Chapter 2
TWO
COLTON
Istared at Travis’s muscled ass as he stepped down the stairs. What had he done to me? It had been ages since a man had attracted me. Not since…Better not to think about it. I still had work to finish and Sara to handle. As I sighed, I strolled inside my apartment and shut the door behind me.
Sara’s eyes lit, and she straightened her spine while sitting in the center of my couch. “Well? He seems nice.” She patted the cushion next to her.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Twisting my lips, I scanned the room. He had the most stunning blue eyes I’d ever seen. Damn it, I had to regroup. “Do you want—”
“Nope, I got myself water.” She held up a bottle. “Come on, tell me what’s new.”
While here, she consistently preferred chatting over studying. “There’s nothing new to talk about.” It wasn’t like I had an interesting life. No, that part of me was dead and buried. I stepped to the couch and sat on the end, leaving a space between us.
She shimmied closer to me. “Do you want to grab dinner down on Mill Avenue before we go to the game?” Biting the side of her lower lip, she studied me. “It could be like a…date, maybe?”
My brows swept up. “Date?” I should have known she’d want that. I wasn’t stupid—I knew she’d been flirting with me all these past weeks. She had to stay in the friend zone. There wasn’t time for me to have a girlfriend, anyway. “I’m sorry, but I can’t mix business with pleasure.”
She stared at me for a beat, her jaw dropping. “What?”
“It’s school policy. I can’t date the students I tutor.” Would she get it now? I worried my lower lip.
With her brows furrowing, she said, “What if you stop tutoring me before the game? I’m not sure I need it anymore.”
Damn it. I tightened my jaw. “You really think you’ll do well without my help?” But then, we barely studied when she was here, so she may be correct. How could I get out of this?
“If I need more help, I’ll find another tutor.” She inched closer to me, her knee touching mine, and then grabbed my hand. “Come on, Colton. I know you like me. We have fun when I’m here.”
“Uh…” Shit, she was right. We laughed a lot.
But… “I don’t know.” My gaze fell to our hands, resting on my thigh.
Tex’s stunning face flashed through my mind.
How would it be to date him? How was he invading my thoughts after only one tutoring session?
I needed a distraction from him. My life plans did not include dating a man.
I’d made my decision on that front. “Yes, okay.” After a deep inhale, I said, “But we’ll continue as tutor and student only for the next two weeks. ”
“Oh, thank you, Colton. You won’t regret this. We’ll have so much fun.” She grabbed my cheeks and planted a quick kiss on my lips.
My eyes popped open, and my body recoiled.
Damn it, I wasn’t sure I could like her this way.
But maybe I had to try. One date couldn’t hurt, right?
As I forced a grin, I patted her hand and slipped my hand away from hers.
“Okay, okay, let’s get to work.” What had I gotten myself into?
I should have thought this through better.
The next evening, I had a rare free evening and had made plans to meet with Evan for dinner in Old Town Scottsdale.
After parking my car, I strolled along a sidewalk to Ra Sushi.
The warm evening air cooled following a scorching day, with the setting sun painting orange and turquoise streaks through the sky.
I stopped at the corner restaurant, a building of clay brick with a patio covered by a wooden roof structure.
As I passed the black outdoor tables, Evan waved at me, his messy mop of dark hair falling across his forehead.
“Hey, over here.” He held a beer up and smiled. “I got you one too, and don’t tell me you’re not drinking tonight.”
Of course he did that. “Fine.” As my chest warmed, I took the chair next to his with a grin tugging at my lips. Being with him was like coming home. My old home, not the one where my mother had passed away.
He pushed a glass of beer toward me. “We don’t get together as much as we used to.” His blue-eyed gaze beamed at me.
“We’re both too busy.” I sipped my beer, relishing the cool bubbles. I drank little anymore, but damn, it tasted heavenly. “What’s new?”
“Not much. Just waiting for the Coyotes to call me up. Word from Lucas is his D-line partner’s having problems.” He sat back in his chair. “We played well together, so it’s only a matter of time.”
“Yeah? That’s great.” As my stomach grumbled, I picked up the menu and scanned it. “Have you ordered anything yet besides beer?” He always had edamame.
“Just edamame. The garlic one.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “How’s the tutoring coming along?”
“Fine. I have two students right now.” Shit, but one that would end our sessions soon. “Uh, but I’ll only have one in a few weeks.” I drank more beer.
“Yeah? I’m unsure why you invest so much time on tutoring. Aren’t you supposed to be working on your thesis or something?” He shifted while the server set our edamame on the table.
