Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
HUNTER
“ M ORGAN!” Aidan shouts. “Hurry up, dude! You’ve been in there forever!”
“This was a bad idea,” Eve whispers.
“Nah. It was a great idea.” I grin, working my hand faster. She’s tight and slick, the steam swirling around our bodies making everything slippery.
I can’t get enough. No matter how many times I touch Eve, or kiss her, or fuck her, I can’t get enough. Sex has always been good. Well, aside from the first few times when I had no clue what I was doing. But that still felt good. It never felt like this , though.
It’s the first time I’ve let loose in…ever? Maybe because there’s no goal. No game to win or result to achieve. So much of discipline is working toward something.
With Eve, I just exist. Enjoy.
She moans my name, tilting her head back against the white tile as her pussy flutters around my fingers.
“MORGAN!”
Eve’s closed eyes fly open.
I’m going to kill Aidan. He and Conor were both out when Eve and I got back here last night. We had sex twice before falling asleep, and I convinced her to take a shower with me before she headed home.
“Fuck off, Phillips,” I yell back.
What is he even doing up so early? It’s not even nine.
“Dude, I know you’re backed up, but can you not schedule your solo session during our once-a-week ice time? You’ve been in there forever!”
Eve covers her mouth, but I can tell she’s laughing from the way her shoulders are shaking. Definitely murdering my best friend later.
And…shit. That explains why Aidan is up. It’s Sunday.
“Just go ahead without me,” I call out. “I’ll meet you there.”
“What?” Aidan replies. I can’t tell if he can’t hear me or is questioning what I said, and I’m not exactly in a position to move closer to the door. Two of my fingers are inside Eve.
“He’s still in there?” Conor’s voice joins the conversation.
I swear under my breath.
Eve’s cheeks are bright red. From arousal or the hot water or amusement.
“Bad idea,” she whispers. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to come again now.”
She really shouldn’t have said that.
“Don’t challenge an athlete.”
Eve rolls her eyes. “You’re technically retired— oh fuck .”
I curl my fingers, and she slips an inch, grasping wildly at the wet tile. I hook her knee over my left hip, spreading her open wider, then circle her clit with my thumb.
She’s moaning like crazy now, so I kiss her in case the spray of water isn’t loud enough to cover the sound.
Eve arches her back, trying to take my fingers deeper. If I had another condom in here, I’d push into her. But I don’t, and we haven’t had the protection or exclusivity talk yet, so I’ve used one every time.
Less than a minute later, she’s coming.
As we towel off, I stare at her.
The first time I saw Eve, I thought she was pretty. And she is. Stunning, actually. But there’s something mystical about her appearance. I have her face memorized. If I had any drawing talent, I could sketch it perfectly. But I’m still noticing new details too, and it’s not for lack of attention previously. I look at Eve every chance I get.
“What?” she asks, flipping her hair over one shoulder. Her eyes still have that sated, sleepy look I’m learning is part of her post-orgasm expression.
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I know.”
Because Eve, wrapped in a navy towel with my initials on it—part of a set my grandparents had monogrammed as a graduation gift—after spending the night in my bed? That’s a sight I want to remember.
She wrinkles her nose a little. “You’re pretty good for my ego, Hunter.”
Before I can reply, Eve heads into the hallway.
At first, I think it’s fine that I didn’t remind her my roommates-slash-teammates-slash-best friends don’t have many boundaries and are probably waiting for me to leave the bathroom so they can make fun of me for masturbating in here.
Then, I hear “Finally! Get your ass dressed and—” followed by a beat of silence and then a thud that sounds a lot like hockey skates hitting hardwood.
Eve has already hustled into my bedroom across the hall by the time I step out in a cloud of steam.
They’re standing at the opposite end of the hallway, at the top of the stairs. Far enough away they probably can’t see the hickey Eve left on my neck. Close enough there’s no way they missed I’m the second person leaving the bathroom.
“Thanks for the privacy,” I drawl dryly.
“I, uh, I—” It’s one of the rare occasions I’ve seen Aidan speechless. “I thought you were jerking off.”
“Yeah. We heard.”
Aidan exchanges a look with Conor. I can’t get a read on Hart’s expression at all. I care about his reaction more than Aidan’s, simply because he’s dating Eve’s best friend.
