Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
ADAM
“Remember to start at a forty-five-degree angle,” Adam coached, one hand on the small of Skylar’s back as they stood behind the bar together.
“I remember,” Skylar promised, focusing on pouring a beer. “I went to college. Briefly.”
Adam laughed.
“I’ve seen college kids pour beer. That doesn’t give me confidence.”
Skylar positioned the glass under the spigot and pulled the tap, filling the glass most of the way before tipping the glass upright for the final few inches.
The top was too foamy.
“Don’t quit your day job,” Grace said from the other side of the bar, taking photos on her phone. Adam should be embarrassed, but he wanted those photos.
“I was thinking that if the NHL didn’t work out, I’d have a safe landing here. I’ll have to reevaluate,” Skylar said with a laugh.
“You figured out the pizza oven just fine,” Adam said, trying to find something to compliment Skylar on. He raised an eyebrow at Adam. “You don’t need to be good at this.”
“I want to help,” Skylar said with that determined set of his eyes that Adam knew meant there was no swaying him. He’d made a decision and was now an immovable force.
“When I was in bartending school, I literally had to study,” Adam warned. Trepidation colored Skylar’s face.
The bar was open but virtually empty. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and on days like today, it was easy for Adam to imagine how this bar could fail.
“I could cut limes.”
Adam laughed. “It’s slow. I think we’re good on limes at the moment.”
It was hard for Skylar not to have a task to complete.
“I know you have things you need to get done,” Adam said, gently reminding Skylar that he needed to get a sports therapist lined up before he went back up to Minnesota.
Skylar sighed as he leaned back against the bar. His shirt stretched over his chest, showing off the definition he had there. Adam wished they were all alone.
“I need to make a few calls.”
“Go upstairs and make them,” Adam said. “Nothing here is more important.”
“You are,” Skylar said, leveling the full intensity of his gaze at Adam. He shivered. Having Skylar’s complete focus was intoxicating.
Skylar kissed him, chaste but lingering, and made his way out the back door of the bar toward Adam’s apartment.
“Damn,” Grace said, not even pretending to give them privacy. “I don’t know what gives you two the right to be so damn cute.”
“It’s mostly him.”
He got an eye roll from Grace and realized that after years of behind-the-bar eye rolls from her, he was finally counting down to the last one. Grief was never deeper than one level away from him these days.
“Weirdly, he’s pretty much exactly who I pictured ending up with you,” Grace observed.
Adam didn’t know what that even meant.
“He’s loyal,” Grace started, reading Adam’s confusion. “A solid, kind person. Integrated himself into your life with little effort from you—”
“I’m putting in effort.”
“Of course you are. But his whole schtick is how hard he’s trying. He pushes you out of your comfort zone while also being supportive. Maybe I didn’t picture your person being Skylar Coburn specifically, but I’m saying you make sense.”
“That’s nice to hear. I’m not sure how many people would think that.”
“Truly, the only opinions that matter are yours and his. And mine, obviously. Mine the most.”
He made himself push the grief out of his chest and enjoy shooting the shit with Grace. They would have a relationship for the rest of their lives; they were family. But this was his favorite part of this chapter, and he intended to bask in it.
He headed upstairs when Willa and Tanner came to relieve him and Grace and had to look around for Skylar. He wasn’t on the couch or in the kitchen. The bathroom was clear.
He found Skylar in bed, tucked in under the sheets.
Skylar yawned and checked the time on the alarm clock on Adam’s side table.
He made grabby hands for Adam, and there was not a bit of resistance in Adam’s body.
He climbed under the covers with Skylar, who had stripped to his t-shirt and boxers, and pulled him close, letting his hands roam over Skylar’s body.
Skylar caught Adam’s lips in a kiss, and in a blur, Adam was on his back under Skylar. Skylar’s skin was warm, and Adam let himself feel held by this man with the bright smile and undefeated attitude.
The weight of Skylar’s body held him down, and it was exactly what he needed.
Someone keeping him from drifting away. Keeping him in the moment.
He finally wanted to be exactly where he was.
Skylar’s gaze raked over Adam for a long moment, before his lips descended back to Adam’s skin, finding the sensitive spots on his neck.
“Why are you wearing so much?” Skylar mumbled into his throat, ineffectively pawing at the buttons that ran down Adam’s shirt.
“So I don’t get arrested at work for public indecency.”
“Not a good enough reason.” The two of them struggled their way out of Adam’s flannel and the t-shirt under it, eventually making it through the rest of his outfit, then the remaining bits of Skylar’s too.
Every moment they’d had in bed so far had been a revelation to Adam.
Over the years, he’d had a handful of unsatisfying sexual encounters, missing the joy, pleasure, and connection of relationship sex.
Maybe he was a boring guy, but the best part of sex was learning what your partner liked and giving that to them.
Though the phase where you discovered what they liked was pretty fun too.
Skylar pushed Adam onto his back again, letting him know exactly how Skylar wanted him. He parted his legs as Skylar crawled back over him, fitting against his body like clay. Skylar was hard already, and Adam was making his way there, trying to enjoy every press of Skylar’s skin against his own.
Skylar rocked his hips against Adam’s, catching his lips in a kiss in the same moment, and Adam groaned, his hands finding Skylar’s ass, fingers gripping the firm muscle to keep him right where he was.
One of Skylar’s hands gripped Adam’s jaw as he licked into his mouth. It took months for Skylar to wear Adam down. For Adam to accept that he was allowed to be attracted to someone. Allowed to want. Allowed to have something outside of the bar.
