride home." Scott's smirk says way more than his words do.
Danny rolls his eyes, and Claude stretches an arm out along the couch to brush his fingers against the back of Danny's neck.
Scott stands up with a laugh. "I think that's our cue to go."
"Yeah, I think so." Caleb looks from Danny to Claude with a smirk that matches Scott's and goes to get his backpack.
Danny pushes Claude's hand away and gets up so he can hug Scott and Caleb before they leave.
"Thanks for this afternoon," Caleb says.
Danny squeezes his shoulder. "Anytime. I mean that."
Caleb nods. "I know you do."
Danny gives Scott a shorter hug while Claude hugs Caleb and Caleb thanks him for dinner.
"Is he okay?" Claude asks when Danny's closed the door behind Scott and Caleb.
"Today is his mom's birthday," Danny says.
"So you brought him here since he can't be with his family." Claude loops his arms over Danny's shoulders. "He's the one you're going to adopt."
"I'm not going to adopt anyone." Danny puts his hands on Claude's hips. "He's my friend, and I wanted to help."
"I'm going to say I told you so when he moves in," Claude says with a grin. He leans in and kisses Danny. "Hi."
"Hi." Danny slides his hands all the way around Claude. "You could have done that earlier."
"Maybe," Claude says, "but I couldn't get laid earlier."
Danny laughs and reaches around Claude to turn out the light in the foyer. "Yeah," he says, "come on, upstairs."
*
Midterms aren't really any better now that Danny's been through it once. It still leaves him stressed out, and he meets up with everyone else in Huntsman for an afternoon study session to find a distinctly chilly atmosphere. Sarah and Hunter won't look at each other, and Caleb is determinedly looking at his notes and not at any of them. Danny has had nearly two decades of experience in mediating sibling disputes between his boys, and he has no interest in doing so for his friends, not when all he wants to do is get through his midterms.
"I'm getting a snack," he says, dropping his backpack onto the empty chair. "Anyone want anything?"
Sarah says, "No, thank you," Caleb shakes his head, and Hunter glares at him.
Danny leaves his backpack and takes his wallet and his phone. Study group already a disaster, he texts Claude. Why am I doing this?
He's waiting for the person behind the counter at the cafe to put his assortment of cookies into a bag when Claude texts him back.
No idea, Claude says. Optional skate tomorrow. Want to fuck me later?
Danny shoves his phone into his pocket and accepts the bag of cookies with a smile. He grabs a stack of napkins and tucks them into the bag so he can text as he walks back. Maybe. I'll call you.
Claude sends him, I'll bring you dinner if you do, which means Danny is almost smiling by the time he gets back to the table and puts the cookies down in the middle.
"Help yourself."
Hunter glares at the cookies, and at Danny.
Danny takes a cookie and pulls out his notebook and his stack of books. "Stats first?" he asks, guessing that if Sarah and Hunter are at odds, they should probably leave OPIM, at least, until things thaw a little.
Caleb takes half a cookie and says, "Sounds good to me."
Sarah and Hunter snap at each other a little over their stats review, but they both eventually take a cookie, and everyone's just a little calmer by the time they move on to BEPP and OPIM.
Hunter and Sarah still don't talk to each other by the time they're done, although they both thank Danny for the cookies, Hunter sullenly and Sarah with a little more grace. They head off in opposite directions, leaving Danny and Caleb walking out together.
"You're not going to ask?" Caleb asks him while they're going down the stairs.
"Unless I have to," Danny says, "I don't want to know. I just want to get through midterms."
Caleb doesn't tell him, which means he probably doesn't need to know.
"How are you?" Danny asks just before they hit the doors to the building.
"Just have to get through midterms," Caleb says. "See you tomorrow." He waves over his shoulder as they part outside.
Danny trudges to his car. He could go study in the library, but campus isn't very appealing right now. Before he starts the car, he takes out his phone and texts Claude, Yes. Anything but pizza.
The drive home is surprisingly relaxing, a time when he doesn't have to worry too much about anything other than traffic and speed limits, and even pulling out his books when he gets home is better than it was sitting at a table with Hunter and Sarah barely speaking.
He studies until he can't take it anymore and goes into the living room to find something worth watching on the DVR. He's still there, watching a second episode of some show Cameron likes, when the front door opens, and Danny turns off the TV and goes to greet Claude.
Claude has a bag in one hand, but he wraps his other arm around Danny's shoulders when Danny kisses him. "I thought you'd be busy studying," Claude says.
"I needed a break." Danny goes into the kitchen with him and gets out plates and forks. They put food onto plates and take them to the table.
"How much of a disaster was your study group?"
Danny groans. "We got some studying done, but Hunter and Sarah weren't talking to each other."
"Why not?"
"I don't know." Danny stabs into a piece of chicken. "I don't want to know, but it really wasn't fun."
Claude raises his eyebrows. "Midterms really stress you out. Usually you'd be making that better."
"They're adults," Danny says. "They have to learn to figure it out themselves. And I bought cookies," he admits.
Claude grins at him.
Danny smiles back. "There are two left."
"Good," Claude says. "I didn't bring dessert."
They put their dishes in the dishwasher after they eat, and then they eat the last two cookies standing around in the kitchen.
"You look more relaxed now," Claude says. "Going to fuck me?"
"Yes." Danny turns out lights as he pulls Claude along with him to his bedroom.
They get undressed and Danny pushes Claude down onto the bed. He leans over and kisses Claude for a while, letting Claude pull him down so their legs are slotted together, Danny lying on top of him.
Danny has to push Claude away so he can sit up and get the lube and a condom from the bedside table. Claude's legs fall open for him, though, and Danny kneels between them and works Claude open slowly. He could work out his frustration by making Claude turn over and fucking him hard, but he'd rather take his time and make it last.
He fingers Claude open slowly, keeps going until Claude is all but begging him, and then he pushes in long and slow, and Claude curls up to kiss him. They fuck slow and careful, and it leaves Danny wrung out anyway, exhausted and empty and not thinking about anything but Claude's skin against his.
"Feel better?" Claude asks, letting Danny lie against his side and not caring that Danny left him to grab tissues and clean himself up.
"Yes," Danny says.
"Good." Claude rolls over onto him and kisses him. They make out lazily and purposelessly for long minutes, before Claude yawns and gets them both under the covers. "You're not going anywhere," Claude says, even though Danny isn't protesting.
"I know," Danny says, letting Claude curl up next to him. "You hate to sleep alone after sex."
*
Danny wakes up early in the morning, even though he doesn't have class until later. Claude's still sleeping, so Danny takes a shower, makes himself a bowl of cereal, and sits down with his books, which are much easier to deal with this morning. He gets deep enough into his studying that he doesn't really hear Claude come into the kitchen until Claude's hands land on his shoulders.
"Good morning."
Danny blinks out of his studying haze and turns to look up at Claude. "Good morning."
Claude bends down and kisses him. It's a slow, soft kiss, and when it's over, Claude goes to make himself breakfast while Danny turns back to the chapter he was studying.
Danny closes his book after a while, and gets up to put his bowl and Claude's plates in the dishwasher.
"I'm going in for an off-ice workout," Claude says, "and we leave this afternoon."
Right, because they have a four-game road trip.
Claude crowds in behind him, body pressing all along Danny's back. "Are you going to miss me?"
Danny tips his head toward Claude and says, "Yes."
He seems to have disrupted whatever Claude was trying to do, because Claude pulls back just enough that he can see Danny's face. "Really?"
"Yes." Danny turns and puts his arms around Claude. "I like having you here. I really like it when you bring me dinner and sex when I'm stressed out."
Claude smiles brightly and bends down to kiss him. "I expect payback during the playoffs."
Danny laughs. "As much as I can around finals."
"Finals." Claude makes a face. "I don't know why you thought school would be fun."
"It's not all bad." Danny draws Claude down and kisses him, very thoroughly. "It leaves me plenty of time to spend with you."
"That's one benefit," Claude says. He kisses Danny quickly, gropes his ass, and steps away. "I'll see you when I get back. Watch my games."
"Don't go to overtime," Danny calls after him. "I'm not staying up for that."
Claude's laugh echoes back at him, cut off by the front door closing behind him.
*
Danny's in a relatively cheerful mood when he gets to class, and Sarah is at least friendly to him and Caleb, although she also makes sure she's sitting between them. Hunter arrives last, as usual, and drops into the seat on the other side of Danny. He reaches across Danny and drops something on top of Sarah's notebook.
Sarah picks it up, and Danny can see it's a small Mario figure. Sarah looks at it, and then she laughs and leans across him to to tap Hunter's shoulder.
"Thanks."
Hunter nods at her, with a little bit of a smile.
Danny has no idea what it's supposed to mean, and a glance at Caleb shows that he doesn't know either, but it's enough to put them both in better moods and whatever they were fighting about seems to have been resolved. The four of them go for lunch, at least, and there's only the usual bickering about where to go.
"I hate midterms," Sarah declares over lunch.
"Me too," Hunter says fervently. "What are you so happy about?" He jerks his chin in Danny's direction, which makes all three of them stare at him.
"You got laid," Caleb says.
