Chapter Twenty-Seven
Roman
We’re going to the playoffs. We’ve secured a spot, but we still have a few regular season games to go to. Including this one against the Tornadoes, which is our last game in Canada for the season—until playoffs when we may end up playing against a Canadian team and will have to come back.
I try not to think about how easy it would be to reach out to Nico.
He hasn’t texted me, so I’m taking that as a sign of him moving on. If he wanted something to do with me, he could easily figure out how to find me. My schedule is public. His… well, it’s a lot harder to figure out what he’s doing these days. Trust me, I’ve tried.
All I keep getting is that his schedule for touring and shows will be “announced soon.”
Guess it’s better off this way instead of obsessing about it. If I knew where he was, I may actually show up to his house. And that could go really bad if he’s done with this…
Our gear is on and we line up to head out of the tunnel.
As a team, we skate onto the ice for warm-ups.
The crowd both boos and cheers when we get onto the ice, most of them loyal to their own team.
I see some black in the crowd tonight though, meaning we have some fans here, which is always a comfort.
The room is dim with lights flashing around the crowd and the ice. We skate around, shooting pucks into the empty net. We stop and stretch, skate some more, and go through our typical warm-up routine.
Getting back into regular games has been easy.
I’ve played with this team my entire hockey career, and a lot of the same guys have stuck around too.
We play well together, and taking a break to play with others was the difficult part.
Coming back here? It’s what I know. And we’re doing well this year.
We have an actual chance to win the cup, and that…
that’s almost more exciting than the gold because I’m doing this with my team.
The ones who have made me something and been there my whole career.
I glance up at the crowd instinctively, scanning it for someone I know isn’t there.
He’s made no attempt to reach out, so there’s no way he’d show up at a game randomly. That’s not really his style. If he was here, he’d make himself known immediately.
We win the first face off, and score within the first sixty seconds of the game. We keep that lead all the way until the third period, when the Tornadoes score to tie the game. It takes us into OT.
They score and win the game, which is a letdown. But we’re still in the playoffs, so we have something to look forward to.
When I’m heading toward the tunnel, I get the feeling I’m being watched. I glance up and look into the crowd, but there are so many people and only a few seconds before I reach the tunnel, so I duck my head and keep going.
The locker room is always somber after a loss, even though we know we played a good game. Sometimes, it’s just not good enough.
I run through my normal routine after the game—taking off my gear, showering, changing into clean clothes. I go right back to the hotel, not in the mood to socialize because apparently I’m back to normal. Connor invited me out, but I think he already knew I’d decline.
My phone rings, and I see a video call from my mom the moment I step off the elevator to head to my room.
“Hey, Ma,” I answer.
“Sorry about the game, Roman,” she says.
“It’s okay.”
“I know it’s never easy to lose.”
“It’s fine. Really. We’re still in the playoffs, so this wasn’t a huge loss.”
I pull out my key to open my door and let myself in.
“All right. Well, I just wanted to check in.”
“Where’s Taco?”
Ma rolls her eyes. “Sleeping with your father. That little thing takes up the whole bed.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, she really does. Give her a kiss for me.”
“Of course, honey. Love you.”
“Love you, Ma. See you tomorrow.”
We end the call.
The team has two days off before we have a home game. We’ll head back to Colorado tomorrow, I’ll stop at my parents’ to get Taco, then go home and be anti-social until it’s time to go again.
This is my life. This is what it was before, so I don’t know why it feels so terrible now… coming back to it.
I plug my phone in and turn on the TV. There’s a knock at the door, so I get up.
“Forget your key?” I call out as I pull the door open, assuming Connor is back early.
But it isn’t Connor on the other side.
“Nico?” I breathe out, my body a mix of hot and cold.
“Hey, Big Guy,” he says with a smirk. “Did you miss me?”
“I don’t… How…”
“Turns out my cousin is a serious stalker.”
“Huh?”
He raises a brow. “You haven’t talked to Connor?”
“About?”
“Forget it.” He steps closer. “Are you going to let me in?”
