Chapter Text
Hayden leaves his brother’s flat in Boston’s North End for a morning jog. His brother Landon is a doctor and is completing his residency at Boston Medical Center. It’s the off-season and Hayden has been dreading this downtime. When his brother offered for him to come stay for a month he practically jumped at the chance.
He should be back in Montreal unpacking his new place. He moved into a new condo three months ago and he is still living out of boxes. The house Jackie and he had bought in the burbs was sold during the divorce. Good riddance. There was no way he was sleeping in that house ever again.
He jogs down Hanover St, and in the early morning the uneven sidewalks were clear of pedestrians. Soon tourists would clog the walkways, along with locals going about their daily routines.
He makes his way down towards the waterfront and through a park. He passes a statue of Christopher Columbus. His destination is a small coffee shop that opens early and makes a decent latte. He can practically hear Shane’s voice in his head telling him how caffeine is bad for his health. In his opinion no caffeine is bad for his mental health. No way he can deal with everyone else’s bullshit without at least one cup of coffee.
He’s worked up a sweat by the time he gets to the coffee place. Maybe it’s weird that he just jogged here and is going to get a hot latte, but he can’t get behind iced coffee in the morning.
The small cafe is all warm earth tones, very laid back. There are a few people at tables and staring at their phones. He orders his latte and decides to follow their lead and pulls his phone out.
Jackie texted him about ten minutes ago. She is going through the last of their stuff and keeps sending him pics of things and asking if he wants it. He doesn’t want any of it. She can burn it all as far as he’s concerned.
Part of him wonders if she’s just doing this to have an excuse to talk to him. She seemed to genuinely regret cheating. But it wasn’t a one time drunken fuck up or some shit. She had a full on affair and blamed Hayden for being away too much. For fuck’s sake he was in the NHL when they met, she knew his schedule going into it.
He debates replying at all. Now that papers are signed he really has no reason to talk to her ever again.
“Pike?” a man says from behind him.
Hayden looks up from his phone and is mentally prepping to deal with pictures and autographs. He’s not nearly as recognizable as Shane, but this is Boston. It’s a hockey town and home to the Metros’ rivals, so he’s bound to get recognized at some point.
But it’s not a fan approaching him at all. The tall dark haired man is none other than Cliff Marlow of the aforementioned rival team. Though Marlow doesn’t seem to have any wariness approaching Hayden. He smiles widely and sticks his hand out.
Hayden claps hands with him and is immediately reminded how much taller Marlow is than himself.
“Hey, Marlow,” he says and smiles a bit. The guy is attractive in the very literal tall, dark, and handsome kind of way. He’s wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt, very different than the Raiders uniform or post-game suit he normally sees him wearing. His black hair and stubble add to the rugged look, not that Hayden is tracking those sorts of details.
“So, what are you doing in enemy territory? Practices don’t start for another month if you were looking to spy.” Marlow says with a wink. Then he heads up to the counter and places his order.
Hayden’s drink comes out and he grabs it, glad for something to do with his hands. “Visiting my brother. He lives not far from here.”
Marlow smiles. “Oh yeah? That’t cool. Boston is great during the summer. Winter is- ”
“I live in Montreal. Winter here is a joke.” Hayden keeps his tone light and smiles, but hides it a bit as he sips his latte.
“How long you in town for?” Marlow asks and the question seems casual enough, but for some reason Hayden hesitates answering.
He still has the underlying feeling like he’s feeding information to the enemy. Whether that’s the Raiders, or just Ilya fucking Rozanov, he’s not sure. From what he knows the two of them are best friends, so they likely hang out in the off-season just like Hayden and Shane.
“A month,” he finally admits. He’s being paranoid, he decides.
“We should get dinner then. Be nice to talk more than just chirping at each other on the ice.” Marlow grabs his drink once it comes out.
“Yeah I can talk shit just fine off the ice too,” Hayden quips.
Marlow laughs. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that.”
“Dinner sounds good,” Hayden agrees.
“Awesome,” Marlow smiles again and it makes Hayden’s stomach do a little flip. This feels almost illicit. Alternate captains of rival teams getting together. “Let me get your number.”
Hayden gives his digits and still has that fluttery feeling. He watches Marlow program his number into his phone and then Hayden’s phone dings as a new text message comes in.
Hayden hesitates what he should program him as in his phone and settles on CM.