"And dinner," Danny says, and it's true that he does feel much better about midterms than he did yesterday.
"Your happiness is disgusting," Hunter says.
"I want a boyfriend who will bring me food and sex," Sarah says.
Danny says, "It does make midterms easier to deal with. And Cameron's with his mom this week, so you three are the only teenagers making my life harder." He grins at them so they know he's just chirping them.
"I agree with Hunter," Sarah says. "Your happiness is disgusting."
"See if I bring you cookies again," Danny says. It's an empty threat, and even they have to know it. If they don't, it has to become clear when he pays for lunch.
*
Despite his chirping, Danny does watch all of Claude's games, even the ones that go to overtime, and he watches the post-game every time they interview Claude. Part of him will always miss being part of that, but it's been long enough, and he gets to spend enough time on the ice, that it's not the gaping wrongness it was at the beginning of the first season he wasn't playing. Now he can watch and enjoy it as a fan and as someone who understands what really goes into playing - and as someone who wants the chance to see Claude when he's not there.
He half expects Claude to come straight to him when he gets back, but Danny wakes up alone the morning after their last road game. It's a Wednesday, which means he has class first thing. He takes Cameron to school and drives into Philly. He gets coffee in the break between classes, and is just drinking the last of it when he meets Sarah in the hallway on the way into class.
Sarah eyes the size of his coffee cup. "Boyfriend keep you up late last night?"
"No," Danny says. "Haven't seen him since he left for his road trip."
"Oh," Sarah says. "Sorry." She pats Danny's arm and sits down next to him. When Caleb joins them, she nudges him to sit on Danny's other side.
Danny looks at both of them and chuckles. "I'm okay," he says.
"You miss your boyfriend," Sarah says bluntly, "and you really shouldn't have to deal with Hunter on top of that."
"I'll see him later," Danny says. "And I don't mind Hunter."
The conversation lapses before Hunter gets there, and he doesn't seem to notice anything strange about their seating arrangements.
Sarah and Caleb don't bring it up later, and they split up after stats instead of having lunch together.
Danny turns on his phone as he walks to his car. He has a text from Claude.
Practice today. Meet me for a late lunch?
Danny smiles at it; he does miss Claude. He sends back, When and where?
Claude being in practice means he doesn't get a text back until later - it gives him time to work on some of his homework - and then he gets back in the car and goes to meet Claude for lunch at a sandwich place in Cherry Hill.
Claude is already there, hanging back to wait for him. They're in public, so they don't kiss, but they do hug for a minute. This is part of what Danny missed while Claude was gone, the solid physicality of him.
They separate and order their sandwiches before taking their drinks to a table. The table is small enough that their calves rest together under it.
"Did you watch my games?" Claude asks.
Danny grins at him. "Even the one that went to a shootout."
Claude grins back at him. "I knew you would."
"I missed you," Danny says, and maybe he should have suggested Claude come over to the house for lunch so he could do more than just say that and press his leg to Claude's.
"Me too," Claude says. "Sometimes I wish you were still playing with me."
Danny nudges Claude's knee with his own. "I miss that too. We should go skating. We haven't been in a while."
Claude smirks at him. "How out of practice are you?"
"Not so much I can't give you a run for your money," Danny says. "It'll be good to be on the ice with you again."
They talk about hockey, Claude's games and Cameron's team, and Danny's schoolwork. They both laugh a lot and never stop smiling at each other, even when they're making insistent points about defense and strategy.
"Gregs is gone for the afternoon," Claude says after they eat. "Want to come over?"
Danny checks the time on his phone. "I have to pick up Cameron later, but I can come over for a couple of hours."
Claude says, "I can do a lot in a couple of hours," in a way that leaves no doubt as to what he's talking about.
Danny follows him home and into his condo. They go up the stairs and down the hall to Claude's bedroom without stopping. Claude shuts the door behind them, and they just look at each other for a long minute before Danny decides they're wasting time and kisses Claude.
Claude kisses him back hard and frantic, and they scramble to get each other's clothes off, Claude growling in frustration at the button on Danny's jeans, and Danny laughing when Claude almost trips over his pants.
"Fuck," Claude says. "Fuck, I just want to feel you."
Danny doesn't have any problem with that, and they tumble down into bed together, touching and kissing and rubbing against each other like desperate teenagers. Claude sets his mouth at the side of Danny's neck, and Danny groans as Claude sucks hard at his skin.
"Claude," Danny says, and then he lapses into pleas, asking Claude to touch him, to kiss him, to get him off.
He comes before Claude does, Claude's hands all over him and Claude's mouth biting again and again at his neck and shoulders. He lies there without moving for a moment, gasping for breath, heart beating double time.
Claude is still moving against him, and Danny gathers himself together enough to put his hands on Claude, urge him on until he, too, comes between them.
They stay where they are for long minutes, exchanging lazy kisses and brief touches, until Claude rolls to the side to put a little space between them. Danny grabs tissues from the nightstand so they can clean up a little.
They lie there in comfortable silence, and Danny's mostly sure Claude's falling asleep when he speaks instead.
"I can't remember when I last slept with someone else," Claude says.
Danny turns his head to look at him.
"I could have." Claude reaches out to touch him, hand drifting up and down Danny's side. "I didn't."
Danny looks at him, the frank appraisal and open honesty on Claude's face, and thinks about it. "Over the summer," he finally says. "For me. There was a woman in Gatineau."
"Ottawa, probably," Claude says. "And I missed you over the summer and while we were gone on road trips."
Danny rubs his hands over his eyes. "Am I going to have to tell my study group they were right?"
Claude laughs and rolls closer so his laugh shakes both of them. "I think so." He kisses Danny, and it's soft, sweet. "Unless you don't want to be my boyfriend."
Danny pulls him closer. "Only if you don't want to be mine."
"Of course I do," Claude says. He wraps his hand around Danny's thigh and rearranges them so they're tangled together. "I still haven't taken all the spots on the top twenty best sex of your life."
Danny bursts out laughing. "You're welcome to keep trying."
"This didn't quite make it," Claude says with a grin.
Danny shrugs as well as he can lying down and tangled up with Claude. "It was pretty good. We'll do better next time you come home from a road trip."
Claude presses his lips to Danny's cheek. "We could do better after a nap."
"We could," Danny says with a chuckle. "Are we going to tell people other than my study group that we're together?"
"I don't know," Claude says with a yawn. "Do you want to?"
"Not really," Danny admits. "The boys, and your team, and our families, but I don't want to be in the spotlight any more than that."
"Okay," Claude says. He kisses Danny's cheek again. "Can we go to sleep now?"
"Yes," Danny says, laughing a little. He turns his head and kisses Claude. "And we'll work on that top twenty after the nap."
*
"We should have lunch today," Sarah says at the end of BEPP on the Thursday before spring break. "I'm flying home tomorrow afternoon, so I can't tomorrow."
"I'm leaving after class tomorrow too," Hunter says.
"I have time," Caleb says with a shrug.
"I have class at two," Danny says. It's enough time for lunch, though, and they don't go far, ending up just hanging out in the cafe in Huntsman.
"Are you going home?" Sarah asks Hunter when they all have food.
"No." Hunter rolls his eyes. "I'm going to Miami Beach with some of my frat brothers."
"Oh," Sarah says, "of course you are."
"You're just jealous," Hunter says.
"Oh, yeah," Sarah says. She holds up both hands. "Sunburn or seeing my family." She weighs those two options for a moment before letting her hands drop. Then she turns to Caleb to ask, "What are you doing?"
"Staying here," Caleb says with a shrug. "Working a lot." He looks to Danny. "What about you?"
"I don't know," Danny says. "Cameron will be with me, but Claude's gone most of the week. I might take Cameron with me to see Carson next weekend. It's almost the end of his regular season."
"Does your every holiday revolve around hockey?" Sarah asks.
Danny chuckles. "Mostly. Even the boys spend most of the summer doing offseason training."
Sarah groans. "I can't even imagine."
Danny shrugs. "Aren't all of your holidays about gaming?"
Caleb laughs while Sarah just stares at Danny for a minute.
"Okay, fine," she says, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I see your point. And Hunter's holidays are about partying and Caleb's are about supporting himself."
"That's a simplistic way to classify us," Hunter says. "I like to party, but it's not my whole life."
"But is it the important part?" Sarah asks.
Hunter looks conflicted about that. "Yes," he says, "but it's about hanging with friends, not just partying, and this is important too." He waves at the building around them. "But I'm not going to spend my vacations on this. Vacations are for a break from this."
"Okay," Sarah says, "that's fair." She turns to Caleb. "Do you at least get one day off?"
Caleb nods. "Wednesday. I'm going to sleep all day and watch bad TV."
"Now that," Sarah says, "sounds like a vacation."
"I'm looking forward to it," Caleb says.
"I'll probably do some of that too," Danny says. "And we should have lunch or dinner sometime."
"Yeah," Caleb says, and he doesn't qualify it or ask if Danny's sure.
Sarah probably notices too, because she leans over and hugs Caleb, a hug he leans into without asking her what it's for.
"Lunch with all of you is always such a lovefest," Hunter says.
Sarah turns on him with a gleam in her eye and wraps him up in a hug. "You know you love us," she says.
