13. Devon
13
DEVON
The kiss with Lincoln had been playing through my mind like the best damn movie I’d ever seen. It was hard to keep my concentration when I was working out or practicing. Come game time, I had to stay focused solely on helping us get the win.
The team we were playing tonight was from Hayes’s hometown of Rockland in Ontario, Canada. He was loving every minute he was face-to-face with them. He never got the chance to play for them, but they were who he idolized as a child. I, on the other hand, couldn’t wait for the game to end. No matter where I went, there was someone on me. The score was zero-zero in the second period.
King was trying to get away from their defenseman and get a clear shot to me, while I was moving to stay open for the pass I knew was coming. Just when I thought he was good, Rockland took possession and then it was a fight for us to get it back. But we had luck and skill on our side. As they went to pass it to their winger, Hayes intercepted it. With another quick pass, I had the puck against my stick.
I was on the blue line, center ice. I had the perfect shot, but their goalie was a beast of a man and if I didn’t line this up just right, I knew he’d be there to block it.
I heard King yell, “Give him the D!” from somewhere on my far side. A smirk formed on my lips. I had to get this point.
Time wasn’t on my side. Men were coming for me. I had a split second to shoot. I hit the puck with ease, thanks to years of hard work, practice, and so much time on the ice it felt like my second home.
The puck slid smoothly and in the blink of an eye, sailed between the smallest fucking gap known to mankind between their defenseman and goalie and landed in the net.
My guys were cheering, skating over to me for a quick embrace. Hayes, King, Noah, and Jansen. The crowd was on their feet, hands in the air. The lights on the screens around the arena were lit up.
I did a quick skate by the boards with my arm in the air then found my teammates on the bench and slowly went by them to celebrate with fist bumps through our gloves. We were up by one, but the game wasn’t over yet.
When it was my turn on the bench, I watched the game with rapt attention. King kept trying to get me to talk, something he’d been doing since Hayes told him I had a date. The two of them couldn’t keep anything from each other. Gossipy as fuck, but only with one another. They didn’t go and do that with others on the team. But damn, he was like a dog with a bone. I’d have to talk to him about Lincoln eventually.
As soon as his name entered my mind, so did the memory of his lips pressed to mine. I couldn’t focus on that now. Not when the game was still going on. I had to stay in the here and now.
Back on the ice, King and one of the Rockland guys got into it behind their net, slamming each other into the boards. But they lost focus and the opposing team came in and took the puck, racing to the other end of the ice. Luckily, King got his shit together fast and was chasing it down, along with the rest of us.
The game went on with both teams battling back and forth. By the end, no other goals were scored, and we won.
In the locker room, we stripped out of our gear, sweaty and gross. The media was there to interview us post game. I did the usual speech about how we were up against strong opponents, and I was proud of my team. All true, but I was tired, wrung out. I wanted to shower and go home.
King hammed it up in front of the cameras, his arm around Hayes’s shoulders who was smiling. He didn’t love the attention like King, but he didn’t hate it like I did either.
I slipped away while they wrapped up the interviews and finally left the room. In the shower, I let the hot water pound over my tired muscles. On top of a strenuous game, I pushed myself a little too hard with the weights earlier. It had been a few days since I’d seen Lincoln and I was hoping the burn of the reps would get my mind off him so I could keep it where I needed it to be—on the upcoming game. It didn’t work, but once my skates glided across that ice, my mind settled, calm and confidence set in. Well, until King bothered me on the bench.
As I was reaching for the soap, I felt the sting of a hand slapping my bare ass. It could only be one person. I turned and threw the bar of soap at him. King jumped back but not far enough. The soap bounced off his cheek. It was like I was watching the whole thing in slow motion. The bar flying through the air. The wet thud of the sound it made when it hit him. He couldn’t block it in time.
King stood there for a moment before picking the soap up and walking away with it like nothing happened.
“Fucker!” I shouted through the showers. All I got as a reply was the sound of his laughter echoing throughout the space. Now I had to wash my body with shampoo. I’d take another shower before bed.
It wasn’t until I was putting my suit jacket on that King appeared again. He had a towel slung low on his hips, muscles on display, water still dripping down his chest. King was hot, no doubt, but he wasn’t the one I wanted to see shirtless.
He walked over to where Hayes was buttoning his shirt and lifted his arm, so his pit was facing Hayes. “Smell me.”
Hayes scrunched up his nose. “I’m not fucking sniffing you.”
“Come on. Tell me if I smell like D.” When Hayes wouldn’t do anything but give him a blank stare, King started laughing and went to his locker. “Tomorrow night, D. You’re coming over to our place.”
I turned to find his back to me. “No, I’m not.”
“You are. No party, nothing like that. Just dinner with me and Hayes. A night in like you prefer.”
There was a feeling deep in my gut that told me I was going to be asked about Lincoln at this dinner. King wanted to check in and see how I was doing. I still thought he would have made a great captain for the team; however, he didn’t want that and wholeheartedly supported me in the role.
Sighing, I relented. “What time?”
“Six. Gotta make sure you’re in bed at a decent time.” He turned and winked at me over his shoulder.
“Fine.”
With that, I grabbed my phone, wallet, and keys and headed out of the arena and into the crisp, cold night air.
Pulling into the garage of the building Hayes and King lived in, I always marveled at how nice it was. It was a high-rise in the heart of the city. In fact, it was the one Kasper Warnes-Wilder lived in with his husband, who was the catcher for the Emperors. They occupied the top two floors. Hell, Kasper owned the whole building.
