Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JONAH
“ W here you going now?” Ace eyed me from the kitchen as I set my hand on the front doorknob.
“Out.”
“Out? With whom and where?” Ace stepped toward me, his mouth pressing into a grim line. “What’s going on, Jonah?” Stopping next to me, he looked me up and down.
With my pulse kicking up, I drew a deep breath. “Nothing’s going on. Can’t I go out by myself? What are you, my mother?” Ace was on to me. I knew it. The guy was like a bloodhound and wouldn’t let up.
“No, I’m your daddy.” He cackled, throwing his head back, then glared at me. “Talk to me, Jonah.”
Archer strolled out of the hallway to the bedrooms, then up-nodded me. “Hey, what’s up?”
“What’s up is, your boy Jonah here is going”—he made air quotes—“ out, and it’s a big fucking secret.” He cocked his head at me. “You going to stay out late again?”
With his eyes widening, Archer’s gaze snapped to mine. “Jonah, maybe you should tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Ace jutted out a hip and planted his hand on it, then stepped closer to me, peering into my eyes. “It’s Coach Hot Stuff, isn’t it? You’ve been seeing him since the incident at the gay bar?”
“What?” My heart pattered out of control, and I gaped at him. How the fuck did he do that?
“It is, isn’t it?” He threw a glance at Archer, then pointed at him. “And you know all about it, don’t you?” He stepped around us. “That’s what all the whispering has been about and the secret talks in Jonah’s bedroom.”
“Shit, don’t tell anyone, Ace.” Archer held his palms out to him.
“Archer!” With my jaw dropped open, I stared at him. He fucking caved. My best friend.
“What? He knew.” Archer’s gaze cut to mine.
“I knew it.” With a smug grin, Ace whirled his arm around my neck and hauled my head into his armpit, then rubbed his knuckles over the top of my hair. In a teasing tone, he said, “You’re banging Coach Hot Stuff.”
“Fuck off, Ace.” I shoved at his arms and writhed, attempting to wriggle out of his hold. “What are you, ten?”
“Eleven.” He freed me and stepped back, then tugged his sweatshirt over his joggers and slicked his hair back, his smug grin even wider, his eyes twinkling at me.
“Are you done now? Can I go?” I primped my hair. The fucker was such a?—
“Uh-huh. I knew it too.” Mason sauntered out of the hallway from the bedrooms, shaking his head and tutting. As he halted at me, he looked me up and down. “You son of a bitch. You bagged the hottest guy on campus.”
Ace snapped his brows together, then pointed his thumb at his own chest. “No, I’m the hottest guy on campus.”
With a mock scoff, Mason rounded me, keeping his eyes fixed on mine. “How’d you do it?” He tongued the inside corner of his mouth. “Was it your steely resolve? Your confident disposition? Or were you just in the right place at the right time?” He stopped and hooked a brow. “That’s it, the night at the gay bar. You got him then.” He tapped my chest.
I grabbed his finger and gave him a sly smile. Fine, I’d go along with his game. “Damn right. I saved him from that asshole stalker guy, and he fell for me right there.” Okay, maybe I laid it on a little thick.
“Fell for?” Mason’s brows shot up, then he cocked his head. “You two in love?”
“ I am.” I planted my hands on my hips, my gaze reaching each one of them in turn. Archer had to know I was in love.
Patting my shoulder, Mason said, “I’m sure he loves you too, bro.” He slid his arm along my shoulder and hugged me into his side. “Listen, you go for it, and we’ve got your back.” He zipped his lips. “None of us will say a word.”
“Unless you need us to.” Ace stepped forward. “Group hug?” He wrapped his arms around mine and Mason’s shoulders, then Archer joined in. “It’s got to be hard keeping it on the down-low so the organization doesn’t find out.”
“But if they do, we’ll help you however you need us to.” Archer pressed his forehead to mine. “We love ya, man.”
Ace and Mason followed in with, “Love ya.”
“Yeah, I love you guys too.” I reared back, breaking the group hug. “Here I was, sure you were all going to tell me to stop seeing him or something if you knew.” I shook my head with a tsk.
“It’s too late for that. I’ve seen how you two look at each other.” Ace slapped at my arm.
“I think he’s in love with you too.” Squeezing my forearm, Archer gave me a warm smile.
“God, I hope so.” I clutched the sweatshirt over my heart. If he did, then no matter where on the continent we ended up in our careers, we’d find a way to make it work.
“You got this, Boehm.” Ace grabbed my face and kissed my cheek. “Now, go off and do nasty things to Coach Hot Stuff.” He chortled, with Archer and Mason joining him .