Hunter pushes at her arms, and then gives in when she doesn't let go. "I'm not going to miss you at all when I'm on the beach."
"Lies." Sarah lets go of him and settles into her chair with a grin. "You'll miss us every minute." She points at him. "You're just as much a part of this lovefest as the rest of us."
Part 6
The boys sleep late, and Danny wanders out of the hotel to get something for breakfast. He ends up a couple of blocks away in a diner that turns out to have really good pancakes, and he hangs out for a while, sipping his coffee and alternately people watching and reading the news on his phone.
He tells the boys where he is when they text him to say they're up, and they come and join him. His waitress looks a little happier now that he's spending more money and not just taking up a table, and he makes sure to leave her a generous tip to make up for it.
They spend most of the day at the Hockey Hall of Fame. They've been there once before, but the boys were still pretty young, and it's more fun this time around. They all have opinions that they feel the need to voice, and it's a weekend, so the place is pretty full and they have plenty of people to bounce their opinions off of. Danny chimes in some, but mostly leaves them to it.
Conversation changes topics over dinner, but comes back to hockey when they head over to the ACC. They get there in plenty of time to watch warm-ups, and the boys go right down to the glass.
"We should have made signs," Carson says, looking around at the fans with posterboard pressed to the glass. "This is a prime chirping opportunity we're missing."
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities for chirping," Danny says.
"This one would have been the best," Carson says. He waits until Claude's skating somewhat in their direction on a drill, then cups his hands around his mouth and yells, "Hey, Giroux, you better win this one!"
Claude isn't the only one to turn and look at them. Danny sighs, and all three of the boys laugh like it's the funniest thing they've ever seen. Claude skates their way and points at them through the glass with a stern expression on his face, which just makes them laugh harder, and makes Danny laugh too.
Claude grins at them before he skates away, and the people nearby start to notice them, which is why Danny has a Sharpie in his pocket, although a Toronto crowd isn't nearly as interested in him as Philly crowds are.
It's a tough game, and the boys trade cheerful insults with the Leafs fans next to them, and they all keep up running commentary and analysis on the play. It goes to overtime, which just amps up the mood in the arena, and has the boys and the few other Flyers fans in the crowd jumping out of their seats when Claude feeds a pass to Jake that he sneaks past Reimer for the win.
There's a lot of grumbling from the Toronto crowd as the arena empties, and Danny and the boys let most of the crowd stream past them before they head out. Claude left them passes, so once things calm down, Danny takes the boys down to the locker room. They're still busy with press, so Danny and the boys hang out in the hallway and chat with everyone else standing around. With the win, everyone's in high spirits.
When the press starts to filter out, some of the reporters stop to ask Danny about the game.
"You've been at a couple of games recently," one of them says.
Danny smiles, shrugs, and says, "I like hockey. The team's doing really well, and this was a good time to go to a game with all three of my boys, which we don't get to do much anymore."
Another one of the beat reporters he's known for years asks Carson a couple of questions about playing in Kitchener. It's not the first time Danny's watched one of his boys being interviewed about playing hockey, but Carson answers like a pro, and it's just one more thing that reminds him how much his boys are growing up. Are grown up, really.
Some of the guys come out of the locker room after the reporters are gone, and they all know Danny and his boys well enough to stop and chat. Cameron tells Scott about Carson being interviewed, and Scott predictably grins at him.
"Trying to steal our thunder?"
"Well," Carson says, "you are getting older. I'm just taking my natural place as the next generation of hockey player."
"Older," Scott laughs. "I'll show you older. I can still take you."
Carson grins. "Wanna bet?"
Their tussling takes up everyone's attention, so Danny doesn't notice Claude until he puts an arm around Danny's shoulders. "What did Carson do?"
"How do you know it wasn't Scott?"
Claude laughs. "It wasn't Hartsy."
"Carson called him old."
Claude cracks up.
Scott and Carson break it up, and Scott points at Claude. "Watch it, buddy. You know I can take you."
"Sure," Claude says. "Don't you have a bus to catch?"
"Yeah, yeah," Scott says. He comes over and Claude lets go of Danny to exchange hugs with Scott. "Nice game. Have fun with the family."
"Thanks," Claude says. "Couldn't do it without you."
"Damn straight," Scott says, and he high-fives the boys on his way out with the a couple of the other guys hanging around.
"Ready to go?" Danny asks.
"Yep." Claude has his bag with him, and there isn't anyone else around keeping the boys occupied, so they make their way out of the arena and back to the hotel.
None of them are tired, and Claude's going to be wound up for hours, so they drop off the car and dump Claude's bag in Danny's room, and then they walk down to the diner Danny found earlier.
The waitress shows them to a large, curved booth, and they settle into it with menus and a lively discussion about whether burgers or pancakes are the better post-game, late-night food.
They end up with a mixture of breakfast and dinner foods, everyone orders pie after their food, and Danny's the only one starting to get tired by the time they walk back to the hotel.
"I'm going to call Alexis," Caelan says when they get into the lobby, and he goes to sit on one of the couches while the rest of them go upstairs.
"We have to leave by noon tomorrow for everyone to catch their flights and buses," Danny tells Carson and Cameron before they go into their room across the hall from Danny and Claude.
Carson makes a face, but says, "We'll get up before then so we can have breakfast."
"Text us when you're up," Danny says. "We'll have breakfast with you."
Claude already has the door to their room open, so Danny leaves the boys to their own devices and follows Claude into their room. He waits for the door to swing shut, and then he presses Claude into the wall and kisses him hard.
Claude kisses him back just as hard, complete with hands wandering down over Danny's ass. "Is this what I get for an overtime game winning goal?"
"And a family trip with the boys," Danny says. He pushes Claude's coat off his shoulders to pool on the floor, then pulls his toque off and drops it with the coat.
"Remind me to do nice things for you more often." Claude cooperates in letting Danny get his suit jacket off to fall to the floor with everything else, and then he goes after Danny's coat.
Getting their shirts off involves a lot of kissing and fingers tangling, and Claude's hands find their way to Danny's ass again.
"There's a bed right there," Claude says while biting at Danny's neck.
"In a minute," Danny says. He tips his head to catch Claude's lips with his own, and then he slides to his knees and unbuttons Claude's pants.
"Fuck," Claude breathes. "Fuck, yes, please."
Danny pulls Claude's zipper down and tugs his pants and underwear down to his thighs. He makes Claude wait for a second, looking up to make sure he's paying attention, before he wraps his hand around the base of Claude's cock and takes just the head of it into his mouth.
He licks and sucks and mouths at Claude's cock for a couple of minutes, listening to Claude make noise above him, and then he stops, lets go, and stands up.
"Danny," Claude whines.
When Danny kisses him, Claude licks into his mouth and cups a hand over his cock through his jeans.
Danny pulls away. "Bed," he says. He steps back enough that there's space for Claude to kick off his shoes and the rest of his clothes, and he watches until Claude turns toward the bed. Then he takes his shoes and socks off, and opens the closet door to get the lube and condoms out of the bottom of his bag. He tosses them onto the bed next to Claude and strips out of his pants and underwear.
Claude pulls him close when Danny joins him on the bed. He kisses Danny, and Danny gropes for the lube while he kisses back.
"It's your choice," Danny says, flipping the cap open, "but I really want to ride you."
Claude groans and bites at Danny's mouth. "Yes," he says. He reaches for the lube, but Danny holds it out of his reach as he sits up and straddles Claude's hips.
Danny squeezes lube onto his fingers, and then reaches behind himself. Fingering himself open isn't quite as good for him as having Claude do it for him, but it means he can go faster, and it's worth the look of slack-jawed lust on Claude's face.
"Condom," he says when he's stretched enough to take Claude, and Claude fumbles with the condom wrapper for a moment before he stops looking at Danny and pays attention to what he's doing.
Danny doesn't take his fingers out of himself until Claude has the condom on and is looking at him again, and then he slowly slides down onto Claude's cock until his ass is resting against Claude's hips.
Claude makes a choked sound, and his hands settle onto Danny's hips. "I'm going to do so many more nice things for you."
Danny laughs a little and bends over to kiss him. "This is pretty nice."
"Nice," Claude chokes. "This had better be more than nice." He rolls his hips, and Danny goes with the movement.
"Good," Danny says. "Hot. Better than nice."
"It better be." Claude pulls him down to kiss him again.
They move together easily, and the boys are across the hall so they don't make much effort to be quiet. It is better than nice, with Claude lifting his hips to meet Danny's movements and the shift and press of sensation as Danny leans down to kiss Claude and sits back up to move against him.
Claude comes first, and Danny settles back onto his hips and jerks himself off, turned on enough to come before it gets to be too much for Claude and he shoves Danny off of him. Danny lies down next to him, stretching his legs out carefully.
"Fuck," Claude says. He pats Danny's chest with an uncoordinated hand that ends up staying there. "That was good."
Danny puts his hand over Claude's. "Mmmhmm. You did deserve it."
"Yes, I did," Claude says with smug satisfaction. He turns his head to look at Danny. "Not too much for you?"
"I'm not even forty," Danny says. "I can still keep up with you in bed."