I move aside like a zombie, thrilled he’s here but unable to believe it’s real.
The door closes and I turn to face Nico.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he says.
“Question?”
He steps closer, biting his bottom lip. He looks up at me, and all the air leaves my lungs.
“Did you miss me?” he whispers.
“So much.”
He presses his hands to my chest, then leans up on his toes. “Show me?”
A flip switches in my brain, and my hands are on his waist, lifting him and pressing him against the wall.
We devour each other, starved for the other. He grows hard, and I grind against him, needing to show him what he does to me.
Nico moans into my mouth, and even though I am feeling him and hearing him, I still can’t believe he’s here. I have so many questions, but all I can think about is touching him. Showing him that I missed him, just like he told me too.
Whatever he wants.
I turn, carrying him over to my bed and gently laying him on it, crawling over his body.
He frantically grasps at my sweatpants, trying to tug them down while I shove his sweatshirt up.
Nico stops with my pants and helps me get his clothes off.
I kiss down his body, right to his cock and take him into my mouth.
He moans, his hand going into my hair. His nails scrape my scalp, fingers tugging on the strands as I take him even deeper.
“Roman…” he breathes out. “Not like this.”
He tugs harder, telling me to stop, but I manage a muffled, “Nuh-uh.”
“No,” he pleads. “I want to feel you while I come.”
That has me over him again, my mouth finding his.
“I don’t have lube,” I say.
“Pants pocket.”
I pull back, narrowing my eyes, and he smiles up at me. I crawl off him, and he lifts himself up on his elbows. I dig through his pocket and find a few packets of lube. I step toward him, but he shakes his head.
“Get naked for me,” he says. “Let me see you.”
I toss the packets onto the bed and step back, shoving my pants down.
He groans, biting his bottom lip as his eyes slowly peruse my body.
“I missed you so much,” he whispers.
I stand there, reveling in the way he looks me up and down, his gaze moving inch by inch, so slowly over my entire body.
There’s something in his eyes that excites me in a way nothing else does.
I could stand here all day and let him do this.
I don’t feel ashamed or vulnerable. I feel seen. Appreciated. Wanted.
He crooks a finger at me, and I don’t hesitate for even a second. I’m back on him, tearing open the packets, shoving my fingers inside him, then my cock.
I fuck him eagerly, unable to control myself. He feels so good around me, but mostly I’m just happy he’s here.
Here in my bed… I don’t know how I got so lucky.
We come together, sharing breath as we moan out our releases.
I kiss his face, everywhere I can reach, as we try to catch our breath. I turn on my side, taking him with me and hugging him close. We’re covered in cum and sweat. We need to shower, but I can’t let him go. If I do, I may never get him back again.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
“Turns out étienne and Connor were hooking up in Vancouver.”
“étienne?” I ask, shocked.
“Yeah.” He chuckles. “I was surprised too.”
“He’s the one Connor has been upset about this whole time?”
“Seems that way. Anyway, étienne got tickets for the game—”
“So you were there?”
“You saw me?”
I smile, shaking my head. “I felt you watching me.”
He kisses me softly. Once. Twice.
“Tell me the rest,” I say, running my hand through his soft hair.
“We saw the game, waited outside like creeps. I didn’t see you come out, but we followed Connor to some bar not far away. He told me what room you were in.”
“étienne stayed with him at the bar?”
“Oh no.” He laughs. “They’re in our room—me and étienne’s. We booked a room in this hotel. Total creepers, I know.”
“I don’t care.” I hug him tighter. “I love it. I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.”
Nico hugs me back. He clears his throat. “You didn’t text me.”
It’s silent for a few moments, and I pull back to look at him. “You didn’t text me either.”
He nods, giving me a knowing but guilty look. “I was… It was…”
“Too hard,” I finish for him.
He nods. “Yeah.”
Sighing, I kiss his forehead. “Let’s go shower so we can cuddle comfortably.”
We get out of bed and I get the shower going so we can wash up and get back into bed, where I can hold him.