“You bet I will.” I walked out the door, my head held high and chest puffed out.
After driving the full bottom floor of the parking garage, I huffed with a slap to my steering wheel. This was stupid. I wasn’t going to be spooked by Owen. I pulled into a guest parking spot, climbed out and strode to the glass entry door with my keycard in my hand.
As I stopped at the door, the reflection of a man caught my eye. I jumped. “Fuck.” Swirling around, I stopped with my fists up, my pulse pounding.
“Hey, man, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” A student stood there with his backpack hanging off a shoulder, his palms held high. “Is there bad crime around here or something?”
As I relaxed and blew out a breath, he dropped his arms. I said, “There is, but not enough for my reaction. Sorry. I’m on edge is all.” I opened the door and stepped inside, holding the door for him while he keyed in.
“Thanks, man.” He waltzed down the hallway, whistling as he went like nothing had happened.
“Okay…” I pushed the call button for the elevator and made my way to Ryan’s apartment, then knocked on his door. I had the key to his place now, but it didn’t feel right to barge in on him.
The door opened, and with furrowed brows, his gaze found mine. “Hey, Jonah.” Tugging on my forearm, he pulled me inside, then poked his head out to look both ways. “Sorry.” He shut the door. “It’s good to see you.”
“Are you really that freaked out?” I stepped to him and placed a long kiss over his mouth, his body melting against the front of mine
“I…yeah.” As he stepped back from me, he dipped his head, then rubbed his eyes .
He didn’t look so good. “Hey, come here.” Wrapping an arm around his waist, I guided him to his couch and sat with him. “You haven’t seen Owen since you got home from the game last weekend, right?”
With a quick nod, he said, “Yeah, but every time something happens, it feels like people know about us.” He glanced out his patio door, darkness creeping over the mountain and high-rises. “I told my mom about you today.” He stared at the floor.
“Yeah?” My heart swelled with warmth. Was Archer right? Did he love me the same as I loved him?
“I did. She was concerned at first, you know, the whole coach-player thing, but then she wanted to know all about you.” His soft gaze drew to mine. “She was pretty excited about your prospects with the Maple Leafs.”
“I’ll bet.” I covered his hand in mine, kissed the back of it, then held them both over my thigh. “If I go up there?—”
“She’ll want to meet you.” His gaze searched my face. “Jonah, I hope you do get to meet her. I hope…well, I want to make this work.”
“Yeah, me too.” I bit my lower lip, holding the words against my teeth. I love you, Ryan . Shit, we had so many things to talk about. “So, I should probably tell you that Mason and Ace know about us.”
“They do?” His eyes widened and his brows knitted. “How?”
“They just knew.” I cocked my head and twisted my lips. “Ace figured it out when I went to leave tonight and wouldn’t tell him where I was going.” I sucked in a breath. “And Archer confirmed it.” I shook my head. “Archer’s never been a good liar.”
With a nod, he asked, “And Mason?”
“Mason was just there, hiding behind the wall. I think he was eavesdropping. But I’m sure he already suspected.” I huffed out a laugh. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but I will.” I flashed my eyes at him. He looked happier, so I’d keep going.
“What?” He shook our hands between us .
“Ace and Mason have given you the nickname of Coach Hot Stuff.” A smile swept over my lips.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Bursting out a cackle, he dipped his head, then focused on me. “Why?”
“Why?” I gave him the once-over. “Look at you.” I laughed with him. “I think every queer man in the locker room got a boner that day when you came in.”
“Jonah, stop it. They did not.” He covered his mouth with the back of his hand. “Come on, how am I supposed to face Archer and Tyler tomorrow?”
“The same as you always do. Just, behind your back, you know what they’ll be calling you.” I giggled at him. They didn’t say it all that much, but if it lifted his spirits with all this shit going on, then let it.
As his grin waned, he sank into his couch. “Damn, well, I guess it’s okay if your friends know about us. I suppose it makes it easier for you to come out and see me.” He bumped his back off the couch, leaned toward me and cupped my cheek. “I do love spending time with you, no matter what it is.” He pressed his lips to mine in a crushing kiss, sneaking his tongue between my lips to flick across mine.
With a moan, I straightened my spine and kissed him harder, breathing in the musky scent of his cologne. God, I loved how he smelled.
He broke the kiss and grabbed my chin, a grin teasing his lips. “Okay, I’m starved, and I know you’ve got to be. Let’s order some food.”
After ordering Chinese for dinner and cuddling on his couch for a fun action movie, we both lay across the cushions on our sides, me sprawled across his front. The credits rolled on the television in the corner. I didn’t want to go home yet, and it wasn’t too late. “Ryan…” I shifted to my back, then looked up at him.