Claude grins at him. "And I appreciate that. You were on your knees a lot."
Danny reaches down and rubs at one of his knees. They're twinging a little, but not too bad. "They're fine."
Claude leans over and kisses him. "I'll clean up," he says, and he gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom.
Danny just watches him for a second, and then he whistles at Claude's ass.
Claude grins over his shoulder and disappears into the bathroom.
Danny's knees might be okay, but it's late and the whole day has left him more than ready to sleep. He keeps his eyes open until Claude comes back with a washcloth and doesn't let him clean himself up, and then he lets them fall closed.
Claude gets back into bed with him and pulls the blankets up over them. Danny can tell when he turns out the light, and then he leans in toward Claude's movement when Claude kisses him.
"Thank you for this trip," Danny says.
"You're welcome," Claude says. He kisses Danny again. "Thank you for the amazing sex. Top five."
Danny chuckles and lets Claude cuddle up to him before he falls asleep.
*
Danny and Claude wake up before the boys in the morning, so they repack their bags and head down the street to the diner for breakfast. They're perfectly capable of entertaining themselves and each other for a couple of hours - occasionally interrupted by fans wanting autographs or pictures - and the boys join them around eleven.
Danny keeps an eye on the clock and hustles them all out of there back to the hotel to get their stuff and take Carson to the train station.
They all get out of the car to say their goodbyes, and Carson tussles with Caelan and Cameron for a moment before he hugs Claude and says, "Thanks, Claude. Good Christmas present," and then lets Danny hug him for a long couple of minutes.
"Good luck with your exams next week," Danny says. "I'll come up and see you play again soon."
They leave Carson there and the rest of them head to the airport to return the rental car and catch their flights. Caelan's flight leaves first, so they hang out with him at the gate until his row is called, and then there's a flurry of hugs, and Caelan promises that he and Alexis are coming home for spring break.
"You'd better get us tickets," he says to Claude, "so we can see you play at home."
Claude says, "You bet, buddy," and they wave to Caelan as he gets in line.
Danny and Claude have two seats together on the flight home, with Cameron across the aisle.
"Back to the real world," Claude says.
"You didn't really leave it," Danny points out. He has a book with him, so he can get some of his bio reading done on the plane, and he opens it on his lap.
"Are you going to read the whole way?" Claude asks. "You're supposed to keep me entertained."
"Oh, is that why you arranged this?" Danny tilts the book toward him. "You can read along."
"No way," Claude says. "You're the one who wanted to go back to school, not me."
"Yes," Danny says, "and I didn't do any homework this weekend, so now I have reading to do."
Claude heaves a very heavy sigh, but he puts on headphones, messes with the in-flight TV options, and lets Danny get his reading done.
The flight back to Philly isn't that long, but Danny finishes his bio reading and tackles about half his OPIM homework. It's still not everything he has to do, so when they get across the river into Jersey and he asks Claude if he wants to be dropped off at his place or come home with him and Cameron, he warns him, "I still have homework to do."
Claude makes a face at him, and says, "My place, I guess. I should check in anyway. Make sure Gregs hasn't burned it down."
Danny grins at him and heads to Claude's place where he pulls into one of the empty spaces out front. Claude leans across the console, apparently not caring that Cameron's in the back seat, and kisses Danny.
Danny kisses him back for a moment, and can't help smiling at him when they pull apart.
"Great weekend, right?" Claude says.
"Great," Danny says, his smile broadening into a grin.
"Really great," Cameron says. "Are you done making out so we can go home?"
"Yes, we're done," Claude says with a laugh. He gets out of the car and grabs his bag while Cameron gets in the front seat. He waves at them as he walks to his door, and Danny pulls out of the space.
Danny drops Cameron off at Sylvie's and heads for home alone. He's not overly surprised when Claude texts him later about dinner, and he takes a break from his homework to go out with Claude. Claude comes home with him and amuses himself while Danny finishes what needs to be finished before tomorrow.
Danny joins Claude on the couch when he's done, and they watch TV without talking for a while, until they're both yawning too much to bother paying attention.
"I'll blow you in the morning," Claude says on the way up the stairs. "You'll have to wake me up for it, though."
"I don't have class until eleven," Danny says, and he stops climbing the stairs when the sound of Claudes footsteps behind him stops.
"You don't?"
Danny shakes his head. "Not on Tuesdays or Thursdays."
Claude kisses him, Danny having to bend down for it with Claude on the stairs below him. "Morning sex," he says when they pull apart.
Danny grins at him and heads up the stairs.
*
Claude wakes Danny up in the morning, gently but insistently.
"I want to blow you," Claude says.
Danny blinks himself all the way awake and kicks the blankets away.
Claude doesn't waste any time after that, slithers down the bed, tugs Danny's pajamas off, and proceeds to lick and suck and touch until Danny arches off the bed with a shout as he comes.
Claude lets him recover for a minute or so before he sits up, cock hard and arching up towards his belly, and asks, "What are you going to do for me?"
"What do you want?"
Claude looks at him for a second, then says, "Can I?" He knee walks his way up the bed. "I want to fuck your mouth."
Danny adjusts his head on the pillow so he'll be a little more comfortable and licks his lips. "Yes," he says. "Come on."
Claude kneels over him and guides his cock into Danny's mouth. He goes slow at first, and a little faster once Danny can take it. He makes noise, looking down at Danny, touching his cheek, cupping his jaw to tilt his head and change the angle. Danny sucks and licks and makes it as good as he can, and he swallows when Claude comes.
"Morning sex," Claude says with lazy satisfaction after he falls sideways onto the bed afterwards.
Danny laughs and pats his hip before he gets out of bed and heads for the shower.
*
Sarah and Caleb are already in their usual seats when Danny gets to class in the morning, and they both zero in on him.
"So," Sarah asks, "how was your weekend?"
"It was good," Danny says. "How was yours?"
Sarah and Caleb both give him looks for that. He didn't think he was going to get away with it anyway.
"We had fun," Danny says. "Carson played a good game, Claude got the game winning goal in overtime in his game, and it was good to spend time with my boys."
"And your boyfriend," Caleb says.
"And Claude," Danny says.
There are more people filtering into the room, enough that their conversation can't remain private much longer, and Sarah says, "We're going to lunch after class, and you're going to tell us the rest of it."
Hunter slides into the empty seat on the other side of her. "The rest of what?"
"Danny's family vacation."
"The Flyers won. What else do you need to know about?" Hunter looks at Sarah and Caleb, and makes a face. "No one needs to know more about the rest of it."
"Then you don't have to come."
Hunter makes another face at her, but when class ends, he joins in the conversation about where they should eat and tags along with them.
"Aside from the hockey," Caleb asks when they're settled in around a table, "what did you do this weekend?"
"Not much," Danny admits. "The boys and I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and we spent a lot of time hanging out in the diner down the street from our hotel."
"Wow," Hunter says, "that's an incredibly boring vacation."
Danny shrugs. "It was more about having all of the boys together than doing anything exciting."
"Your kids and Claude," Sarah says.
"He went with us to Carson's game," Danny says, "but he was mostly with his team."
"Except when he was hooking up with you," Hunter says with a look on his face that says he doesn't really want to say it.
"He only stayed with me one night," Danny says. "Can one of you please start dating so we can talk about someone else's sex life?"
"Even if we do," Sarah says, "it's never going to be as interesting as yours."
*
Between all of their schedules - Danny's school, Claude's hockey, and Cameron's combination of school and hockey - they don't manage to have their first cooking lesson until the end of January.
Danny met with Mitchell, the chef, back in December, so he could get a sense of what they should learn and the layout of their kitchen, and so Danny could make a list if there was anything they needed that they didn't have. That means that they're all ready for it when Mitchell shows up on a Thursday afternoon with a couple of bags of groceries.
Danny introduces him to Cameron and Claude, and Mitchell smiles at all of them. "You're the hockey player, right?" he says to Claude. "And you," he turns to Cameron, "are learning to cook before you leave home."
"I'm also a hockey player," Cameron says. "And my dad doesn't know how to cook anything."
Danny shrugs; it's pretty much true.
Mitchell doesn't seem bothered by it. "If you want to try something more ambitious later on, we can do that, but mostly we're going to be making pretty simple, healthy meals that you'll be able to prepare yourself without much trouble."
"Even Dad?" Cameron asks, with way more skepticism than is warranted.
Mitchell grins. "Even your dad. I'm pretty good at this teaching thing."
"Dad's pretty bad at cooking."
Even Danny has to laugh at that one.
"Give your dad a break," Claude says. "I'll bet he can learn to cook at least one thing without burning it."
"All right," Mitchell says, cutting into the conversation. "The first step is washing your hands. You want to make sure you're not bringing anything you don't want to eat into your food."
They take overlapping turns at the sink, and Danny digs a couple of aprons out of the drawer. He takes the one with the boys' handprints on it, Cameron gets the kiss the cook barbecue one, and Claude ends up with the checked one Danny thinks the boys might actually have bought specifically for Claude one year.
Their first meal is chicken, pasta, and vegetables, the same kind of thing they've all eaten innumerable times. Mitchell guides them through the prep work, and keeps up a running commentary on cooking skills and ways they can modify each piece of the meal when they want some variety.
