Ryker
RYKER
There’s a strange dichotomy developing between the two most important aspects of my life. I’m living the dream, but at the same time I can’t wait to leave Montreal and get back home to Lake.
Kian is snoring in the seat next to me. Dude has a ridiculous ability to fall asleep the moment his ass touches the seat on a plane. I have no fucking clue how he does it. Everybody else is still keyed up from the game. It takes me hours to try and decompress and relax after a game, so sleep is not an option, but Kian sleeps like a baby. It’s uncanny.
I have to shake him awake once we land. He looks around blearily for a while before he shakes his head, gets up, and stretches. It’s really late by the time we finally get off the plane, but I’m back in New York, and as soon as I can find a cab, or an Uber, or a horse-drawn carriage for all I care, I’m as good as home already.
“Yo, James.” Kian jogs after me once I’ve gathered my shit. “You got somebody picking you up?”
“No.”
“Want to share a ride?”
I’m just about to shrug and say sure, but something makes me look up, and I come to a halt when I see Lake. He’s casually leaning against a wall, eyes on me, head tilted to the left slightly. He’s wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and looks both effortlessly cool and hot as fuck.
My heart goes haywire, and my smile grows so big astronauts can probably spot it from space.
Forgetting everything and everyone else, I stride toward him and once I’m in front of him, I pull him into a hug. For a few precious moments, I just hold him as tightly as I can.
Lake slumps against me, but only for a moment before he catches himself. “We’re not alone,” he murmurs. He claps me on the back and takes a step away. “I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d give you a ride.”
I want to say “I love you” and “you’re the best husband ever” and “I missed you so fucking much.” I want to kiss him. All the things I can’t do right now.
Lake sends me a knowing look and a small smile.
Later , he mouths before he squares his shoulders. “Ready to head out?”
I nod. “Just let me get my bags.”
I turn around and then I finally remember Kian. Mostly because he’s still standing where I left him, eyeing me and Lake almost curiously before the easygoing grin is back.
“Hey, dude,” he says, holding out his hand toward Lake. “Kian.”
Lake shakes Kian’s hand and nods. “Lake. I’m uh…” He stumbles on his words for a quick second but shakes it off quickly enough. “I’m Ryk’s roommate.”
“Cool,” Kian says, then tilts his chin toward me. “I’m your boy’s work husband.”
Lake’s lips twitch. “Yeah, I’ve heard about you.”
“I leave an impression.” He eyes Lake curiously, and I suddenly feel like the biggest asshole. It just that hiding takes so much effort, so it felt so much easier to put a clear border between the two parts of my life. A nice, clean cut that allows me to do what I love on one side and be who I am on the other.
It felt sort of neat up until now, but right this second, it starts to also feel cowardly and unfair more than anything else.
“Do you need a ride?” Lake asks Kian. His eyes move to me questioningly, like he’s not sure if he’s allowed to offer.
I have to get my shit together.
“We’re basically headed your way,” I say.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Kian says easily.
We grab our bags and head to the parking garage. My dad gave me a new car after I graduated. Or, to be more precise, he told me he’d get me a new car. I said there was no need. He got me a new car anyway. I rarely see him, since his life is in LA, and he’s usually too wrapped up in his work, so he likes to compensate for that by throwing around money.
Once we find the car and have our stuff in the back, Lake tosses me the keys. He doesn’t love driving in the city, so if he can avoid it, he will.
“Shotgun!” Kian calls out and heads to the driver’s side door.
I stop with my fingers already on the door handle.
“Uh…”
“It’s fine,” Lake says from next to me, flashing a quick smile at me before he climbs in the back.
I grit my teeth and get inside. A few minutes later, we’re driving back to the city. Kian turns to his side and sets his sights on Lake.
“Nice to finally put a face to the name,” he says.
“Likewise,” Lake replies with a hint of hesitance.
I’m somewhat confused because I’ve only ever mentioned Lake in passing once. Maybe twice. I think. It seems one of those rare mentions was to Kian. It’s not that I want to hide Lake. It’s just that I don’t want to lie either and calling him my roommate is a big one and feels both wrong and borderline insulting.
“What do you do, Lake? Cool name. Where does that come from? Is there a story? How long have you known ? You live in the city? I mean, duh. Clearly.” Kian barks out a loud laugh.