“Yeah?” He threaded his fingers into mine and kissed the back of my hand, his light-blue gaze locking onto mine.
As he pressed his hardening cock against my hip, he shut his eyes for a beat and parted his lips, then freed a soft moan. “Jesus, you make me hard.” Leaning over me, he devoured my mouth in desperate kisses, wrapping his leg around both of mine and rutting against me.
“Fuck.” I pushed his hand into my sweats as my cock tingled and lengthened. “Jerk me off.” Then I could keep kissing him.
As his fingers curled around my shaft and stroked me, he bit my lower lip and sucked it between his teeth, then groaned. “Me too.”
Pleasure sparked up my spine. “Yeah?” I slipped the band of his sweats down, then left him to spit in my hand and smirked. I was going to give him the best hand job ever. As my lips meshed with his again, I flicked my tongue against his and pumped his already leaking dick.
“Oh fuck.” He panted against my cheek, then slanted his mouth over mine, his kisses ravenous, his body writhing against me.
As his pace quickened over my cock, I matched it on his, sensation shuddering through me. Jerking each other off fully clothed on his couch reminded me of high school. Oh, wait a minute. “Hey, want to pretend something?” I licked at his lips, then swiped the precum around the head of his cock with my thumb.
“What?” His lids hooded over his darkened eyes, and he bit his lower lip. “You got an idea?”
“Yeah.” I nuzzled into his neck, then bit his earlobe, his body shivering beside mine. God, I loved the reaction I got out of him. In his ear, I whispered, “Let’s pretend…we’re in my parents’ house. We know they’re about to come home?—”
“And find us.” Twisting his head, he gave me a hungry kiss, then slid his hand deeper into my sweats to cup my balls. “But you can’t come until I say so.”
My brows lifted and my cock pulsed. “Yeah?” Okay, I possibly liked that idea better than the parent thing. With a sly grin, I said, “Then you gotta make it so I’m close.”
He yanked his hand out of my sweats, spat on it, then dove back down, his palm slick and warm. As he claimed me in harsh kisses, he swirled his hand over my dick, pumping with abandon as I thrust through his palm.
“Oh, holy hell. Yeah.” I tipped my head back. Where the fuck did he learn this? Didn’t matter.
He bit at my neck, then worked his way lower and teased a nipple with his teeth through my sweatshirt.
With my hand stopped on the head of his dick, sensation surged up my spine, tightening my balls.
Moving faster over me, he pinched my nipple again. “Don’t come, Jonah.” He covered my moan with a deep kiss and gave me a few quick tugs, then stopped, squeezing me. Lifting his head, he gazed into my eyes. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fuck…yeah.” Tingling swept through every nerve ending of my body. “More, Ryan.”
“More?” As the edge of his lip curled, he stroked me quickly, using his thumb to spread my precum, then stopped. “If you want more, you have to jerk me too.” With a soft chuckle, he pressed a chaste kiss on my mouth.
I chased his kiss, my dick aching for friction, my balls heavy. “Okay, now more.” I tugged his swollen cock, and he resumed his motions on mine. I whimpered as a knot coiled in my gut and my body shuddered.
Placing lazy kisses over my mouth, he tongued my lips, then nibbled down my cheek to lick inside my ear.
As a tickle shivered down my side, my cock jumped in his hands and my orgasm rushed to the edge.
He stopped. “You close again?” he whispered in my ear, then kissed the shell .
“Yes, I’m close.” I’d stopped stroking him again. When had that happened? He’d made me delirious. I skimmed my hand up and down his solid cock.
He thrust against my palm and nuzzled into my neck. In a ragged voice, he said, “I’m so fucking close right now.” Biting and licking, he kissed his way to my mouth. “Come for me, Jonah.” He pumped his slick hand over my shaft.
As heat and pleasure filtered through my body, I gasped. “Oh, holy fuck.” Pulses of climax ravaged me, my dick spurting cum into his palm and my sweats and underwear. “So good…” I gritted out. As I came to my senses, my gaze found his curly brown hair wedged between my neck and the couch. “Did you come?”
“No.” He lifted his head, his brows tensed, then raked his plump lower lip between his teeth. With a faint grin, he said, “Would be nice…” As he rocked his hips, his slick cock glided against my open palm inside his sweats. He hissed.
I buried his mouth in a hard kiss, stroking his cock and swirling over the head.
Groaning, he rutted against me as his body shuddered. “Jesus, fuck.”