"A lot of this is in the recipe binder," he says, gesturing at the binders with printouts of today's meal he stacked on an out of the way corner of the counter. There's one for each of them, and Mitchell said he'd bring them each a set of pages for every new recipe they make. "It's good to go over it while you're cooking too, so you get a sense for the rhythm of it."
Nothing burns and there are no injuries, and when everything is done, Mitchell teaches them to plate it neatly.
"You don't have to do this," he says, "but presentation can make your meal more enjoyable, and it's a good thing to know if you ever want to impress someone with your kitchen skills."
Danny expects chirping from either Claude or Cameron on that one, but neither one of them hassles him about it, and they all manage to make up a respectable looking plates.
When Danny made arrangements for their lessons, he insisted that Mitchell join them to eat what they're cooking, so the four of them take their plates to the table and Danny opens a bottle of wine to go with dinner.
"To our first cooking lesson," Claude says, holding up his glass.
They all join him in a toast, wine glasses clinking off of Cameron's glass of soda, and then they try the food.
"This came out really good," Cameron says.
"I do know what I'm doing," Mitchell says mildly.
"Yeah," Cameron says, "but Dad doesn't, and Claude only sort of does."
Danny can't help laughing. "That's why we're doing this," he says. "So we will know."
"Caelan and Carson are missing it," Cameron says after a minute where they all focus on the food. Danny's not entirely sure he'll be able to replicate it on his own, but it did turn out delicious.
"Next time they come home," Claude says, "we'll have to show them what they missed."
"Caelan and Carson?" Mitchell asks.
"My brothers," Cameron says. "Caelan's in college and Carson's in the OHL."
Mitchell looks blank.
"Hockey," Danny explains. "In Canada."
"Ah," Mitchell says. "You could teach them some of what you've learned next time they're here. You know you have it down when you can teach it to someone else."
Cameron nods. "Just like hockey."
Mitchell looks like he doesn't know what to say, and Danny laughs and says, "You're going to have to get used to hockey as a standard with us."
*
It takes less work than Danny thought it might to find a time when Caleb, Sarah, and Hunter are all free to go to a game, and he has Claude get them tickets for a Saturday night in February.
They meet for dinner first, the other three walking over to meet Danny and coming into the restaurant shivering even in their coats and hats.
"Whose idea was February?" Sarah grumbles, rubbing her hands together. "It's freezing."
"You need better gloves," Caleb says.
"That's not going to do anything about the weather being unbelievably cold."
"Toughen up," Hunter says without sympathy. "This isn't California. Get used to it."
"I don't have to get used to it," Sarah says. "Tons of tech companies are headquartered in Silicon Valley. I'm sure I can convince everyone else to move there to start our gaming company. The weather can be part of my pitch."
Danny doesn't have any doubt about her ability to do just that.
They don't linger over dinner so they can get to the rink in time for warm-ups.
"It's worth it," Caleb says to Sarah when she looks skeptical about that. "There are signs and they don't wear their helmets so you can see what they look like."
Hunter rolls his eyes at them. "And you can get close enough to really see what they're doing."
Danny catches the looks Caleb and Sarah exchange behind Hunter's back and barely manages to stifle his laugh.
Once they're inside, they head down toward the glass, with Hunter in the lead. He's the one who cares the most about this part; he might as well be the one to choose where they're going to watch warm-ups from.
It's much the same experience as when Danny brought Caleb to a game. The three of them go down to watch from just behind the glass, with Hunter and Caleb explaining things to Sarah, and Danny hangs back a little to sign things and take pictures.
Danny makes it down to the glass before warm-ups are over, and Claude flashes him a grin as he skates by.
"I don't know how the whole world doesn't know about you two," Sarah murmurs.
"It doesn't cross their minds," Caleb says. "People see what they want to see."
"We should have made a sign," Sarah says. "'College students for Claude' or something."
"That's terrible," Hunter says.
"So come up with something better," Sarah says.
Hunter looks away from the ice for just long enough to throw her a disparaging look.
Warm-ups wind down, and Claude shows off his stickhandling as he skates over to them with a puck that he flips over the glass for Hunter. For all his usual cool, Hunter grins at it just as much as the kids across the ice getting a puck from Scott. He isn't a total asshole, though, and he gives the puck to Danny to sign and then gives it to one of the little kids near them.
When they find their seats, Hunter insists on sitting next to Danny. The other two don't protest, and they end up with Sarah on Danny's other side and Caleb on the other side of her. It doesn't quite evenly distribute their hockey knowledge, but it's good enough.
Hunter watches with the intensity of a sports fan, and Danny would be matching him if he weren't also carrying on conversations with Sarah and Caleb. The game only holds their interest so far, but it's a social occasion as well as a game, so he provides a buffer between their wandering interest and Hunter's focus.
"It's way less boring than football," Sarah says at intermission. "They just keep moving."
"Football's not boring," Hunter says.
Caleb laughs at both of them. "It's more fun because we know someone in the game."
"I've seen football games where I knew some of the people playing," Sarah says, and then at their looks, "What? I went to games in high school."
"High school," Hunter says dismissively. "You didn't go to a real football school."
Sarah rolls her eyes at him and stands up. "This break lasts a little while, right? I want a hat or a scarf or something."
They all go with her, and Hunter gets into it as much as Sarah and Caleb, grinning at Sarah in an orange scarf and putting a black hat on Caleb's head.
"Not me," Caleb says, pulling the hat off and returning it to the rack. "Maybe you, in this." He puts an orange hat on Hunter's head.
Sarah shudders. "Take that off." She grabs for it. "You should never wear orange."
"I know," Hunter says. He takes the hat off and plops it onto Danny's head instead.
"I have plenty of hats," Danny says, and he takes it off and puts it on Sarah's head.
Sarah adjusts it and peers out at them from under the brim. "What do you think?"
"You actually look good in orange," Hunter admits grudgingly.
Sarah turns toward a mirror and looks at herself. "Better than the scarf?"
"They both look good," Caleb says. "It's a lot of orange, though."
"I don't mind standing out." Sarah turns to look at herself from a slightly different angle. "I could use a new scarf, and I still haven't spent all my Christmas money." She nods at herself in the mirror and takes both of them to the cash register.
They stop on the way back to their seats for popcorn and drinks, Hunter hustling them along the whole way so they don't miss puck drop.
Sarah drapes her scarf across her shoulders and adjusts the fit of her hat. "Do I look like I belong now?"
"More than the rest of us," Caleb says with a laugh. It's true enough; they're all wearing dark clothes that make Sarah's orange accessories stand out even more. "You'll make us look good when we end up on the Jumbotron."
"Do you think we will?" Sarah asks.
"We did last time," Caleb says. "Because of Danny."
"Oh," Sarah says. "I guess. I've known you so long now that I forget that you're famous."
Danny smiles at her, and Hunter ignores them all in favor of yelling about a blown tripping call.
They do, of course, end up on the Jumbotron. Danny smiles and waves, Sarah throws her hands up in the air, and Hunter says, "Stop being so embarrassing," but smiles anyway.
The Flyers win, and Sarah nudges Caleb when they stand up at the end of the game. "Post-win, huh?"
Caleb grins back at her. "Totally worth it."
Hunter scowls at them, and Danny herds them out of their seats to forestall the argument.
There are always plenty of people Danny knows hanging around the locker room, and he chats with them and introduces Hunter, Caleb, and Sarah to some of them before they slip into the room.
Claude catches sight of them from the middle of his media scrum and flashes a smile that Danny returns.
Scott joins them where they're lingering the middle of the room, Hunter and Sarah looking around and Caleb playing it cool. "Came to support the old team?" He pulls Danny into a quick, one-armed hug.
"And bring friends to see them," Danny says. "This is Sarah and Hunter."
Scott shakes their hands. "Nice to meet you." He pats Caleb on the shoulder. "Good to see you again, Caleb."
"It's great to meet you," Hunter says. "You've done great things for Philadelphia."
"Thanks," Scott says. "You know Danny from school?"
"Yes," Hunter says, lighting up at the attention. "This is our study group."
Caleb takes Sarah over to meet Laughton and Schenner, and Danny leaves Hunter talking to Scott to go say hi to some of the other guys. He knows the press has cleared out when Claude's hands settle onto his shoulders and Claude kisses his cheek.
No one seems to be particularly surprised by it, so Danny turns to brush a kiss across Claude's lips. "Nice game."
"Thanks." Claude settles his arm around Danny's shoulders. "How did the kids like it?"
Danny waves across the room at where Hunter is very seriously talking to Jake and Sarah and Caleb are laughing with the Schenns.
Claude laughs. "Sarah," he calls across the room, "you're wearing our colors."
Sarah turns away from the Schenns and flashes him a thumbs up as she comes over to them. "I had to fit in somehow."
Claude tweaks the brim of her cap. "You came to a game. We appreciate all our fans."
Sarah makes a face that's half apologetic. "I don't know if I'm really a fan." She holds up one end of the scarf. "But this looks good on me."
"It does," Claude says with a laugh. He turns to Danny. "You need some friends who appreciate the game."