We ordered rolls and sashimi to share, and the server left.
“I am, but I find tutoring helps keep me focused and…well, out of the bars.” I chuckled. He’d been there when all hell broke loose in my life.
“Dude, you’re in college. You should enjoy it a little more and quit living like a hermit.” He scoffed a laugh and stuffed a soybean pod into his mouth, scraping the beans out.
Should I tell him? Why not? “I…have a date.” Sucking in a breath, I winced.
“Yeah? With whom?” He ate more soybeans as his gaze cut to mine.
“A girl I’m tutoring. Her name is Sara.” I shrugged. “We agreed to stop the tutoring sessions before our first date.” I still wasn’t sure how I’d agreed to it. I ate some edamame.
“That a boy.” He patted my shoulder. “It’s about time you dated someone.” He nodded at me. “Tell me about her.”
I sighed and twisted my beer glass on the table. “She’s from the west side, Glendale, and she’s studying business. She’s a junior so—”
“Oh, so she’s young. How young? Does she meet the legal age requirement for a bar?” With a smirk, he drank his beer.
“Yes, she turned twenty-one over the summer. So, she’s only four years younger than me.
” Actually, that was a lot. But she hadn’t seemed immature for her age.
How old was Travis? He’d likely be twenty-two or twenty-three if he were a senior.
I’d have to find out tomorrow. Why though?
It didn’t matter. “I’m, uh, tutoring a football player.
” I took a gulp of my drink. I shouldn’t start talking about him.
Thinking about him as much as I had over the last day was enough. But here I was…
“Yeah? Who is it?” He tilted his head, eyeing me.
I fought off a full-on grin as my stomach fluttered. “Travis Rowlings? I guess he’s an offensive lineman. He knows the ASU hockey alumni who play in the NHL. Weren’t they all queer?” As the server set our food on the table, I unrolled my napkin and ripped my chopstick wrapper open.
“Who does he know?” He pulled his chopsticks apart and poured soy sauce into a small bowl.
“He mentioned Lucas’s brother, Mason, and then Archer Carlson and Ace McAdams.”
“Oh, shit. All the queer guys on the Yotes?” He hooked a brow. “Is this football player queer?” He added wasabi to his soy sauce and mixed it up.
“Yeah, he’s, uh, gay.” As his stunning face and amazing body filled my head for the hundredth time today, heat rushed up my neck and pooled in my cheeks. I had to stop thinking about him. But he’d been such an amicable guy under all those muscles and amazing looks.
As a smirk crept across Evan’s mouth, he said, “You’re blushing. Damn, dude, do you like him?” He dunked some salmon sashimi into his sauce and ate it.
“No, I don’t like him.” I scoffed and mixed my sauce. “I’m going on a date with Sara.” Like that made a difference. It should, though, right?
“Yeah, but you didn’t blush for her.” With a snicker, he pinched my cheek.
I batted his hand away. “Stop it.” My face heated further, and I focused on our food. “He was a nice guy, that’s all.” Plus, I was tutoring him. I had to follow school policy.
“Nice?” He picked his phone up from the table and tapped the screen. “Let’s see what this guy looks like. I’m sure he’s got an IG account, right?”
I stuffed a roll into my mouth and forced myself to chew. He wouldn’t stop. I knew him better than that. It was the hockey player in him—always teasing and making jokes. But it’s what saw me through the worst year of my life, after Mom…
“Damn, dude, he’s hot for a guy.” He pushed his phone’s screen in my face, an image of Travis at a bar with lights behind him.
Where had he been? There was a gay bar on Mill Avenue called The Club or something. Did he go there? If he did, he likely had plenty of men to hook up with. My stomach churned as I swallowed my sushi down.
“Don’t you think he’s hot? The guy has muscles for days. What position did you say he played?” He swiped and presented a new photo of Travis, shirtless at a gym. “He’d make a great goalie.”
My gaze stuck on the photo, and my cock woke. God damn, Travis did it for me. But no. “He’s a student I’m tutoring, and I’m going on a date with Sara.” I drank my beer.
“You might have to stop tutoring this football player and quit worrying about what your damn father thinks so you can tap that.” He set his phone down. “Shit, have you heard from your dad lately?” He leaned back in his chair, focusing on me.
My chest squeezed. “No, not lately.” I patted the corner of my mouth with my napkin. I was probably better off not hearing from him. And why the hell was Evan so fascinated with Travis, but not Sara? Why didn’t he look her up?