Page 20 of From Coast to Coast
“I’ve always wanted to go to Banff. I love watching the travel channel and it’s been on my list for ages.”
“Sweet.” He relaxes. “Then we’ll have to go.”
As he drives us to this tower thing, I take a second to check my phone. There’s a message from Brody, which causes an eruption of butterflies in my stomach. I reply, biting my lip so I don’t start smiling like an idiot and draw Grayson’s attention. He fiddles with the radio, turning the volume low enough that we can still chat, but also giving me an out if I prefer the silence. I watch my and Brody’s chat, waiting to see if he’ll message back right away, but he doesn’t. I wish I had his phone number instead, so I could just text him.
When we get to the Calgary Tower, it’s just as busy as Grayson hinted it would be. It ends up being worth it though, to see the insane 360° of the city. Grayson, smiling indulgently, follows me around as I take photos, hands tucked into his pockets and ball cap facing backward. I try not to stare at him too much, but he just looks so fuckinggood. Do I have a type? Apparently so.
Suddenly inspired, I ask an older couple if she can take my and Grayson’s picture against one of the windows. Helooks embarrassed, but not displeased as he takes his hat off and finger combs his hair. He puts his hand gently on my shoulder, barely touching me. I wrap my own around his waist and feel him tense up beside me. I know we look like a couple, and I also know that I don’t really care. Especially when I see the photo—we look fucking good together. I show it to Grayson as he puts his hat back on.
“It’s a good picture,” I tell him. He nods and murmurs an agreement. “You cool if I put this on social?”
His eyes fly to mine and he fiddles with his hat again. A stray piece of dark hair has slipped out above his right ear, and I nearly reach a hand out to tuck it back in. Looking back down at the photo, I’m struck again by how couple-y we look. Shaking off thoughts like that—I’m confused enough without throwing inappropriate feelings for coworkers and friends in the mix—I look back up at Grayson.
“You’re going to post that?” he asks, as if this is the most shocking thing he’s ever heard.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind?”
“I mean…no, that’s fine. It’s just…” He trails off, looking away from me and out at the Calgary skyline.
“Does it bother you that we look like a couple?” I ask, and his eyes snap back to mine.Ah, so that’s it. God forbid he take a picture with his male friend—we must be fucking, right?I scowl. “I’m posting it. And I don’t give a fuck if your homophobic-ass teammates think we’re together.”
He watches in silence as I post the picture to my social media with the caption:Anybody recognize my new friend?The fans are going to love it, I love it, and that’s all that matters. Alex, who has alerts set on all of my social media profiles, is the first to like and comment. My fingers itch to pull up the dating app and check for a message from Brody, but Graysonis still hovering over my shoulder, watching as people lose their shit over our picture.
“See?” I say, pointing to the comments. “People love that we’re friends!”
“People love that we’re giving them a new bromance to fantasize about,” he answers dryly. I smirk. “Come on. Let’s get out of here or we won’t have time to do activity number two, before we lose the day.”
Activity number two ends up being rafting down Bow River, nearly sending me into fits of excitement when I see the sign. Grayson grimaces and holds up a hand.
“It’s a level one, so don’t get too excited.”
“That’s all right. This’ll be great—I fucking love water sports.”
He smiles and ducks his head a bit as he climbs out of the car, pleased with my enthusiasm. I wait for him to join me before heading toward the rental place.
“I haven’t actually done this,” Grayson admits, reaching around me and grabbing the door. “Always wanted to, though, just never had somebody willing to come with me.”
The high school kid manning the rental booth looks up and visibly wilts at the sight of Grayson. “I don’t think I have a life vest big enough for you,” he says, in lieu of a hello. Grayson, who has likely grown used to being told he’s too big to do things, nods.
“That’s okay, I can swim.”
“Or just put your feet on the bottom of the river and stand,” I mumble, and he shoots me a look. The kid still looks dubious, but lets us rent a pair of rafts.
The river, as promised, is a level one and ridiculously easy to traverse. It is also ridiculously relaxing, and I don’t even bother trying to hide my grin as we floatalong. I’m an outdoorsman at heart. While I love a good museum tour as much as the next guy, I’d much rather be doing something like this. I look over at Grayson who has his head tipped back and eyes closed like he’s enjoying the sun on his face.
“Thanks, Gray.”
He lifts his head, looking over at me and smiling lazily. “Sure. Thanks for coming along.”
“Banff during our next long weekend, right?” I ask, wanting to nail him down on a promise for more excursions like this. I’m a social guy and I get the sense he’s a little bit lonely here—we’ll be the perfect pair.
“Right,” he agrees, dipping his paddle into the river and scooping up some water to splash me with. I splash him back, because hockey players are really just overgrown children.
By the time we get back home, it’s dusk and I’m that special kind of exhausted that comes from being outside in the sun for hours. I check my phone as Grayson parks the car, and decide not to let Brody’s lack of messages get me down. Looking over at my roommate, I wiggle my phone in the air.
“How about pizza for dinner?”
“Risky,” he says, because we’ve got early practice tomorrow. I take this as the yes that it is.