“I… uh…” Lake’s wide gaze finds mine in the rearview mirror for a moment before he focuses back on Kian. “My mom named me? She read it in a book and liked it, so no story, really. , I’ve known him since…” He flashes me another look, this one filled with warmth now. “What’s it been? Twenty years or something? We went to the same kindergarten. Same primary school. Same middle school. And so on.”
“Lifelong friends. Nice.” Kian holds his hand up, and Lake gives him the high five with a dubious expression. “And now you’re roomies?”
Lake shrugs. “He has the extra room.”
I take a deep breath and try and loosen my grip on the steering wheel.
He’s my husband.
I love him more than life itself.
Husband. Not a fucking roommate.
“I’m in med school,” Lake says.
“No shit? Mad respect, dude. What kind of doctor?”
“It’s just my first year, so no kind yet.”
Kian nods and turns his body even farther toward the back seat. “When do you decide? I’ve always wondered.”
“End of third year or so. It’s when we have to start preparing the residency applications.”
It’s a perfectly typical get-to-know-somebody conversation, and I really wish Kian wasn’t here hogging my husband’s attention. I haven’t seen Lake in almost a week. I want him all to myself.
Wow.
I’m an asshole.
Doesn’t stop those thoughts though, which is annoying because I consider myself a pretty easygoing guy. I adapt and adjust and find the silver lining. It’s always been a reliable default setting of mine to remain calm and have a positive outlook.
I’m not usually petty or antagonistic.
Now, though…
Now I’m annoyed.
It’s so unexpected it takes me a while to even name the emotion.
But I am.
There are thorns underneath my skin that stab me every time I glance at Kian.
I know it’s unfair and unreasonable and unearned on his part, but I still can’t help resenting him just a little bit right now.
I missed Lake. I’ve never missed anybody before, but over the course of this last year, it feels like I’ve spent more time missing him than actually being with him. First with the long-distance relationship and now with me always being on the road. It feels especially difficult after spending every moment of the summer together.
Maybe it’ll get easier someday. I don’t know, and I don’t have anybody to ask. Laurent is married and has been with his wife for over ten years, but even if he hadn’t, it’s not like I can suddenly start inquiring about relationships when, as far as everybody knows, I’m as single as they come. It’d just lead to questions and me having to lie.
My point is, I have limited time with Lake right now, and I need to get my fill of him before I’m willing to share with the rest of the world.
Too bad the rest of the world is currently sitting in the passenger seat of my car, hogging all my Lake-time.
Yeah.
On second thought, maybe I am petty and antagonistic.
Kian’s clearly enjoying himself, and it’s annoying the shit out of me right now. He’s deep in conversation with Lake, recapping the trip and the games. Those are my stories. I should get to tell them.
Fucking hell, I sound like an asshole. To myself. In my own head. That must be a whole new level of asshole I’ve just achieved.
Blessedly, right after that, we arrive at Kian’s place. He directs me to a parking spot and gets out of the car soon after.
Lake gets out, too.
“Thanks for the ride, dude,” Kian says happily. “Appreciate it.”
Lake just shrugs. “Not a problem.”
He’s going inside now. I mean, it’s getting late. He has to, right? He has to be tired, too, right? Right?
Instead, Kian leans against the side of the car, for all intents and purposes, settling in.
“You coming to our game Tuesday?”
Lake glances at me and smiles, and the annoyance I’ve been trying to deal with takes a back seat for a while at the sight of the man I love smiling at me.
My chest jolts. If I really analyze and overthink, it’s still difficult to wrap my head around how much my life has changed these past few years. I went from a straight, single college student to a bi, married NHL player. I suspect it should feel more jarring. Thing is, it doesn’t. Mainly because being with Lake, sharing my life with Lake, feels so natural. Almost as if the life I previously had was the jarringly misplaced one.
How did I ever not have Lake in my life?
It seems impossible that I somehow spent two decades not realizing he’s a part of me. My other half. Or maybe I did realize. There’s always been something about Lake that draws me to him. Even when Lake himself didn’t seem to be that interested in having me around, I still stuck by him, connected by some invisible string.
A hand appears in front of my face, and Kian waves it. “You’re zoning out, dude.”
I blink and concentrate back on the present.
“Sorry. I’m fucking beat.”
“That’s a no on the bar then?” Kian asks.