“I’m so glad you never gave up on me,” Adam said as Skylar’s mouth left Adam’s lips in favor of his chest.
“There’s no way I could show up, see this face,” he said, tweaking Adam’s chin, “and then walk away from it.”
Skylar’s eyes were hungry, and as soon as he looked away from Adam, his mouth was back on his chest. Skylar’s hair fell into his face as he kissed down Adam’s chest, then his stomach. By the time he made it down to Adam’s dick, he was fully hard, a bead of precome leaking out of the tip.
Skylar’s tongue flicked over the tip to taste him, and Adam let out a shaky breath.
“Can I fuck you?” Skylar asked, sitting back on his heels, miles of bare skin on display, hard cock waiting to get inside of Adam.
“Fuck, yes, now,” Adam said. He couldn’t wait a second longer. He flipped onto his stomach and Skylar found the lube on the side table they’d already made good use of that morning for slippery handjobs.
Skylar’s fingers were long and slim, and he knew how to use them. Adam didn’t think sports were inherently sexy, but hockey gave Skylar strong hands and quick reactions, so yeah, Adam had become a big hockey fan lately.
Adam tried to enjoy the feeling of Skylar opening him up, but he was impatient, and all he wanted was Sky. They had accomplished a lot in bed—and in the bathroom, and the kitchen, and the living room—but they hadn’t done this yet, and all Adam wanted was Skylar inside of him now.
“You gotta hurry it up,” Adam said, tossing a look over his shoulder. Skylar’s gaze was intensely focused on what his fingers were doing, and fuck, that was hot.
“Are you actually ready or are you just impatient?”
“Both.” Adam laughed.
“All right,” Skylar acquiesced, easing his fingers out and fumbling to put a condom on. “It’s not like I’m feeling patient either.”
He pulled Adam up to his knees, then slicked himself up, pushing more lube into Adam’s hole before lining himself up.
“I’m going slow,” Skylar said, and Adam felt the pressure of Skylar’s cock at his entrance, the intrusion of it.
It didn’t exactly feel pleasurable yet, but it was the first time in a long time since Adam was excited about who he was having sex with.
Not just that he was getting off with someone, but that he was getting off with someone special.
Adam had to remind himself to breathe and bear down. As the pressure increased, it became overwhelming, but Skylar’s hands smoothed over his back and sides and hips as he slowly pushed deeper.
“Sky,” Adam breathed. He put his trust in Skylar and let go, feeling Skylar bottom out.
“You feel so good,” Skylar said, hips giving the tiniest thrust to find some movement. “You were so worth the wait. And not just because your ass feels like heaven.”
Adam laughed. “Glad I’ve got good reviews so far.”
“I’ll give you five stars on Yelp.”
“Five-star ass,” Adam joked, words turning into a moan when Skylar pulled out and thrust back into him.
They both shut up, letting their bodies adjust to the feeling of being joined together like this. Adam braced his hands on the mattress, trying to absorb the force of Skylar’s thrusts.
Just as Skylar was getting into a rhythm, he wrapped an arm around Adam’s chest and pulled him upright so the two of them were on their knees, Skylar still firmly buried in him.
Skylar held him close against his chest, grinding his hips as his hand found Adam’s cock.
Adam tipped his head back to rest on Skylar’s shoulder.
He wasn’t a small man, by any means, but Skylar’s bulk and the couple of inches he had on Adam felt particularly obvious in that moment, as Adam’s brain stopped working and he became just a bundle of nerve endings.
“Fuck, Sky, just like that,” Adam encouraged as the hand Skylar had on his chest nudged his jaw to the side so the two of them could kiss, hot and messy, unfocused, and so, so good.
“I need more,” Skylar said, guiding the two of them back to the bed and not pausing for a second before he was pounding into Adam again. Adam got a hand on his cock, jerking himself in time with Skylar’s thrusts as best he could.
It was so much, and then in a moment it became too much as Adam bubbled over. “Sky, fuck, I’m coming,” he said, speeding his hand up as he spilled over his knuckles.
“Ad, fuck, baby,” Skylar said, not stopping as he found his own pleasure, his orgasm pumping into Adam deep. He collapsed onto Adam’s back, nuzzling his face against Adam’s neck as he came down.
“Jesus,” Adam breathed, crushed under Skylar’s weight and loving it.
Skylar’s body twitched as his ragged breathing smoothed out. Slowly, he pulled out.
“Sorry I made a mess,” Skylar said, rolling off of Adam and flopping to the side of him.
“You’re not sorry,” Adam accused as he repositioned himself to see the proud look on Skylar’s face. He was hot when he was pleased with himself. The cockiness that some people didn’t like paid dividends in bed.
“I’m not sorry at all,” he agreed, pulling Adam in close. They were sticky and sweaty, and Adam was tired as hell, but for the first time in years, he was fucking happy.
“I found a therapist,” Skylar said.
“I’m proud of you.”
“The team helped. They’ve got good resources, and this way they know I’m telling the truth.”
“How are you feeling about it?”
“Walker said he liked it when he was in therapy. Found it helpful. I’m willing to put in all this work into my body on and off the ice. Doesn’t make sense not to put the work in on my brain too.”
Very pragmatic.
“That sounds good. You’ll get more out of it if you put more into it.”
“First session is next week. And she does online stuff too, when I’m on the road.”
Adam tipped his head up to kiss Skylar. He knew he didn’t have a future at the bar anymore—his time in Des Moines was coming to an end—but it was comforting to know he’d found his future, or at least the biggest part of it.
He didn’t know everything that would come next, but he knew this. He knew he had Sky.