“You busy tonight?” Marlow asks.
Hayden wants to joke about him being eager, but doesn’t want to make this sound like some sort of date.
“I’m free. My brother works crazy hours at the hospital where he works. I probably won’t see him until tomorrow morning.”
Marlow nods and then lifts his cup to take a sip of his coffee. Hayden tracks the cup and watches it hit Marlow’s lips. He realizes his eyes linger just a tad too long on Marlow’s mouth. Marlow smirks and Hayden hopes the other guy didn’t notice.
“Cool,” Marlow says. “I know a good place nearby. I live pretty close to here.”
“Sounds good,” Hayden says and suddenly feels like he needs to bolt. His palms are sweaty and he’s starting to bounce on his feet.
He practically chugs his latte and knows he’ll regret it later. Marlow raises an eyebrow at him in question.
“Just a pit stop,” Hayden reasons. “Gotta jog back.”
“Whatever Pike.” That little smirk still plays on his lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Right.” Hayden swallows nervously. “Later Marlow.” With that Hayden makes his exit and jogs back to his brother’s apartment.
Once inside Hayden heads to the bathroom and runs a shower. After undressing he stares at himself in the mirror.
“What the hell was that?” he says to no one.
Cliff is sitting back at his condo debating where to go for dinner later. It’s not like he asked Pike on a date, so definitely no romantic Italian places. Which is a little unfortunate since this part of town has some of the best Italian places on the East Coast.
The thought of him and Pike on a date makes him smirk. He’s pretty sure Pike had checked him out at the coffee place, but it’s hard to tell. The guy seems to take grudges seriously, so maybe he was imagining Cliff’s head exploding. He wouldn’t mind Pike checking him out. He’s never been one to turn down someone he was attracted to, man or woman, and Pike definitely fits the bill.
He shakes himself out of his thoughts. He’s pretty sure the guy is married anyway. So definitely not a date.
He settles on Mexican, since the only other option was a sports bar and he’d rather not be bombarded tonight. Getting caught in the off season with a rival player isn’t unheard of, seeing as how plenty of people have friends that get traded or have relatives on other teams. But this is not just any rival player. It’s Shane Hollander’s alternate captain. The Hollander-Rozanov rivalry has been going for years, and Cliff doesn’t want to get in the middle of it.
Don’t get him wrong, he likes the attention of being a famous hockey player. But the amount of attention Roz gets is unreal. The guy moved out of the city just to get more privacy in that big house of his, while Cliff can easily live in the heart of the city without feeling swarmed constantly.
He calls the restaurant to make the reservation and then realizes he doesn’t know what the guy eats. He’s heard Hollander is one of those diet enthusiasts, so maybe Pike is the same way.
He pulls his phone out and goes to the the contact. He smirks at the name he gave Pike. He’s in his phone as ‘Heyyy’, and Cliff finds his own pun amusing.
Cliff texts, You eat Mexican food?
The response is almost immediate. Of course. Who doesn’t eat Mexican food?
A little bird said Hollander barely eats food at all.
Well good thing this is Hayden and not Shane. Idiot. Cliff chuckles to himself. Fair enough.
Made reservation for 8. Hope that’s not past your bedtime.
Sounds good and fuck you.
Cliff sends the address to the place and then another thought hits him. He’s pretty sure Pike is married. He said he’s visiting his brother, but didn’t say if he was solo.
He shoots another text. I made the reservation for 2. You got the wife with you? Can make it for 3.
The three little dots start bouncing, then disappear, then bounce again. Pike seems to be rewriting his response a million times.
Just me. Is all Hayden texts back. Oddly short message for all the rewrites. Whatever.
A few hours later Cliff is getting changed for dinner. It’s a pretty nice place so he ditches the jeans and t-shirt, and opts for charcoal slacks and a light blue button down. He’s just slipping on his shoes when his phone rings.
He checks who is calling and half expects it to be Pike backing out. But he smiles to himself when he see the name.
“What’s up, brother?” he greets his best friend. “You back state side?”
“Yes, and already bored,” says Ilya in way of greeting. “We should go out.”
“Can’t,” he says and hopes Ilya doesn’t pry too much. Cliff tries not to concern himself with why he doesn’t want to tell Ilya.
“Date?” Ilya asks and it’s a reasonable guess.
“No, just plans,” he hedges.