“You coming this morning?” Conor asks.
“Since we’re out of hot water, I’m assuming he already did,” Aidan quips.
I flip Phillips off before replying to Conor. “Yeah. I’ll meet you guys there.”
I catch Hart’s nod before I continue into my bedroom.
Aidan calls, “You broke your own bathroom rule!” after me.
Eve is already dressed. All she has with her are her clothes from last night—a sinfully short skirt and the shirt with the bows. Untying each of those was every bit as spectacular as I thought it would be, and I already want to do it all over again.
“You wanna borrow something to wear?” I ask her.
“I’m fine,” she tells me, toweling her hair. “I’ll change at home.”
“Sorry about the guys,” I say, wrenching open the top drawer of my dresser and pulling clothes out. “I should have warned you that they’d probably be loitering out in the hallway.”
“It’s fine.” She fiddles with the towel, running her finger over the embroidered letters. “Do you, uh, think they’ll say anything?”
I can’t tell from her tone what she wants the answer to be, so my reply is just as careful. “Aidan talks a lot. Conor talks to Harlow a lot.”
Both facts she already knows.
Eve nods in agreement. “Right.”
I still can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“I’m not trying to hide anything, Eve.”
She hangs the towel on the back of my desk chair. “I’m moving to New York soon.”
My forehead furrows. “I know.”
“Does that, uh, bother you?”
“No,” I state, then yank on a pair of sweatpants so I’m not stark naked.
I’m not him . I think it, but I don’t say it, because I don’t want our relationship to have anything to do with her ex.
“Does it bother you , that I don’t know where I’ll be moving?” I ask.
“No. I just—I—” She smiles ruefully. “I’d have an easier time thinking straight if you put a shirt on.”
My phone starts buzzing on my dresser. It’s Aidan calling.
“Hello?” I answer, holding the phone tight to my ear as I tug a shirt on and wink at Eve.
She blushes, and a little of the tightness in my chest eases.
I never had the Are we in a relationship? talk with Jemma, which is where I think my conversation with Eve was headed. Jemma just started calling me her boyfriend after we’d hung out a few times, and I went along with it.
Aidan’s repeating my name.
“I’m here, sorry,” I say.
“I said, I forgot my stick. Should be leaning right by the door. Can you grab it on your way?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Cool. Thanks. See you soon.”
“See you soon,” I echo, then lower the phone. “Aidan forgot his stick,” I explain to Eve.
“You should go skate with your friends,” she tells me. “We can, um, talk later?”
I scan her expression, trying to tell if she means it. “You sure?”
Eve nods.
Maybe that’s not where our talk was headed, and I’m oddly disappointed by that.
We had sex for the first time on Friday night; it’s Sunday morning now. It’s not like we’ve been hooking up for months without labels.
But it doesn’t feel like things with Eve started a day and a half ago. It feels like they started four years ago, and I’ve been waiting for her ever since.
I’ve known all along that she just got out of a relationship. That she’s planning to move to New York in a matter of weeks.
I also knew those two things would complicate any relationship between us, and I kissed her anyway.
“Got everything?” I ask, keeping my tone light as I pocket my keys.
“Yeah,” she answers. “And I can walk home, so you can head straight to the rink.”
Eve is nice. She’s a genuinely kind, thoughtful person. And the problem with being around nice people is you can’t tell when they’re being nice or when they’re making excuses.
Like right now, I can’t tell if Eve’s motivation is me missing time skating with my best friends or if she would rather walk.
“Let me drive you home, Eve,” I say.
I was the one who suggested we come back to my place instead of hers last night, so I feel responsible for getting her home.
“We can stop for donuts at Holey Moley,” I offer.
When we were in California, Eve and Harlow were loudly proclaiming their love for the local spot.
Eve immediately perks up. “Yeah?”
I hide a smile. “Uh-huh. I’ve never been, so I?—”
“You’ve never been to Holey Moley? How is that possible?”
I shrug. “I want something sweet, I have Jell-O.”
“Okay, well, we’re rectifying that immediately. Come on. I’ll explain the flavors on the way.”
I grab my phone, then follow Eve toward the stairs.