No Pucks (Gods Versus Monsters Hockey #1)

23. Anthony

TWENTY-THREE

ANTHONY

I grip his dick, giving it a good squeeze before slipping out of the stall. I exhale and force myself back to my office. Do I have a right to be frustrated? Probably not. While Logan and I are spending more time together and have an agreement, I don’t know what it is. Does that mean he’s not sleeping with other people as a rule, or only because he doesn’t have the time? The team kept it pretty calm since I caught their ‘Adoption ritual’, but I used to be one of those guys. I know how they all are, and with our game not until Sunday this week, it gives them ample opportunity to fuck off tonight.

I exhale a long-kept breath when I get back to my office.

Anthony: Are you free tonight? I need a distraction.

Krista: Why do you always seem to know my one night off a month?

Anthony: I’m just that good.

Krista: Let me cancel some plans.

Anthony: You don’t have to do that.

Krista: You’re helping me not make an awful decision.

Anthony: I guess you can tell me about it. How long do you need to get ready?

Krista: I’ve already called an Uber, so you better be ready to go.

Anthony: Tell me where?

Krista: You better not be walking.

Anthony: I’ll get a car. Calm down.

Anthony: Tell me where I’m going.

She sends me an address, and I order myself a car. With the added practices with Logan and all the time on my feet, I really can’t add in walking to a random place. At least my finances are in better order after the divorce and getting regular paychecks again, so it’s not painful to spend a few bucks on a car.

I step out of the car fifteen minutes later to find Krista already waiting for me.

“Where are we?”

“It’s a sex club,” she says, like I should know. “Remember, you’re helping me out of a bad decision.”

“Then why are we at the bad decision?” I think about turning to leave, but I need a distraction.

“I brought you something.” She hands me a collapsible cane.

“Did you swipe this from the ER?”

“Of course I did. Use it.”

“I feel like a fucking grandpa with this.” I unfold the cane to reluctantly use it.

“It’s better than falling, and you don’t need any help in the getting laid department, so looking like a grandpa won’t matter.” She eyes me before pulling open a nondescript door.

I follow her inside with a sigh. “I don’t want to talk about falling.” But this is a whole different type of falling I’m dealing with.

She glances at me over her shoulder, catching my mood. “Hold that damn thought until we’re inside.”

I let her do the talking at the nondescript desk. Had she not spilled the beans before we walked in, I would have thought this was a business office. The woman behind the desk smiles at her and looks past her at me. Then, they go back and forth in whispers.

“I need your ID.” Krista holds out her hand.

I pull out my wallet. “Is this discrete with my real name…”

“They have NDAs. It’s not that big of a deal.” She takes my ID and makes me sign the NDA on the iPad.

I expect her to lead us through the only door in the room, but instead, she pushes a button somewhere under the desk, and part of the molding pops out.

The room we enter looks like a high end cocktail bar. There’s a stage towards the back, but it’s tame compared to what was in my imagination. We’re taken to a table and left with drink menus.

“What is this about?” I ask when we’re by ourselves.

“They have live shows. I had tickets for tonight.”

“And you were going to take someone?”

“Yes, but I got cold feet, so thanks for joining me.” She smiles across the table.

“So, is this really a sex club like all those books you like?” It’s getting exceedingly hard to keep my eyes at the table, wanting to gawk at every person in the room, and not for any reason but being curious about everyone and what brought them here.

She tilts her head from side to side. “Ish. It’s like dipping your toe in.”

“And you thought I was the best person to replace your date?!”

“You’re the one who needed a distraction.”

“I guess this is a good distraction, but I still don’t think this is the place to have a conversation with my best friend.” The couple behind Krista’s head grabs each other, making out like they aren’t in public, and maybe they aren’t.

“Okay, Ice Daddy.”

“I told you that in confidence.”

A server comes over to check on us, and we order drinks.

“How come we’re allowed to drink in here?” I ask, thinking I’d read somewhere about strict rules at sex clubs.

“We’re watching a show, not participating. Calm down.”

I mutter under my breath about rules and needing to know the etiquette.

She laughs. “You are such…”

“If you say stick in the mud...” I glare.

“I was going to say type A, but sure, we’ll go with stick in the mud.”

I huff and change the subject. “Tell me why you’re getting out of a date you were going to take to a club.”

“Because it got weird today.”

Our drinks come out, and I don’t pick mine up right away. “Another doctor?”

“I don’t want to talk about me. Why did you need to come out tonight?”

“That’s not fair.” I spin my glass on the table. “This is a friendship. It’s a back and forth, and if I’m just the one complaining?—”

She cuts me off. “Yes, a doctor, but she’s too young for me—and a resident.”

“A resident?”

“Not my resident.” She holds up a finger. “But I need to date outside of work. My cold feet are me, not her. But I spend too much time in that building to date outside it.”

“Well, I can tell you going after someone you work with isn’t a good idea either.”

“Trouble in paradise? You’ve been so busy getting dicked down, I was wondering when you’d come up for air.”

I roll my eyes and bring my glass to my lips. “Not trouble exactly.”

“Then why do you need a distraction?”

“Because he’s out with the team.”

“Ah, you’re remembering your time here.”

I lift my shoulders and nod. There’s no denying anything to Krista. She witnessed it. “A bit.”