His dick swelled further in my hand. I kept on him, penetrating his mouth with my tongue while his cock jerked and spilled into my palm and over my fingers.
As it slowed, he broke our kisses and relaxed against me. “Holy shit. That was…different.”
“But I liked it.” I slipped my hand from his sweats and took in the blobs of cum on it, then licked it all off. “Mmm, coach cum.”
“No,” he said in a warning tone while bumping me with his elbow. “You are not to utter that outside of this house.”
With a wily grin, I snapped my gaze to his. “Or what?” I planted a quick kiss on his lips, my heart blooming with emotion. If this wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.
“Or…” He harrumphed. “I don’t know.” Sitting up, he tw isted around and grabbed a napkin from our dinner off the side table, then wiped his hand. “You’re silly.”
“I can be. With the right person.” I grabbed a napkin from over my head, then swiped it through the drying cum in my underwear. “Guess you’re the right person.” I tossed the napkin to the floor.
“Yeah?” He cleaned himself off, then threw the napkin. “Come here.” He shimmied to his back and hauled me onto his chest, facing him, then wrapped his arms around my back. “Jonah, you’re the right person for me too.” He bit the corner of his lip. “I, uh, just wanted you to know that.”
“I know that.” As I propped on an elbow, I brushed his hair from the side of his face and gazed deeply into his light-blue eyes, framed by dark lashes. I could look at him all day. “Ryan, I…” My pulse jolted. Shit too soon. Shut the fuck up, Jonah .
“You what? Tell me.” He tilted his head over the throw pillow in the corner of the couch, his fingers sneaking inside my shirt and brushing over my back, leaving a light tickle.
“I can’t tell you yet.” I dipped my gaze, then came back. Shit, I might as well have told him now.
“So, you know, I think we’re on the same page, okay?” He creased his brows. “When you’re ready, don’t be scared to say it.” His gaze searched my face. “Shit, or maybe I should say it.”
“I love you.” My eyes grew wide, and my heart fluttered. Fucking hell, that was what he was talking about, right?
He yanked me down and, grabbing the back of my head, pressed a long, deep kiss on my lips. Against my cheek, he said, “I love you too.”
I lifted my head and looked at him, really looked at him, my gaze flicking between his eyes. “You, you do?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ve noticed it the last few days.” He swallowed hard. “Shit, I told my mom about you.” He ruffled the back of my hair. “I don’t do that for just anyone.”
“Yeah?” He fucking loves me! My heart soared. Not even winning the Stanley Cup could make me this happy. Okay, maybe I was still delirious from sex.
“Jonah, we need to have a talk about, well, what happens next.” He pressed his lips together. “I mean, if all goes well, you’ll be traveling to Toronto this summer and…and I can be there.” He watched me.
“Of course, I want you to fucking be there.” A smile swept over my lips. “The first camp is only for a week, though, right?” Wait a minute, how the hell would this all work? I was supposed to be home for part of the summer and how much time did a coach get off between seasons?
“Yeah.” He glanced out the patio doors. “You know what? It’s getting late. How about we get through this season first, and then we’ll figure out the summer.”
“You’re right. We have plenty of time to plan.” With a sigh, I climbed off him and stood next to the couch. He was right. It was getting late, and I should go home. We had some busy days ahead of us.
He righted himself, then rose up next to me. “Walk you out?” Holding my elbow, he led me toward his door. “Sorry, but probably shouldn’t walk you to the parkade.” He tensed the side of his mouth.
“Don’t worry, I can defend myself against Owen.” As we stopped at the door, I wrapped my fingers around the back of his neck and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips, then my forehead to his. “I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you.” He grabbed my elbow as I left. “And, Jonah? Your friends won’t say anything, right? I mean, word isn’t going to get around behind my back about us.” He wrinkled his forehead.
“No, they won’t.” I squeezed his forearm. “They know better.” Except that Mason sometimes had a big mouth, even though he always meant well. Shit, I needed to watch him.
“Okay.” He sucked in a breath. “And, Jonah? ”
“Yeah?” I asked, lifting my brows. Maybe he didn’t want me to leave after all. A smirk teased my lips.
“Love you.” He kissed my cheek, then patted my ass. “Now, go.”
“Love you too.” I waltzed out of his apartment, a little hop in my step, and headed for home.
The next day, I had a few hours between classes and practice and came home from the university to nap. As I strolled down the hallway to my bedroom, my phone buzzed in my backpack. “Shit.” Who could that be?
I set it on my bed, then slid the phone out of it and dropped onto the edge of my mattress, holding the phone to my face. Mom scrolled over the screen. “Oh shit.” I answered it. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, Jonah.” Her smile carried through the phone. “How are you, honey? I haven’t heard anything from you for a month.”