My brow furrows. I clearly missed a chunk of the conversation.
“There’s a good one just around the corner.”
“Probably should turn in,” I say.
Kian shrugs and zeroes in on Lake. “You in?”
“Maybe some other time.” Lake points his thumb toward me. “I’m his ride, so…”
Kian’s shoulders slump in disappointment. “You sure? I know two of the bartenders. Smoking hot. I could introduce you.”
I know Lake loves me and is married to me and is gay on top of that, so there’s no way he’d ever be interested in Kian’s bartenders, but fuck me, the offer still annoys the ever-loving shit out of me, and a part of me is genuinely afraid Lake will decide to go. There’s not a single logical reason for me to think that, but the what if is still ticking at the back of my head.
“Not tonight,” Lake says.
I almost slump with relief.
“It was nice meeting you, Kian,” Lake says.
“We’ll hang out,” Kian says, cheerful as ever. It’s not even something he says just because. He means it. The guy could make friends with a bunch of rocks. “Night,” he says before he grabs his stuff and heads inside.
I throw a quick glance at Lake, who’s looking after Kian thoughtfully before he turns his attention back to me.
“Ready to head home?” he asks.
“So ready.”
We’re both quiet on our way home.
We’re also quiet in the elevator.
We’re quiet in the hallway.
It’s the kind of vague awkwardness that settles in when you’ve been away from your life for a bit and need to remember how you fit into it.
Lake unlocks the door, and we head inside. I drop my suitcase in the corner, peel out of my jacket and toe off my shoes. I’m still wearing the dress pants, tie, and dress shirt from the plane. It was a short flight, so I didn’t bother to change, and now I’m glad I didn’t because when I glance up, I find Lake looking at me. He’s leaning against the wall, still with the same casual, cool air that always seems to surround him. But his eyes give him away. There’s nothing cool or casual about the fire in them.
“Hungry?” he asks, eyes still moving up and down me.
I lick my lips. “Very.”
“For food, or…?”
I laugh, low and husky and needy. “Definitely or.”
He pushes himself off the wall and stalks toward me, gaze locked with mine. His fingertips move over the front of the dress shirt, counting my abs through the thin fabric.
“Have I ever mentioned that I really like you in a suit and tie?” he asks.
I chuckle, goose bumps appearing on my back. “Do you?”
“A lot.” He moves from my abs to playing with the end of my tie before he leans toward me, lips grazing the shell of my ear. “I like the suit and tie even more when they’re on our bedroom floor. Do you think you could make that happen for me?”
“I think we can work something out.”
He loosens my tie while he’s speaking.
“I like your style of negotiating,” I manage. My dick is hard. Painfully so.
“I’m a proponent of a straightforward approach. What do I have to do to make it happen?”
“Promise to sit on my dick the moment I get out of these clothes.”
He smirks, his icy blue eyes burning hot, and he wraps his arms around my neck. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
I crush my mouth against his. My hands go to his ass and cup the cheeks. In another second, he’s jumped up and wrapped his legs around my waist, trapping my cock between our bodies. He rubs against me every time he moves. It’s heaven.
The kiss goes from just his mouth on mine to something wild and feral, with our tongues in each other’s mouths, teeth clashing, his hand in my hair, thighs squeezing me.
I hold him tightly against me and head toward the bedroom, all the while kissing Lake. He presses himself against my body. We’re fused together everywhere we can be. Just the way I like it. Just the way we’re meant to be.
Once I kick the bedroom door shut behind us, I stop at the foot of the bed and just hold him to me for a moment.
Lake leans his forehead against mine and grins at me, luminous in the darkness of the room.
“Hi,” he says softly.
I smile back, foolishly, ecstatically happy and in love. “Hi.”
His eyes search mine for a moment, vulnerable and open like he only ever is with me.
“I missed you so much,” he says.
“Baby,” I breathe out.
“Now fuck me,” he demands a second later, and I have to laugh again.
“A promise is a promise.”
I drop him on his back on the bed, and he pushes himself up on his elbows and nods at me. “Strip.”
I wrestle my tie off and unbutton the shirt. Lake’s gaze wanders over me hungrily while I push the shirt off my shoulders onto the floor.
“Pants too,” he says.
I unbutton the dress pants and push them down, and then I step out of them, fully naked, cock bouncing against my abdomen. I give myself a quick stroke.