"I appreciate the players," Sarah says, and she turns to watch John-Michael walk across the room.
"You and Caleb," Claude says.
Danny laughs. "Hunter appreciated the play. Do we need to go rescue Jake?"
"In a minute," Claude says. He introduces Sarah to John-Michael, who smiles and compliments her taste in Flyers gear. Then he and Danny go over to Jake's stall.
"And there's our captain," Jake says when he spots them.
Hunter turns toward them. "Claude, that was a great game."
"Thanks," Claude says. He looks Hunter up and down. "No orange? Even Sarah's wearing Flyers gear now."
"I look terrible in orange," Hunter says.
"He really does," Caleb says, joining them. "Not his color at all."
Jake escapes to the showers while they're talking, and Sarah comes over to join them after a minute.
"We should go," Danny says, "let you get a shower."
Claude says, "Thank you for coming," to Caleb, Hunter, and Sarah.
"Thank you for the tickets," Hunter says, and Caleb and Sarah echo him.
Danny turns into Claude's touch to his shoulder, and they kiss briefly.
"I think Hartsy's dragging me out," Claude says, "but can I come over later?"
"Yes." Danny lets his hand linger on the back of Claude's neck. "Wake me up if I'm asleep."
Claude kisses him one more time before he heads for the showers and Danny turns to face his study group.
"You were right," Sarah says to Caleb thoughtfully. "Hockey players."
"Sweaty and post-win," Caleb agrees.
Sarah grins. "We know Danny likes it."
Hunter rolls his eyes. "Let's go before you get any more embarrassing."
Sarah and Caleb laugh, and Danny herds them all out of the locker room.
Even Hunter's in good spirits, and they cheerfully talk over each other on the way out of the arena and into the car.
"So, seriously," Sarah says on the way back to campus, leaning forward from the back seat, "how hot did you find Claude tonight?"
"Please stop," Hunter says before Danny has to figure out how to answer that.
"No, no," Sarah says. "I want to know. Scale of one to ten."
Danny glances at her in the rearview mirror, catching her grin even in the dark. Next to him in the front seat, Caleb is watching him with a matching grin. He doesn't need to look to know how Hunter's looking at them.
"Eight," he says.
"Only eight?" Sarah asks.
Danny shrugs. "It's not like it was the playoffs."
That makes all three of them laugh, which is what he was aiming for, and Sarah and Caleb debate where the rest of the players they met would fall while Hunter protests, without much force, their approach to hockey.
They're still laughing and arguing when Danny drops them off on campus. They all thank Danny, and Sarah says, "Be sure to congratulate Claude later," with an emphasis on "congratulate" that makes Caleb smirk and Hunter groan.
Danny says, "Good night," and is still laughing when he heads home.
He doesn't know how late Claude's going to be out, and Claude has a key, so he goes to bed when he gets home. Claude wakes him up some indeterminate amount of time later, hand on his shoulder and soft voice in his ear, bedside lamp turned on low.
Danny comes out of sleep slowly, and smiles at Claude. "Hi."
"Hi." Claude grins at him and bends over to kiss him.
Danny wakes up a little more with the contact, the taste of alcohol on Claude's lips. "Come to bed." He smirks. "Sarah said I should congratulate you." He puts the same emphasis on the word that Sarah did.
Claude cracks up.
Danny laughs with him. "I know," he says. "They like to meddle." He reaches for Claude and tugs on the edge of his suit jacket. "Come to bed."
Claude strips carefully, draping his suit, tie, and shirt over the chair in the corner, letting his boxer briefs and socks drop to the floor. He gets into bed, letting in a rush of cooler air as he does. Danny shivers, and Claude scoots closer, bare skin against Danny's.
"Are you going to congratulate me?" Claude asks.
"Congratulations," Danny says, and he kisses Claude, silencing his laugh and turning it into a groan.
They kiss for a long time, and move against each other slowly, content to rub against each other, letting what there is between them build slowly until Danny gathers both their cocks in his hand and strokes until they both come.
Danny wipes his hand mostly clean with a tissue from the bedside table and turns off the lamp.
"You can tell Sarah you did what she suggested," Claude says, and it sends both of them into a fit of giddy laughter.
"I don't think they need to know more about our sex life than they already do," Danny says.
"As long as it's enough to be jealous," Claude says. He shifts so they're more comfortable. "It's a good one."
"Yes," Danny agrees. He runs his hand down Claude's side. "Really good."
*
"I can't do lunch today," Sarah says before stats. "I have plans."
"Me too," Hunter says. "Frat thing."
That leaves just Caleb and Danny standing in the hallway after class while Sarah and Hunter take off for their other plans. Caleb looks more disappointed than the situation seems to warrant; they don't always have lunch together after class.
"Everything okay?" Danny asks.
Caleb lifts one shoulder in reply. "It's my mom's birthday."
There's a world of things Caleb isn't saying under that sentence. "Do you want to come over to my house and hang out? I have stuff for sandwiches, and we can get a head start on this problem set."
"Am I going to get in your way?"
"Not at all."
Caleb nods. "Okay. Can we swing by my dorm? I have some other reading I should do too."
"Of course."
They talk about the classes they aren't sharing on the walk to Caleb's dorm to get his other reading, and that ranges into conversation about other people they know that they continue on the way to Haddonfield. Caleb doesn't mention his family again, and Danny doesn't push.
Danny makes sandwiches for lunch, and then they settle in to work on their homework. They take a break for a snack when Cameron gets home, but Caleb seems to want to keep busy, and Danny doesn't mind getting ahead in his reading.
The front door opens a while later, and Danny looks up, because Cameron's upstairs, which means it's probably Claude.
"I brought Hartsy and pizza for dinner," Claude says as he comes into the kitchen, Scott trailing behind him. "Hey, Caleb."
"Hi." Caleb waves at both of them.
Danny shakes his head slightly at Claude and Scott, and neither of them ask about Caleb being there.
"Cameron upstairs?" Claude asks.
"Yes."
Claude steps out of the kitchen and yells, "Cameron, pizza," up the stairs.
"Very civilized," Scott says.
Danny closes his book and his notebook, and Caleb does the same. They move their homework out of the way, and Danny goes to the fridge. "I think we still have a bag of salad."
"We have two," Cameron says as he comes into the kitchen. He hugs Claude, does some sort of half handshake, half hug with Scott, and gets a bowl out of the cabinet for the salad.
Danny leaves Cameron and Claude to argue about tomatoes and salad dressing and gets out plates.
"Can I help?" Caleb asks.
Danny almost tells him he doesn't need to, but then decides today is probably the kind of day when it would do Caleb good to help and hands him the plates and forks to set the table. Danny gets drinks for everyone, Cameron wins the argument about tomatoes, and they put pizza and salad in the center of the table.
"How's school?" Scott asks. "Getting the hang of it now?"
Danny smiles. "Getting the hang of it, yes. It's still hard, but I'm used to it again."
"Hard doesn't begin to cover it," Caleb says. "OPIM is killing all of us except Sarah. It's a computer modeling class," he explains to Scott and Claude's confused looks. "She says she doesn't want to be a programmer, but she understands this stuff much better than the rest of us."
"The good thing," Danny says, "is that she understands it well enough to explain it to the rest of us when we get lost."
"Better than the TAs," Caleb says.
"How exactly did you all meet?" Scott asks.
"We had some of the same classes," Danny says, "so we formed a study group."
"Sarah formed us into a study group," Caleb says. "She ambushed us at the beginning of last semester. Hunter invited himself."
Danny laughs. "He's not that bad."
"He kind of is," Cameron says. "Sarah's awesome."
Scott looks like he's trying very hard not to laugh.
"You just like her because she's better at video games than the rest of us," Claude says.
Cameron shrugs. "It's more fun with someone who knows what they're doing."
Scott does laugh at that. "Yeah, G's not good for that."
Claude tries to protest, but he doesn't have much ground to stand on, and even trying to use Danny as an example of someone he's better than doesn't work for him because Cameron dismisses that as a function of Danny's age.
"It's raising kids," Danny says. "Not much time for video games." He smirks. "Claude doesn't have that excuse."
Claude throws up his hands. "I brought you pizza, and this is the thanks I get?"
"Thank you, Claude," Danny says. "Your video game skills are still terrible."
Even Claude laughs at that.
Cameron goes upstairs not long after they're done eating, either to work on his homework or to practice his video game skills. Claude helps Danny clean up, and Caleb ferries plates from the table to the kitchen.
They move to the living room and sit around talking about nothing too heavy - Scott and Claude's thoughts on their game, Danny and Caleb's classes - for a while.
Scott eventually looks at his phone and says, "I should probably take off. Caleb, you want a ride?"
"Oh," Caleb says, and he glances at Danny. "If it's not out of your way."
"No, I'm headed back into Philly anyway, and this way Danny won't have to make the drive. I'm sure he can give Claude a ride home." Scott's smirk says way more than his words do.
Danny rolls his eyes, and Claude stretches an arm out along the couch to brush his fingers against the back of Danny's neck.
Scott stands up with a laugh. "I think that's our cue to go."
"Yeah, I think so." Caleb looks from Danny to Claude with a smirk that matches Scott's and goes to get his backpack.