“Sounds boring,” Ilya complains. He’s often this way when he gets back from visiting his family in Russia. He’s like a sulkier version of himself.
“For you maybe,” Cliff jokes.
His phone buzzes and he checks it. It’s Hayden.
Do I need to wear a tie? Cause fuck that.
Cliff huffs a laugh and texts back. Not that fancy.
“Hmm,” Ilya hums in his ear. “Sounds like date.”
“Cause I laughed? You’re crazy Roz.” He tries to keep his voice even.
“Okay,” Roz says in that slightly drawn out way where Cliff can’t tell if it’s his accent or just sarcasm. “Go to boring not date. I will see you later, yes?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you Friday at your place.” Cliff agrees and then they say their goodbyes and hang up.
Cliff finishes getting ready and heads out the door. He doesn’t bother getting his car out of the underground garage since the place he picked is only three blocks away. He hits the sidewalk and takes a deep breath. The cool summer evening is clear and he loves being right on the water where he can smell the salt in the air.
He’s crossing a street when he spots Pike coming from the cross street. Cliff jogs over to him.
“Hey,” he says and falls into step.
“Hey man,” Pike says. The guy looks sharp in a crisp white button down and navy slacks.
“You clean up nice,” Cliff says with a smirk.
“Yeah, you’re lucky I fit in my brother’s stuff cause I did not pack anything nice to wear.” Pike said and tugs at the sleeves of his shirt.
Pike must be broader than his brother cause at second glance the shirt is a little tight. Cliff isn’t complaining as Pike is in great shape.
“What’s your brother do anyway?” Cliff asks, realizing Pike had never said exactly.
Pike rolls his eyes. “He’s a doctor. Doing his residency at Boston Medical.”
“That’s awesome,” Cliff says and then elbows the other guy. “Though I take it not so great for you.”
“Seeing as how my dad was also a doctor, what do you think?” Pike says sarcastically.
“Well, it’s not like you’re just any hockey player,” Cliff says.
Before Pike can respond they reach the restaurant and head in. Cliff goes to the host stand and gives them his name. The host checks it off and then leads them to a secluded table in the back. It’s not in a separate room, but plenty of space between them and the next table.
Cliff sits along the wall and Pike sits across from him. The host lets them know a server will be by shortly to take drink orders.
“So what are we drinking,” Cliff says and grabs the drinks menu from the middle of the table. “Margaritas,” he says half joking.
“Ugh,” Pike quickly replies. “Don’t talk to me about anything with tequila.”
“There’s gotta be a story behind that,” Cliff says.
Blue eyes lock on his with a glare. “Let’s just say I’ll never play a drinking game with Carter Vaughn ever again.”
Cliff chuckles at that comment. Cliff knows the sentiment. There are plenty of his teammates that he’s learned are terrible drinking buddies.
“So, where’s the wife? She stay back in Montreal?” Cliff asks just as the server comes up to the table. Pike’s face turns a shade of pink he wasn’t expecting and he has the sense he’s hit some sort of landmine.
“What can I get you both to drink?” asks a very pretty woman. Her blonde hair is swept back into a ponytail.
Cliff smiles kindly and orders a beer. Pike stares blankly for a second before seeming to jolt a little before ordering a beer as well. Once the server leaves Cliff waits for the conversation to pick back up, but he’s not sure Pike is going to answer.
The other man tucks his fist under his chin and he looks around the restaurant. There are candles on each table and the lights are lower for dinner. The warm glow is soft and highlights the golden hues in Pike’s hair.
“Our divorce finalized about three months ago,” Pike says without looking at Cliff.
“Shit,” Cliff mutters. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah, wasn’t really something I advertised.” Pike finally meets his eyes and they’re strained.
“So, what did you do?” he says and smirks a little. He hopes Pike gets that he’s being sarcastic. It’s a risk, but if anyone is used to him chirping it’s Pike.
The curve of his lips let’s Cliff know his risk was paying off. “Who said I did a goddamn thing?”
“Well if you fuck the way you handle the puck it must be messy and uncoordinated,” he quips.
Pike laughs and some of the tension breaks. “Fuck off, I’m excellent at handling the puck.” He wasn’t wrong. Pike was probably one of the best in the league. It was actually quite the sight to see.
The drinks arrive quickly and Pike takes a couple sips of his beer.
“So, you seeing anyone?” Pike asks him. Cliff let’s Pike avoid answering anymore questions about his divorce.