“You’re supposed to put your dick inside me, not play with it yourself,” Lake says.
I laugh and let go. “My bad.”
I lean over him, hook my fingers in the waistband of his jeans, and pull them off. The sweatshirt and his boxershorts follow, and then he’s as naked as I am. I lean over him until our groins are pushed together. Lake’s eyes fall closed for a moment before he blindly grabs the back of my neck and pulls me down for another kiss, one that’s equally as wild and hungry as before. His tongue is in my mouth, and his hips cant upward as he thrusts against me over and over again.
I pull away and kiss the side of his neck.
“I need to taste you,” I murmur into his skin.
He wraps his leg around my hip and holds me still. “Later. I need you to fuck me. Right now. Please.”
The urgency in his tone almost makes me come. It’d be almost laughable to be this light on the trigger, but I can’t help it. It’s been fucking days without him.
I scramble to get the lube out of the nightstand.
“Turn on your stomach,” I tell him. He rolls over in an instant and immediately pushes his ass up. I knead one of his ass cheeks, and he moans, rubbing his cock against the mattress.
I want to take my time with him, but that’s gonna have to wait until we’ve taken the edge off. My fingers slide through the crease of Lake’s ass, and he moans, shoulders tightening while he fists the sheet. I repeat the move, and he pushes back against my touch.
I’m so hard it’s starting to make me feel dizzy.
I rub his opening with the tip of my finger, and he blows out a breath, and then his whole body relaxes, almost like he’s gone boneless. It’s hot as fuck the way he can do that. I grab the lube and slick my fingers before I bring them back to his ass.
I toy with his crease, rubbing my fingers up and down and massaging the soft skin just behind his balls. By the time I push my finger inside him, he’s rolling his hips, humping the bed.
“Fuck,” I groan as I watch my finger sink deep inside him. “I missed you so much, baby. I missed you, and I missed this ass.”
In response, his ass squeezes around my fingers. In another minute, it’s going to squeeze around my dick. My breathing has turned into panting. I add a second finger, slowly opening him up for me. I throw my leg over his upper thighs and hold him still.
“Ryk,” he’s saying. And “More.” And “Please.” And “I need you.”
The sounds he’s making grow increasingly desperate.
“Ready, baby?” I ask.
He nods frantically and turns his head to the side so he can look at me. “I want you.”
I pull my fingers out of him, and he lets out a sound of protest. I press him against my chest, so we’re both lying on our sides. He puts his knee up, and I fist the base of my dick. I wrap my other arm around him while I drag the tip of my cock through the crease of his ass. We’re both breathing harshly when the head of my cock prods his opening.
I start to push, and my cock slips in with almost no resistance while we both let out a long, simultaneous groan of relief. Lake’s fingertips dig into my forearm. I pull out and slam in again.
Something seems to snap, and all bets are off. I pound into him from behind, and Lake meets me thrust for thrust like our bodies are in total sync, hips moving fluidly, my balls slapping against his ass.
The air is filled with moans of pleasure as I plunge into him over and over and over again.
I slide my palm down Lake’s chest and find his cock. He lets out a harsh breath when I wrap my fingers around him and start to jerk him off. He’s impossibly hard and hot, like a piping-hot steel rod in my hand.
I angle my hips, and he lets out a shout.
“Fuck yes,” he pants. “Right there.”
“I’m not gonna last,” I groan. “There’s no fucking way.”
“Right. There. With you,” Lake gasps.
I slam into him, and he lets go with a roar. My hand fills with slippery, hot wetness, and his cock jerks against my palm.
My thrusts lose any and all finesse. I frantically slam into him, uncontrolled and erratic, until my brain short-circuits, and I empty myself inside him.
I slump against Lake’s back and wrap myself even tighter around him, thigh over his thighs, chest against his back, my cock still in his ass.
For a while we’re both quiet, both coming down from our mutual high. Then Lake starts to laugh, dazed and happy, in a way that makes his whole body vibrate.
“I’m pretty sure you just turned me inside out,” he says.
I laugh and gently pull out of him before I flop onto my back. “My limbs are buzzing.”
Lake turns onto his back as well. “It’s good to have you home.”
He throws his arm over me, burrows closer, and presses a kiss to my chest, right where my heart is beating.
It’s fucking great to be home.