Danny pushes Claude's hand away and gets up so he can hug Scott and Caleb before they leave.
"Thanks for this afternoon," Caleb says.
Danny squeezes his shoulder. "Anytime. I mean that."
Caleb nods. "I know you do."
Danny gives Scott a shorter hug while Claude hugs Caleb and Caleb thanks him for dinner.
"Is he okay?" Claude asks when Danny's closed the door behind Scott and Caleb.
"Today is his mom's birthday," Danny says.
"So you brought him here since he can't be with his family." Claude loops his arms over Danny's shoulders. "He's the one you're going to adopt."
"I'm not going to adopt anyone." Danny puts his hands on Claude's hips. "He's my friend, and I wanted to help."
"I'm going to say I told you so when he moves in," Claude says with a grin. He leans in and kisses Danny. "Hi."
"Hi." Danny slides his hands all the way around Claude. "You could have done that earlier."
"Maybe," Claude says, "but I couldn't get laid earlier."
Danny laughs and reaches around Claude to turn out the light in the foyer. "Yeah," he says, "come on, upstairs."
*
Midterms aren't really any better now that Danny's been through it once. It still leaves him stressed out, and he meets up with everyone else in Huntsman for an afternoon study session to find a distinctly chilly atmosphere. Sarah and Hunter won't look at each other, and Caleb is determinedly looking at his notes and not at any of them. Danny has had nearly two decades of experience in mediating sibling disputes between his boys, and he has no interest in doing so for his friends, not when all he wants to do is get through his midterms.
"I'm getting a snack," he says, dropping his backpack onto the empty chair. "Anyone want anything?"
Sarah says, "No, thank you," Caleb shakes his head, and Hunter glares at him.
Danny leaves his backpack and takes his wallet and his phone. Study group already a disaster, he texts Claude. Why am I doing this?
He's waiting for the person behind the counter at the cafe to put his assortment of cookies into a bag when Claude texts him back.
No idea, Claude says. Optional skate tomorrow. Want to fuck me later?
Danny shoves his phone into his pocket and accepts the bag of cookies with a smile. He grabs a stack of napkins and tucks them into the bag so he can text as he walks back. Maybe. I'll call you.
Claude sends him, I'll bring you dinner if you do, which means Danny is almost smiling by the time he gets back to the table and puts the cookies down in the middle.
"Help yourself."
Hunter glares at the cookies, and at Danny.
Danny takes a cookie and pulls out his notebook and his stack of books. "Stats first?" he asks, guessing that if Sarah and Hunter are at odds, they should probably leave OPIM, at least, until things thaw a little.
Caleb takes half a cookie and says, "Sounds good to me."
Sarah and Hunter snap at each other a little over their stats review, but they both eventually take a cookie, and everyone's just a little calmer by the time they move on to BEPP and OPIM.
Hunter and Sarah still don't talk to each other by the time they're done, although they both thank Danny for the cookies, Hunter sullenly and Sarah with a little more grace. They head off in opposite directions, leaving Danny and Caleb walking out together.
"You're not going to ask?" Caleb asks him while they're going down the stairs.
"Unless I have to," Danny says, "I don't want to know. I just want to get through midterms."
Caleb doesn't tell him, which means he probably doesn't need to know.
"How are you?" Danny asks just before they hit the doors to the building.
"Just have to get through midterms," Caleb says. "See you tomorrow." He waves over his shoulder as they part outside.
Danny trudges to his car. He could go study in the library, but campus isn't very appealing right now. Before he starts the car, he takes out his phone and texts Claude, Yes. Anything but pizza.
The drive home is surprisingly relaxing, a time when he doesn't have to worry too much about anything other than traffic and speed limits, and even pulling out his books when he gets home is better than it was sitting at a table with Hunter and Sarah barely speaking.
He studies until he can't take it anymore and goes into the living room to find something worth watching on the DVR. He's still there, watching a second episode of some show Cameron likes, when the front door opens, and Danny turns off the TV and goes to greet Claude.
Claude has a bag in one hand, but he wraps his other arm around Danny's shoulders when Danny kisses him. "I thought you'd be busy studying," Claude says.
"I needed a break." Danny goes into the kitchen with him and gets out plates and forks. They put food onto plates and take them to the table.
"How much of a disaster was your study group?"
Danny groans. "We got some studying done, but Hunter and Sarah weren't talking to each other."
"Why not?"
"I don't know." Danny stabs into a piece of chicken. "I don't want to know, but it really wasn't fun."
Claude raises his eyebrows. "Midterms really stress you out. Usually you'd be making that better."
"They're adults," Danny says. "They have to learn to figure it out themselves. And I bought cookies," he admits.
Claude grins at him.
Danny smiles back. "There are two left."
"Good," Claude says. "I didn't bring dessert."
They put their dishes in the dishwasher after they eat, and then they eat the last two cookies standing around in the kitchen.
"You look more relaxed now," Claude says. "Going to fuck me?"
"Yes." Danny turns out lights as he pulls Claude along with him to his bedroom.
They get undressed and Danny pushes Claude down onto the bed. He leans over and kisses Claude for a while, letting Claude pull him down so their legs are slotted together, Danny lying on top of him.
Danny has to push Claude away so he can sit up and get the lube and a condom from the bedside table. Claude's legs fall open for him, though, and Danny kneels between them and works Claude open slowly. He could work out his frustration by making Claude turn over and fucking him hard, but he'd rather take his time and make it last.
He fingers Claude open slowly, keeps going until Claude is all but begging him, and then he pushes in long and slow, and Claude curls up to kiss him. They fuck slow and careful, and it leaves Danny wrung out anyway, exhausted and empty and not thinking about anything but Claude's skin against his.
"Feel better?" Claude asks, letting Danny lie against his side and not caring that Danny left him to grab tissues and clean himself up.
"Yes," Danny says.
"Good." Claude rolls over onto him and kisses him. They make out lazily and purposelessly for long minutes, before Claude yawns and gets them both under the covers. "You're not going anywhere," Claude says, even though Danny isn't protesting.
"I know," Danny says, letting Claude curl up next to him. "You hate to sleep alone after sex."
*
Danny wakes up early in the morning, even though he doesn't have class until later. Claude's still sleeping, so Danny takes a shower, makes himself a bowl of cereal, and sits down with his books, which are much easier to deal with this morning. He gets deep enough into his studying that he doesn't really hear Claude come into the kitchen until Claude's hands land on his shoulders.
"Good morning."
Danny blinks out of his studying haze and turns to look up at Claude. "Good morning."
Claude bends down and kisses him. It's a slow, soft kiss, and when it's over, Claude goes to make himself breakfast while Danny turns back to the chapter he was studying.
Danny closes his book after a while, and gets up to put his bowl and Claude's plates in the dishwasher.
"I'm going in for an off-ice workout," Claude says, "and we leave this afternoon."
Right, because they have a four-game road trip.
Claude crowds in behind him, body pressing all along Danny's back. "Are you going to miss me?"
Danny tips his head toward Claude and says, "Yes."
He seems to have disrupted whatever Claude was trying to do, because Claude pulls back just enough that he can see Danny's face. "Really?"
"Yes." Danny turns and puts his arms around Claude. "I like having you here. I really like it when you bring me dinner and sex when I'm stressed out."
Claude smiles brightly and bends down to kiss him. "I expect payback during the playoffs."
Danny laughs. "As much as I can around finals."
"Finals." Claude makes a face. "I don't know why you thought school would be fun."
"It's not all bad." Danny draws Claude down and kisses him, very thoroughly. "It leaves me plenty of time to spend with you."
"That's one benefit," Claude says. He kisses Danny quickly, gropes his ass, and steps away. "I'll see you when I get back. Watch my games."
"Don't go to overtime," Danny calls after him. "I'm not staying up for that."
Claude's laugh echoes back at him, cut off by the front door closing behind him.
*
Danny's in a relatively cheerful mood when he gets to class, and Sarah is at least friendly to him and Caleb, although she also makes sure she's sitting between them. Hunter arrives last, as usual, and drops into the seat on the other side of Danny. He reaches across Danny and drops something on top of Sarah's notebook.
Sarah picks it up, and Danny can see it's a small Mario figure. Sarah looks at it, and then she laughs and leans across him to to tap Hunter's shoulder.
"Thanks."
Hunter nods at her, with a little bit of a smile.
Danny has no idea what it's supposed to mean, and a glance at Caleb shows that he doesn't know either, but it's enough to put them both in better moods and whatever they were fighting about seems to have been resolved. The four of them go for lunch, at least, and there's only the usual bickering about where to go.
"I hate midterms," Sarah declares over lunch.
"Me too," Hunter says fervently. "What are you so happy about?" He jerks his chin in Danny's direction, which makes all three of them stare at him.
"You got laid," Caleb says.
"And dinner," Danny says, and it's true that he does feel much better about midterms than he did yesterday.
"Your happiness is disgusting," Hunter says.
"I want a boyfriend who will bring me food and sex," Sarah says.
Danny says, "It does make midterms easier to deal with. And Cameron's with his mom this week, so you three are the only teenagers making my life harder." He grins at them so they know he's just chirping them.
