Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Hockey Love #1)

Stay-at-home-defenseman

Moss rolls out of bed Friday morning and takes his laptop into the kitchen to start the workday.

Beginning at 7:00 AM should allow him to—hopefully—be done by 3:30 PM. However, that can change depending on a number of situations that could possibly take place before the end of the day. Moss supposed that's just the price you pay when you accept a manager position.

Tye sleeps in until 10:00 AM, but eventually makes his way into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee that Moss brewed for him not too long ago.

"Mornin', Mr. Kettler. Did you hold my calls for me while I was out?" Tye jokes as he takes a seat across from him at the table.

Smiling over his screen, Moss replies, "No calls so far today, Mr. Martel. Looks like you chose a good day to come in late."

Chuckling into his coffee, Tye asks, "What time did you get started today?"

"Seven. I'm trying to finish up by three-thirty-ish so we can eat together before you take your pre-game nap and head to the arena."

Tye sips on his coffee and scrolls aimlessly on his phone while Moss continues to work on his laptop. He eventually leaves to give Moss some privacy when he answers a call from one of his clients. Grabbing a protein bar from the kitchen, Tye makes his way into the living room where he plans to reside until things slow down for the accountant.

-

Around two o'clock in the afternoon, Tye hears sizzling coming from the kitchen and a delicious scent suddenly hits his nose. He gets up to offer his assistance to Moss who will, most likely, tell him to sit down and wait for him to finish cooking.

"Go sit down and wait for me to finish," Moss predictably shoos him away. Before he's completely pushed out of the kitchen, he notices that Moss has salmon in the oven, vegetables in a pan, and potatoes in the microwave.

Tye thanks him profusely when a plate full of salmon, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies is placed in front of him a couple minutes later.

"Consider it a thank you for dinner last night and letting me stay at your place again," Moss says heedlessly.

With a mouthful of food, Tye chides him, "You don't need to thank me. I like having you stay here and we obviously had to do something to celebrate your promotion."

Tye collects the dishes when they finish and bullies Moss into letting him help clean up.

"I swear to God—I'll throw you on the couch if you don't let me help, Mo," he had threatened. Although it was difficult to take him seriously with the bright yellow rubber dishwashing gloves he had on. His large stature and normally intimidating height were undercut by the silly garment.

Once the dishes are washed and sitting in the drying rack, Tye reveals that he has another surprise for him. He goes to his room to retrieve the gift before re-entering the kitchen and handing a bag over to his friend.

"A jersey," Moss says as he pulls out the jersey with Martel written on the back along with Tye's signature number eight.

"Yeah—you said that your brothers didn't end up getting you a jersey for Christmas, so I wanted to make sure you had one for the next game that you went to," Tye explains proudly with his arms crossed over his chest and a grin on his face.

Moss holds the jersey up to his body to assess the size and notices that it looks to be a little bigger than what he would personally get for himself. Despite this observation, he appreciates the thoughtfulness of the gift from the hockey player. He is honestly just excited to finally have a jersey of his own at this point.