Cliff shakes his head. “No, not right now. There was a chick I had been dating, but it wasn’t anything serious.”
“Is it ever?” Pike asks. Cliff raises his eyebrow.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Word travels about you and Rozanov,” Pike says with a shrug and he sips his beer again.
“Well, I’m not Ilya. Not sure Ilya does dates. More just shows up to a club and acts as a hot chick magnet.”
“Any you do dates?”
Cliff almost makes a joke about this being a date, but decides against it. Pike seems squirrelly and he doesn’t want to spook him.
“Yeah,” he says instead with a shrug. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to hookups, but I’m not like allergic to relationships or anything.”
Pike seems to study him and the blue stare is intense. Cliff feels a shiver of awareness go up his spine and he tries to hold still. Then Pike’s eyes drop to Cliff’s lips and Cliff instinctively licks his bottom lip. Pike tracks the movement and Cliff can’t stop the little smirk from sliding into place. It’s as if Pike realizes he got caught, his cheeks turn a little pink and he looks off to the side.
Cliff cuts the guy a break and picks up his menu. Pike takes his lead and they both start to decide what to get.
“Want to split an appetizer?” Pike asks.
“What do you have in mind?” Cliff follows up.
“Nachos, but you have to be okay with extra jalapeños,” Pikes says as if this is super serious.
“Extra, huh?” Cliff says a little surprised. “Figured a Midwest boy would want no peppers and extra sour cream.”
The deadpan stare makes him laugh. “If you can’t handle the heat just say so Marlow.”
“Ha, I can handle whatever you throw at me Pikey.” He says and winks jokingly.
Pike blushes just slightly again. Cliff is finding it extremely endearing.
When the server arrives they order. Nachos with extra jalapeños to share, Cliff gets fajitas, and Hayden gets the enchiladas. They get drink refills.
After that the conversation starts to flow. They joke about other teams and players. Just in general shoot the shit. Even after the food arrives they seem to talk effortlessly. Cliff is actually surprised he never knew Pike was so fun to just chill with. Though he supposes the fact that Ilya is usually around is part of it. The two of them always snip at each other endlessly.
Pike is witty and has that sharp intelligence that doesn’t seem to miss a thing. But he swears like a sailor, which isn’t unheard of in hockey. Yet, Hayden seems to weave the swears into his sentences so naturally that they almost don’t even sound like swears anymore. Cliff finds it highly amusing.
When the check finally comes they both reach for it. Hayden’s hand lands on his and Cliff feels that electric awareness again. Pike pulls his hand back like he feels it too.
“We should split it,” Hayden says a little quietly.
Cliff shakes his head. “My treat. You can get the next one.”
“Next one?” Hayden says and then rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, more than one dinner with a fucking Raider may be considered cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d find it enjoyable.” Cliff’s voice comes out a little huskier than he meant.
Pike freezes for a second and those blue eyes are back on Cliff’s lips. Fuck, there’s no way that’s a coincidence. Cliff can’t help but wonder if Pike’s ever kissed another guy before. He doesn’t know how long he had been married. A lot of guys in the league marry pretty young, like high school sweethearts young. Pike may have only ever slept with his now ex-wife.
“Whatever,” Pike finally says, but it’s more breathless than cutting.
Cliff manages to pay and then they head out of the restaurant.
After two beers Cliff is nowhere close to drunk, but he’s got that nice loose feeling settling in his muscles.
“Want to go for a walk?” Cliff asks, not quite ready to end the night.
“Yeah, sure,” Hayden says and falls into step with him.
Cliff leads them towards the wharf a couple blocks over. The water is peaceful. They walk along the pathway until Pike stops and leans on the railing overlooking the water. Cliff mimics his pose and they stand next to each other, just shy of touching. Cliff is itching to put his arm around him, but he’s not sure that’s what this night is or not.
“How long you in town for?” he asks and tries not to stare at the man. The lights from the passing boats and street lights along the path light his profile.
Hayden sighs and looks over at Cliff. “Like three weeks. My brother offered me to stay for a month, then I need to head back for practices.”
Cliff nods and inches a little closer. “Cool. It’s nice of your brother to let you stay for so long.”
Hayden smiles. “Don’t think he notices one way or another. He basically lives at the hospital.”
“Sounds lonely.”
Pike shrugs. “It’s alright. I need the distance to just… reset. I dunno.”