"I agree with Hunter," Sarah says. "Your happiness is disgusting."
"See if I bring you cookies again," Danny says. It's an empty threat, and even they have to know it. If they don't, it has to become clear when he pays for lunch.
*
Despite his chirping, Danny does watch all of Claude's games, even the ones that go to overtime, and he watches the post-game every time they interview Claude. Part of him will always miss being part of that, but it's been long enough, and he gets to spend enough time on the ice, that it's not the gaping wrongness it was at the beginning of the first season he wasn't playing. Now he can watch and enjoy it as a fan and as someone who understands what really goes into playing - and as someone who wants the chance to see Claude when he's not there.
He half expects Claude to come straight to him when he gets back, but Danny wakes up alone the morning after their last road game. It's a Wednesday, which means he has class first thing. He takes Cameron to school and drives into Philly. He gets coffee in the break between classes, and is just drinking the last of it when he meets Sarah in the hallway on the way into class.
Sarah eyes the size of his coffee cup. "Boyfriend keep you up late last night?"
"No," Danny says. "Haven't seen him since he left for his road trip."
"Oh," Sarah says. "Sorry." She pats Danny's arm and sits down next to him. When Caleb joins them, she nudges him to sit on Danny's other side.
Danny looks at both of them and chuckles. "I'm okay," he says.
"You miss your boyfriend," Sarah says bluntly, "and you really shouldn't have to deal with Hunter on top of that."
"I'll see him later," Danny says. "And I don't mind Hunter."
The conversation lapses before Hunter gets there, and he doesn't seem to notice anything strange about their seating arrangements.
Sarah and Caleb don't bring it up later, and they split up after stats instead of having lunch together.
Danny turns on his phone as he walks to his car. He has a text from Claude.
Practice today. Meet me for a late lunch?
Danny smiles at it; he does miss Claude. He sends back, When and where?
Claude being in practice means he doesn't get a text back until later - it gives him time to work on some of his homework - and then he gets back in the car and goes to meet Claude for lunch at a sandwich place in Cherry Hill.
Claude is already there, hanging back to wait for him. They're in public, so they don't kiss, but they do hug for a minute. This is part of what Danny missed while Claude was gone, the solid physicality of him.
They separate and order their sandwiches before taking their drinks to a table. The table is small enough that their calves rest together under it.
"Did you watch my games?" Claude asks.
Danny grins at him. "Even the one that went to a shootout."
Claude grins back at him. "I knew you would."
"I missed you," Danny says, and maybe he should have suggested Claude come over to the house for lunch so he could do more than just say that and press his leg to Claude's.
"Me too," Claude says. "Sometimes I wish you were still playing with me."
Danny nudges Claude's knee with his own. "I miss that too. We should go skating. We haven't been in a while."
Claude smirks at him. "How out of practice are you?"
"Not so much I can't give you a run for your money," Danny says. "It'll be good to be on the ice with you again."
They talk about hockey, Claude's games and Cameron's team, and Danny's schoolwork. They both laugh a lot and never stop smiling at each other, even when they're making insistent points about defense and strategy.
"Gregs is gone for the afternoon," Claude says after they eat. "Want to come over?"
Danny checks the time on his phone. "I have to pick up Cameron later, but I can come over for a couple of hours."
Claude says, "I can do a lot in a couple of hours," in a way that leaves no doubt as to what he's talking about.
Danny follows him home and into his condo. They go up the stairs and down the hall to Claude's bedroom without stopping. Claude shuts the door behind them, and they just look at each other for a long minute before Danny decides they're wasting time and kisses Claude.
Claude kisses him back hard and frantic, and they scramble to get each other's clothes off, Claude growling in frustration at the button on Danny's jeans, and Danny laughing when Claude almost trips over his pants.
"Fuck," Claude says. "Fuck, I just want to feel you."
Danny doesn't have any problem with that, and they tumble down into bed together, touching and kissing and rubbing against each other like desperate teenagers. Claude sets his mouth at the side of Danny's neck, and Danny groans as Claude sucks hard at his skin.
"Claude," Danny says, and then he lapses into pleas, asking Claude to touch him, to kiss him, to get him off.
He comes before Claude does, Claude's hands all over him and Claude's mouth biting again and again at his neck and shoulders. He lies there without moving for a moment, gasping for breath, heart beating double time.
Claude is still moving against him, and Danny gathers himself together enough to put his hands on Claude, urge him on until he, too, comes between them.
They stay where they are for long minutes, exchanging lazy kisses and brief touches, until Claude rolls to the side to put a little space between them. Danny grabs tissues from the nightstand so they can clean up a little.
They lie there in comfortable silence, and Danny's mostly sure Claude's falling asleep when he speaks instead.
"I can't remember when I last slept with someone else," Claude says.
Danny turns his head to look at him.
"I could have." Claude reaches out to touch him, hand drifting up and down Danny's side. "I didn't."
Danny looks at him, the frank appraisal and open honesty on Claude's face, and thinks about it. "Over the summer," he finally says. "For me. There was a woman in Gatineau."
"Ottawa, probably," Claude says. "And I missed you over the summer and while we were gone on road trips."
Danny rubs his hands over his eyes. "Am I going to have to tell my study group they were right?"
Claude laughs and rolls closer so his laugh shakes both of them. "I think so." He kisses Danny, and it's soft, sweet. "Unless you don't want to be my boyfriend."
Danny pulls him closer. "Only if you don't want to be mine."
"Of course I do," Claude says. He wraps his hand around Danny's thigh and rearranges them so they're tangled together. "I still haven't taken all the spots on the top twenty best sex of your life."
Danny bursts out laughing. "You're welcome to keep trying."
"This didn't quite make it," Claude says with a grin.
Danny shrugs as well as he can lying down and tangled up with Claude. "It was pretty good. We'll do better next time you come home from a road trip."
Claude presses his lips to Danny's cheek. "We could do better after a nap."
"We could," Danny says with a chuckle. "Are we going to tell people other than my study group that we're together?"
"I don't know," Claude says with a yawn. "Do you want to?"
"Not really," Danny admits. "The boys, and your team, and our families, but I don't want to be in the spotlight any more than that."
"Okay," Claude says. He kisses Danny's cheek again. "Can we go to sleep now?"
"Yes," Danny says, laughing a little. He turns his head and kisses Claude. "And we'll work on that top twenty after the nap."
*
"We should have lunch today," Sarah says at the end of BEPP on the Thursday before spring break. "I'm flying home tomorrow afternoon, so I can't tomorrow."
"I'm leaving after class tomorrow too," Hunter says.
"I have time," Caleb says with a shrug.
"I have class at two," Danny says. It's enough time for lunch, though, and they don't go far, ending up just hanging out in the cafe in Huntsman.
"Are you going home?" Sarah asks Hunter when they all have food.
"No." Hunter rolls his eyes. "I'm going to Miami Beach with some of my frat brothers."
"Oh," Sarah says, "of course you are."
"You're just jealous," Hunter says.
"Oh, yeah," Sarah says. She holds up both hands. "Sunburn or seeing my family." She weighs those two options for a moment before letting her hands drop. Then she turns to Caleb to ask, "What are you doing?"
"Staying here," Caleb says with a shrug. "Working a lot." He looks to Danny. "What about you?"
"I don't know," Danny says. "Cameron will be with me, but Claude's gone most of the week. I might take Cameron with me to see Carson next weekend. It's almost the end of his regular season."
"Does your every holiday revolve around hockey?" Sarah asks.
Danny chuckles. "Mostly. Even the boys spend most of the summer doing offseason training."
Sarah groans. "I can't even imagine."
Danny shrugs. "Aren't all of your holidays about gaming?"
Caleb laughs while Sarah just stares at Danny for a minute.
"Okay, fine," she says, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I see your point. And Hunter's holidays are about partying and Caleb's are about supporting himself."
"That's a simplistic way to classify us," Hunter says. "I like to party, but it's not my whole life."
"But is it the important part?" Sarah asks.
Hunter looks conflicted about that. "Yes," he says, "but it's about hanging with friends, not just partying, and this is important too." He waves at the building around them. "But I'm not going to spend my vacations on this. Vacations are for a break from this."
"Okay," Sarah says, "that's fair." She turns to Caleb. "Do you at least get one day off?"
Caleb nods. "Wednesday. I'm going to sleep all day and watch bad TV."
"Now that," Sarah says, "sounds like a vacation."
"I'm looking forward to it," Caleb says.
"I'll probably do some of that too," Danny says. "And we should have lunch or dinner sometime."
"Yeah," Caleb says, and he doesn't qualify it or ask if Danny's sure.
Sarah probably notices too, because she leans over and hugs Caleb, a hug he leans into without asking her what it's for.
"Lunch with all of you is always such a lovefest," Hunter says.
Sarah turns on him with a gleam in her eye and wraps him up in a hug. "You know you love us," she says.
Hunter pushes at her arms, and then gives in when she doesn't let go. "I'm not going to miss you at all when I'm on the beach."
"Lies." Sarah lets go of him and settles into her chair with a grin. "You'll miss us every minute." She points at him. "You're just as much a part of this lovefest as the rest of us."
Part 6