Chapter 24
ASHER REYNOLDS
The bus ride home is quiet. We lost the game in heartbreaking fashion, and somehow, it hurts more because we were on a winning streak. Liam, much as I love the guy, scored a goal with eight seconds left to put Rhode Island up by one.
Most of the team is asleep after the early start to the day, but I’m too keyed up to pass out. Instead, I look toward the front of the bus where Chase is sitting, looking at something on his iPad.
We hooked up exactly a week ago, and I’m trying my best not to agonize over when it will happen again.
Still, I slip out of my seat and walk the half-dozen rows separating us.
He looks up at me, surprised when I slide in next to him.
No one else spares us a glance, even if we haven’t done this before.
It’s normal for players to talk with coaches and staff during trips, since it’s just about the only time that there aren’t any other distractions.
And I’ve missed him all day and want to breathe in the same air as him. That’s really all that’s driving me to get into his space.
I relax against the back of the seat and spread my legs out. Turning my head toward him, I say, “Tough loss tonight.”
I glance down at his iPad, but he taps the screen so that it goes black before placing it into the bag at his feet. I wait for his attention again, reveling in the little zing of electricity that I feel whenever we’re close.
“What were you doing?” I ask quietly. “Secret medical things that I’m not allowed to see?”
He gives me a slow smile, and I’m really just grateful that he hasn’t sent me back to my seat yet. “No.”
I tap my finger against my chin. “Watching porn?”
He laughs. “Definitely not.”
“Okay, well… if you’re in the market, I have a couple of videos bookmarked.” My overtness has me feeling hot, the temperature of our aisle feeling like it’s rising by the second.
His lips curl into a sexy smirk. “Is that so?”
“Well… you’ve sort of unlocked something in me, and I know that you’re not always going to be available to… scratch that itch,” are the words that I settle on.
I hope I’m not coming on too strongly, but I absolutely want to make it clear that the next time he’s available, so am I. In reality, I’d probably skip doing just about anything else if it meant being in any state of undress with him.
All day, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of him.
On the bus ride here, his head down and focused on his iPad most of the drive.
While he was working with the other players ahead of the game.
Zane wasn’t there today, so I also got to watch him glide out onto the ice if there were injuries and deftly patch the players up in between periods.
And looking at him now, the desire pools low in my stomach, and I’m desperately hoping that I’ll find release for it soon.
A moment passes between us, and I so badly want to lean across the few inches between us and press our lips together. I don’t–and I won’t–but thinking isn’t illegal.
“You need to stop looking at me like that,” he says, giving me the exact same look right back.
“Can’t help that I like the view,” I flirt. Which is wild because I’m not the kind of guy that anyone would ever accuse of being flirtatious. Then I remember– “So, what were you looking at? Why’d you hide your iPad from me?”
His gaze drops down to my lips before he drags his focus back up to my eyes, meeting them again. I feel the spark between us again, and I wonder if he’s going to be alone at his house tonight.
But I lose my train of thought when he says, “If you must know, I was looking up your pal, Liam Evans.”
I cock my head to the side, confused. “What about Liam?”
“You two just seemed… close.” But he doesn’t supply any more information.
“We were close. I told you that I lived with him and his family during my first year of juniors.” I’m trying to understand why he’s still looking at me like he’s at war with himself.
Finally, he asks me, “And you two were always just friends? Nothing ever happened between you?”
It all clicks into place, as I make sense of the look on his face.
“Are you jealous of me? Thinking that I hooked up with him?” I think about Liam.
He is a really good-looking guy, but he was always a little too cocky for his own good.
A great friend, but not someone who ever got my heart pumping faster.
Not like Chase.
He lets out a hoarse bark of a laugh that he quiets quickly. He glances around, but everyone’s either sleeping or has headphones in. “Asher, you are so smart, but so dumb,” he whispers softly.
In the dark, I feel his fingertips skim over my knuckles, and I almost groan from how good it feels to have his hands on me again. It’s not enough, not nearly enough, but I’ve been starved for him since Tuesday.