“Oh yeah, sorry.” I hung my head. I’d forgotten our bi-weekly calls with all this shit with Ryan. “Well, a lot has happened.”
“Really? Tell me.” Clanging sounded through the phone.
A smile broke out over my face. I could see her so clearly, standing in front of the kitchen sink, doing dishes, and glancing into the yard through the window. “First off, I have a boyfriend.” My heart bloomed with warmth. “In fact, I’m in love. I think for the first time.”
The clanging stopped. “No, seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.” I toed the beige carpet under my sneakers. “But he’s a coach.” I braced myself.
“Not a hockey coach. Not a coach for your team, though, right?” she asked.
“Uh, yes, Mom. A hockey coach for my team.” I held my hand up as if she could see it through the phone. “B-but he’s not my coach. He coaches the defensive line, you know, Archer.” Like that made it so much better. Fuck.
In a low voice, she asked, “How old is he?”
“He’s a young coach, only twenty-eight.” I played with a string hanging from the hem of my fleece. I should have known she’d be concerned. Everyone was when they found out. “He’s from Canada, Toronto.”
“Okay…” She breathed into the phone. “So, how did this start?”
“Well, he’s new.” I snapped my brows together. “The NCAA allowed coaching staff to be added to the teams and they hired him last summer.” A smile tugged at my lips. She was going to like this part. “But get this, he didn’t join us until the new year because he was helping his mom through her breast cancer treatment.”
“Oh, bless his heart.” She sighed. “You’d leave me on the side of the road to rot.”
“What? Stop it.” I snickered. She was fucking with me now. She was okay with me dating a coach. Well, as okay as she was going to be. “I’d at least get one last meal out of you.”
“My tuna hotdish?” She giggled.
“You betcha,” I said in my best Minnesotan accent. Mom loved that.
“I see the desert hasn’t ruined my baby yet.” She huffed a laugh. “Now tell me how the hell you ended up with your coach?”
I flicked my gaze up to my ceiling. Where to start? “I sort of pursued him.” I thought back on those first times, our lunch at Five Guys, the drink in the bar after the away game, when he’d started to let me in. “There was something about him, you know? It was like the moment I saw him, I just knew he was special.”
“Aw…sort of like when I met your father down at the lake when he was skinny dipping. I got to see all the goods?—”
“Mom, I don’t need to hear that story again.” With a grin, I scoffed and shook my head. My fucking mother was something else. My poor Dad… “Anyway, we’re keeping things quiet until after the season ends.”
“Okay, and then?”
“And then…” I breathed in deeply, or I’d explode. “And then we’ll be together in the open, and hopefully, I’ll get an invitation to go to the Maple Leafs’ development camp.” My chest swelled. “Mom, I’m getting scouted.”
“Are you shitting me?” She barked out a laugh.
“I shit you not.” A deep chuckle rumbled in my chest. She was on a roll now. “I met with a scout and things are looking pretty good. I should hear soon.”
“That’s great. I was able to see one of your recent games when you scored,” she said.
“Yeah?” I bit my lip inside a smile. I loved it when Mom watched the games. She didn’t get to all of them anymore, but I know she tried.
“Okay, so this summer, you’ll bring this coach to meet us, won’t you?”
“I will.” As my smile faded, I scratched my neck. Shit, how was all this going to work? “Mom, I might not be home as much as we thought this summer.”
“Camp is only for a week, isn’t it?” she asked.
“It is, but Ryan, my boyfriend, is probably going to spend a lot of time in Toronto with his mom this summer. If he’ll let me, I’d like to be with him.” I winced. Shit, I hadn’t even discussed this with Ryan yet. But I wanted to be ready with an answer if he invited me to stay with him and his mom.
“Oh, I see.” She blew out a soft breath. “I suppose. I mean, she did have cancer. Poor woman.” She sighed. “She’s okay now, though, right?”
“Yes, she’s okay now.” I glanced at the pillows resting on the headboard of my bed. I had to get off the phone so I could get my nap in. “Anyway, we’ll talk more about all of this in a few weeks, okay? ”
“Yeah, sure, honey.” She took a quick inhale. “Don’t forget about me now that you’ve got a boyfriend.”
With a snort, I said, “Don’t worry. I won’t.” I glanced at my backpack. “Love you, Mom. Talk to you soon.”
“Love you too. Bye.” She hung up the call.
I stuffed my phone into the pocket of my backpack, then set it on the floor and lay on my back. There was so much stuff to think about. Would I even be able to nap?