I was a permanent name on the list allowed up to see King and Hayes. They lived four floors down from Kasper and Marcus, high enough to have a great view of the city and beyond. Hayes didn’t love the fancy life. He would have much preferred a smaller place less central. But King already owned his condo when Hayes and he became tight, and King asked him to move in.
They were polar opposites in a lot of ways. Together, they worked as friends.
One knock on their door and Hayes was there to greet me in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. The aroma of what I guessed was fish hit me and had my mouth watering. I loved almost every food, so it didn’t matter what King made, I’d eat it.
“Come in. King is in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner.” If he wouldn’t have played hockey, King would have had a calling as a chef.
The condo was spacious and always had that at-home feeling. It was nothing like Kasper and Marcus’s place where it was clean lines, sleek, and modern. I’d been there for numerous parties since joining the Jetties. This space was a combination of King and Hayes. King wanted his friend to feel at home so when he moved in, they went shopping for furniture they’d both like.
A soft beige suede sectional sat before a giant TV that was mounted on the wall above an impressive fireplace. The TV was off, quiet in the room. I followed Hayes into the dining area, which was open to the kitchen. One room flowed into the next, but it wasn’t a huge open space like my house was. There was a dividing wall between the dining and living rooms.
King came in to place a dish on the table. He had an apron on that was white with a cartoon man’s body, minus the head, that included hairy balls and a ridiculously large dick hanging down for all to see. I smiled and shook my head.
“What?” he asked and swiveled his hips. “You like what I’m rockin’?” He gave me a quick hug.
“No one wants to look at your sac, real or otherwise,” Hayes cut in.
“I beg to differ.” He placed his palms on the table and leaned toward me. “Last night, I had a hot as fuck guy on his knees in front of me. He tongued my balls like he was going for a gold medal.”
“Jesus,” Hayes muttered and went to the kitchen to grab more dishes. He was used to this by now.
King thumbed over his shoulder. “He’s just jealous because no one was deep throating him last night.”
“I don’t need my dick sucked daily to be happy in life.” Hayes put a bowl of steamed broccoli on the table.
“No, but it sure helps. Look how happy I am.” King grinned wide.
“Okay!” I clapped my hands together. “I get to hear enough of this shit in the locker room. Can we move on?”
That was when I saw it. The gleam in King’s eyes that let me know I was in for an inquisition.
With everything finally on the dinner table, drinks poured, water for me, I gripped my fork and was a second from putting a piece of fish in my mouth when King opened his.
“How was your date?” He asked it in the most innocent way, which I knew was anything but. I wasn’t getting out of here tonight until he had some details.
I chewed slowly, like it was the last bite of food I was ever going to eat and wanted to savor it. Finally, I waited long enough. “Fine.”
He waved his fork at me. “Nope. None of that. I want to know who this guy is and what’s going on between the two of you.”
“You don’t need to know anything. It’s my relationship, not yours.”
“So, you admit there is a relationship?”
“No.” In truth, I didn’t know what we were. We had one date and a kiss that I felt all the way to the tips of my toes. But that was it. We parted that night with another brief kiss and our arms around each other. He chased away the chill of the evening with our chests pressed together. I wanted more. I wanted to see him again. To learn more about him. To feel his lips against mine some more.
“You’re really into him.”
The room came into focus with King’s words, pulling me from the past and into the present where my friends were staring at me like I was about to gossip everything to them. Not going to happen.
“I am. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. He’s special.”
“When do we get to meet him?” King was the one asking the questions and talking. Hayes was content to listen and eat his dinner.
“Not yet. We’ve only had one date. I don’t want to subject him to you two until I know he’s sticking around. I don’t need you scaring him off. It’s bad enough I tend to do that on my own.”
“One, don’t lump me in with King,” Hayes said. “I’m not going to chase him away. And two, we talked about this.” He glared at me, reminding me of the conversation we had in my kitchen.
“Hey!” King interjected, focusing on what Hayes said about him. “I’m a good guy.”
“You are, but you have a larger-than-life personality, and it can be a bit much for people who don’t know you.”
“I can tamp it down.”
Hayes cocked an eyebrow. “You can try but it always comes through.” Then Hayes did something I’d never seen him do before. He laid his hand on King’s forearm like he wanted to soothe him. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with how you are. I love it, you know that. But not everyone is ready for you.”
King held his gaze, the two of them looking at each other like I was no longer in the room, and they were having a silent conversation. I knew they were close friends, but this was different.
Hayes shook his head and pulled his hand back like he’d been in some kind of trance then focused on me. “We’ll meet him when you’re ready.” He cut a glare to King. “Not a second before.”
King acquiesced. “Fine, but we are meeting him if you’re going to keep dating. We’re a part of your life. We need to approve of this man.”
“No, you don’t,” I told him. “But I wouldn’t keep the two parts of my life separate forever. If this does go somewhere, which I’m hoping it does, then I’ll introduce you to him when I’m sure and I know he can handle you.”
“You make it sound like I’m a train wreck,” King grumbled.
Now it was my turn to soothe him. “You’re not. Let me feel things out and get further along before you come in.”
“Fine.” He stabbed a piece of broccoli harder than necessary. “But I’m only waiting because I care.”
“I never had any doubt.”