“Why am I dumb?” I can barely string a coherent thought together right now with the way that the pads of his fingers are skimming along my hot skin. I wish we could thread our hands together, and I could feel the full press of his palm against mine.
I love the soft, indignant huff that he lets out. “Go back to your seat before I do something that I’m going to regret.”
It’s probably for the best. If I sat here any longer, anyone awake when I walk back to my seat would be able to see just how much I enjoy having Chase’s hands on me.
“You’re no fun,” I tease, even as I start to leave.
He wraps his hand around my forearm before I can stand up. “Tonight? My place?”
I nod, excitement washing through me. “I’ll be there.”
The thing that Wyatt Chase needs to understand is that when he’s an option, I won’t be anywhere else.
When I get the text from Chase that he’s home, I knock on his door within seconds. Literal seconds. I don’t care if I look too eager.
I’m not expecting him to meet my energy, but he pulls me into the apartment and shuts the door quickly behind us. He’s on me then, his hands and lips everywhere. He runs his fingers through my hair, digging into my scalp, pulling me into a messy kiss that steals my breath.
I can’t get enough of it. I’m already getting worked up, rutting my body against his, failing to get as close to him as I want to be. There are too many layers of clothing between us.
What I really want is to undress him and drop to my knees right here.
Only, an insistent, annoying voice is getting louder in my mind, as his arms snake around my torso and his hands palm me more aggressively than he’s ever done before.
I’m a stupid, stupid man. I know this. I grab at his wrists and pin them just away from my body.
He presses his chest against mine, looking up at me with hooded eyes.
I love how much he wants this but– “Don’t kick me out right after. We don’t need to have a sleepover or anything, but I don’t want to feel like your dirty little secret.”
He swallows and nods. “I won’t. I don’t want you to be that either. You deserve more than that.”
I lunge at him, spinning us around so that he’s pinned against the door. I push my thigh between his legs, grinding against him. “Glad that’s settled,” I say right before I start kissing along his jaw. I feel like I’ve thought about nothing else for the last week except doing this again.
His hands are on my waistband, trying to unbuckle my belt. “You look so good in this suit. You know that, right?”
I don’t have time to bask in the compliment because his hands scratch against my stomach, and I let out a shudder.
But before I can get too lost in him taking charge, I grab his hand again, another thought flitting through my mind.
Being with Chase is the closest that I’ve ever come to turning my brain off, but it’s not something that happens completely.
“Why did you call me dumb on the bus? What was I not getting?”
He groans and pushes his hips out from the door, trying to find friction again. “It’s not important. This is important.”
I lean down and kiss his jaw before biting his earlobe, loving the full-body tremble that works through him. “Tell me,” I demand, soft but insistent.
I’m not going to let this go, and I think he finally realizes it, sighing and leaning his head back against the door.
He holds still for a beat before he tilts his head down, meeting my stare.
“I wasn’t jealous of you. I was jealous of him.
That there was a world where he got to touch you.
Be with you. I didn’t like how… familiar the two of you were. ”
Heat rushes through me, and I instinctively push in closer to him, our cocks brushing against one another.
“I’ve never been with him.” Now that I’m thinking back at my life through a different lens, maybe there are a few moments that could have crossed a boundary.
Only, I didn’t realize it at the time. Too fucking oblivious to what was right in front of me.
But I’m done with that. Chase has awoken something in me, and I can’t turn it off. I can’t fight it. I can barely control it, even on the best of days.
“I’ve missed this,” he admits into the quiet darkness of the living room. “This week was torture.”
It’s music to my ears, but I’m not letting him off the hook that easily. “Then don’t wait so long to invite me over again.”
His hands still on my hips, and he looks at me like the fate of the world hangs between us. I still see glimmers of how much what we’re doing weighs on him. He’s not a rule breaker, either. For as much as I want to step back and put his anxiety at ease by letting go of this connection, I can’t.
Chase makes me feel alive. Even before my accident, I didn’t realize that I was living in some haze of hypotheticals and intellectualization. I can’t imagine giving up the way my body lights up under his touch or I feel like I’ve been pulled into his orbit and am helpless to get out.
“I won’t.” His words are soft. A promise in the form of a secret, whispered between us.