“Makes sense. You need to center yourself again.”
“Yeah,” Pike looks over at him. He has to tilt his head up to make eye contact due to their height difference.
Then the air between them shifts. Those eyes are back on him in that intense way they’ve been all night. Cliff turns toward Pike and lets his hand trail down from Pike’s shoulder to his wrist. Hayden leans just slightly forward and Cliff closes the distance. The kiss is soft at first and then Cliff leans a bit more into it and seals their lips. The moment his tongue tastes Hayden’s lower lip the guy jolts back as if electrocuted.
“Fuck,” Pike curses and backs up. “Fuck. That’s not - I’m not - fuck!” He spins in a circle, takes a few steps and then paces back towards Cliff.
Cliff tries to get his breathing under control. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-”
“Why did you? Why did-” Pike stammers, unable to complete a sentence.
“Pike, I’m sorry if I misread the situation.” Cliff felt cold dread wash over him.
“It was just dinner,” Pike says almost to himself. His eyes are wide and he looks lost.
“Yeah let’s just leave it at that,” Cliff rushes out in hopes of salvaging something from this evening. He really did enjoy just hanging out with Pike. Then he fucked it all up.
“You kissed me,” Pike says in a near panic.
“Yeah, I sort of did,” he agrees. Like what else is he supposed to say. “To be fair, you kissed me back.” And Hayden had kissed him back, that he is sure of. But he probably should have kept that to himself.
Pike freezes and looks like he wants to argue. Then he paces some more. “I have to go.”
“Shit, man. You don’t have to go. I had a great time. There’s no pressure on my end to do anything.”
“I have to go.”
Pike walks swiftly off into the summer night. Cliff can’t help but feel like an asshole. The guy is going through enough turmoil in his life. The last thing he needed was Cliff making a move on him.
Cliff leans back on the railing and lets his head hang. The feel of Hayden’s lips are fresh in his mind, his own lips still tingling from the sensation. The burn of attraction wasn’t unknown to Cliff, not in the least, but it wasn’t usually this strong.
“I’m a fucking idiot,” he mutters into the night. Then he walks his sorry ass home.
He just barely gets in the door of his apartment when his phone rings. He looks at the screen and nearly drops the damn thing.
“Hey, Pike,” he rushes out. “I’m sorry-”
“Just shut the fuck up,” Pike says, but it’s not harsh. He sounds more determined than angry. “I did kiss you back. Fuck. I had a good time and you looked -”
Cliff smiles like an idiot. Pike is talking fast as if he’s going to lose his nerve.
Hayden keeps going. “You looked good tonight, and yeah. I wanted to kiss you too.”
“You ever kiss a guy before?” Cliff asks. Might as well dive right in to the awkward questions.
“Fuck,” Pike just seems to default to the f-word. Other people say ‘um’ or ‘like’ to fill in pauses when they talk. Hayden says ‘fuck’ and Cliff finds he likes it. “No, I’ve never kissed a guy before.”
“Ever thought about it?” he asks quietly.
A heavy sigh comes over the line. “Yeah, sometimes.”
Well shit. Cliff leans against the wall in his foyer. His pants are starting to feel a little tight.
“Want to come over?” he says and he knows his voice has dropped a bit.
Another sigh. “Fuck, Marlow.” There’s a pause. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Cliff breathes through his arousal and tries to think rationally. What he thought at the wharf was still true. Hayden is going through a lot of change, and it makes sense he sets the pace, even if Cliff finds it excruciating.
“Okay,” Cliff says slowly. “Can I see you again?”
A little laugh and he can tell Pike is smiling. “Yeah. Why the fuck not?”
“I’m going to want to kiss you again.” Cliff may let him set the pace, but he’ll make sure to voice his opinion along the way.
“You’re killing me Marlow,” Pike says and his voice is a little lower. The raspiness is doing nothing to help Cliff’s libido. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
He has a very crude response that he keeps to himself. “I have some Sports Illustrated interview tomorrow at two. But I’m free after.”
“Text me when you’re done.” A pause. “Get some sleep Marlow.”
“Yeah, sleep.” Cliff can’t help the teasing tone.
Pike huffs a knowing laugh. “Night Cliff.”
Cliff. Fuck, why is that hot. “Night Hayden.”
“Whatever.” Then Hayden hangs up and Cliff is left smiling so wide it hurts.