“Hasn’t this been going on for months? Do you think he’d drop you so easily?” She rests both her elbows on the table, leaning forward.

I look at the ceiling. “Yes, but seeing each other regularly doesn’t mean anything. We’ve never said we won’t see other people.”

“This hasn’t come up before?” she asks.

“We haven’t spent much time apart since it became regular.” I avoid her eyes, knowing there will be questions there I don’t want to answer.

She whistles. “Damn, Ice Daddy. That much time together? It sounds serious.”

“Will you stop using that name?” I say under my breath, looking around to make sure no one is close enough to hear.

“I’m going to be using it for the rest of our friendship,” she says gleefully.

“I’d say I’ll stop talking to you, but we both know I don’t have any other friends, and I’m too much of an asshole to make new ones.”

“You mean you’re too busy being balls deep…”

I growl about to say something when the curtains pull back and the tables cheer.

Krista scoots her chair close to me to give her a better view. “We can talk, we just can’t be loud.”

But it’s a little hard to continue a conversation when a guy brings out another guy and straps him to an iron cross. I think that’s what that’s called.

“This is only an ish sex club? This looks full on sex club to me.” I lean in. “And this is not what I would have expected at a place like this.” The age range is out there. There are all types of people here.

“I mean that not all of the patrons are immersed as the stage show. It’s a safe place to enjoy a show and a drink for like-minded people or, you know, be naked or whatever.” She doesn’t seem fazed.

Now I need to know how well she knows the scene.

I glance over at her. “How do you discover these places?”

“I leave my apartment, Anthony.”

“Well, that’s fair, because I don’t,” I mutter, returning my gaze to some light flogging on stage, and I have to admit it’s hot. Now I’m thinking of Logan again. “Fuck.”

“Good, right?” Krista sips her drink out of her tiny mixing straw, eyes glued to the stage.

“I think this is telling me more about you than I ever wanted to know.” I finish my drink, and as if the servers are hovering, I’m asked if I want another. The only way I’m going to get Logan out of my head is alcohol, so I order a double.

Krista does too. “So why haven’t you talked to him?”

“Why are you backing out of dates?”

“This is not college and tit for tat. You came here because you needed to talk.”

“I came here for a distraction!” It feels good to be right. I focus on the new glass the server sets down in front of me while trying not to look at the stage too much. It’s only making me want Logan on his knees. “Isn’t this weird?” Maybe changing the subject will help. I’m not sure I’ve made sense of what the solution to my possessiveness with Logan could possibly be, and I don’t know how to talk about it.

“Is what weird?” Krista spares me a glance.

“You’re just watching a man get beaten. Is this something casual to do on a first date? Or like with friends?” It isn’t exactly sex, so I’m getting more of the ish. Only the man’s ass cheeks and thighs are visible. It’s kinky but not sex, which hasn’t been a distinction in my brain before, but now I can see how they are separated.

“It can be for like-minded people. And it was a second date.”

I turn towards her. “And what was the red flag? Because I’m starting to think it was a green flag.”

“All flags are scary when you’re a mentally ill workaholic.”

“I can’t even argue with you.” How many of both have I probably ignored over the years?

“I answered, so now it’s your turn.”

I sigh. “Because what do I say? I want something we can’t have? A relationship that’s impossible to have in public for the next three and a half years? I’m a fling for him, a passing curiosity.”

“So that’s the real issue here. You’re worried he’s going to get bored.”

“No, not really. But when it does fade, how will it end? In a hookup while out with the team?”

She finally turns away from the show, studying my face. “You have feelings for him, don’t you?”

I look away. “I’m not sure I remember what feelings feel like.”

“Don’t give me bullshit.”

“I think so. He’s different from anyone else I’ve ever met. He’s happy and upbeat, and he doesn’t let stuff drag him down, even dealing with his father. How he can have a good outlook on life after dealing with that asshole his whole life is insane to me, but he does.”

“And he’s hot as fuck.” She looks at me out of the corner of her gaze.

“Yes, and with the stamina of an eighteen-year-old.” My chest gets warm, and I get a little hard wanting to manhandle Logan after being here. But my stomach drops, and I check the time. It’s barely midnight, and I have no idea how late he’ll be out. If only I could text him. Or maybe figure out where Wolfe lives and crash their party, but not even I’d go that low with my team.

“Get out of that black hole your mind is going into.” She smacks my shoulder.

“How late does this go?” The first couple already finished and left for aftercare.

“All night. But I don’t expect you to stay. How late will he be out?”

“I don’t know. The team has a surprise planned for the guys.”

“So, puck bunnies?” Something behind me catches Krista’s attention.

“What?” I mouth.

“A couple is going at it.” She cocks her head.

“Are you serious?” I don’t know if I should look over my shoulder or not.

“I said it was a sex club ish.” She shrugs, acting like she explained in great detail and I’m the one being weird.She nudges me back on track with the conversation. “So, puck bunnies…”

“Right… I think so, or worse. Who knows what they’ve come up with since I was in college.”

“They haven’t invented new types of groupies… They are still the same and no shame. We both enjoyed them while in college.”

I hold up my hands. “No shame. I just don’t want them anywhere near Logan.”

“Possessive you is cute. I think you should talk to him.”

“I don’t know if I can.”