Chapter Four #2
He did. A little odd, perhaps, in a hoodie, navy tuxedo pants, and dress shoes, but good. Kip was pretty grubby, in the same jeans he’d worn earlier in the day and a black T-shirt he had been wearing under his uniform tonight.
He zipped up his parka before following Scott out into the cold. It was very cold.
“You must be freezing,” he said. “You sure you want to walk there?”
“I run hot,” Scott said with a grin. “I’ll be fine.”
They walked together through the quiet streets. Not a lot of people out on this frigid Wednesday night. There were a few flurries in the air, but no wind. Despite his claim of not being cold, Scott had shoved his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.
“How was the road trip?” Kip asked, after spending a solid minute trying to think of something to say.
“Good! Went well. We won five of the seven games, should have won the one in San Jose, but that’s a rant you don’t want to hear.”
“You like the travel?”
“I don’t mind it. I like some cities more than others. Some cities like me more than others…”
“They’d all love you if you played for their team.”
“Maybe.”
They walked another block in silence. Kip still couldn’t believe who he was walking with. He’s just a guy. He’s just a really hot, enormous guy who’s famous and beloved and…cold.
Scott was definitely huffing a bit as they walked. And his shoulders were hunched.
“You all right?” Kip asked.
“Oh, yeah. Just…it is pretty cold.”
Kip smiled. “Yeah, okay, tough guy.” He got brave and nudged Scott a bit with his elbow.
Scott laughed and his breath came out in white clouds.
Kip swallowed. “Is the burger place close?”
“Yeah. It’s, um…oh. It’s right there.” Scott pointed across the street.
“Let’s get you inside.”
They entered and Scott smiled at Kip as the warm air hit them. Kip could not believe how beautiful he was.
They ordered at the counter (Scott paid) and sat at a table in the corner to wait for their food. The restaurant was quiet.
Kip wished he knew what was going on here. Normally when a guy invited him to get some food, or a drink, there were no doubts about where it might lead.
But this wasn’t a regular guy. And it was possible that Scott didn’t realize this seemed like a date. Maybe he was just…lonely.
How in hell could Scott Hunter be lonely?
“You live in Manhattan?” Scott asked suddenly.
“Nah. Brooklyn. Born and raised.”
“Ah. I’m from upstate. Rochester.”
Kip smiled a little. “I know.”
“Right. I, uh, I guess my life is kind of public knowledge.”
“Kind of,” Kip said, and, feeling brave, added, “but I’ll bet you have some secrets.”
Scott turned pink. It was cute. He fiddled with the straw in his soda cup until it seemed to inspire his next question. “Have you worked at Straw Plus Berry long?”
“Um, actually,” Kip said, feigning offense, “it’s pronounced Straw and Berry, so…”
Scott put up his hands and grinned. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to insult you.”
“That’s okay.” Kip sighed dramatically. “I’m sure people get your team name wrong all the time.”
Scott shook his head, still smiling. “Do you like it? Working there, I mean?”
Kip actually laughed at that. “It’s all right. I mean…no. I don’t really like it.”
“Is there something else you would rather be doing?”
“Of course! I just don’t know what that is yet. I mean, I have a history degree.”
“No kidding? I never finished college.”
Kip gave him a gentle smirk again. “I know.”
“Right.”
“Did you want to? Finish college, I mean?”
Scott seemed surprised by the question. “I… Yes. I did. I wanted to finish. To graduate. My mom… She would have liked that. And I enjoyed the classes. I’ve always liked learning.”
“What were you studying?”
“A little bit of everything. I couldn’t commit to a major, and I didn’t need to. The school didn’t care what I took, just as long as I performed on the ice.”
Kip felt a little sad for him. “Must be weird,” he said. “Everyone’s wanted a piece of you since you were a teenager. Probably never felt like your life was your own.”
Scott looked stunned.
Kip turned red—he’d crossed a line. “Sorry. Jesus, forget I said that, all right? I don’t even know you—”
“No!” Scott said. “That’s… It did feel like that. I don’t want to complain, obviously, but. Yeah.”
“You’re allowed to complain.”
Scott smiled at him. “I’m really not. It would get me despised by everyone.”
“Well, you can complain to me.”
The way Scott looked at him then, Kip would never forget it. If they were alone, and if he were someone else and Scott were someone else, he would have expected Scott to lunge across the table and haul him into a hungry kiss.
Instead, burgers were placed in front of them by a server and the moment was gone.
As they ate, Scott’s eyes darted around the small restaurant, and it occurred to Kip that he had never taken his winter hat off.
“Worried you’ll get recognized?” Kip asked.
“Not worried. I’m just…hoping I won’t. Not right now.” Scott picked up his burger, then put it down without taking another bite. He fiddled with his straw again.
He finally sighed, and turned his eyes up to meet Kip’s. “It’s just nice. Doing this.”
“Hanging out with someone?”
“With you.”
Kip was speechless. And Scott looked absolutely tortured. His eyes were pleading with Kip to understand him. To not make him spell it out.
“Oh,” is what Kip finally said.
Scott’s face relaxed a bit. “Um, I’m not…good at this,” he said. “It’s important to me to keep my private life private, and that’s increasingly hard to do. So I don’t ever…”
“Pick up guys?”
Scott flushed a little. Kip loved it. “Yeah.”
Kip could not believe that this thing that he had been trying not to pretend was a date was actually a date. It was unreal. But suddenly he didn’t want to eat another bite of his stupid burger. He wanted to get Scott Hunter somewhere private and let him slam Kip against a wall.
He decided to be bold.
“Is there somewhere we can go?” he asked in a low voice.
“Yeah,” Scott said, his voice huskier than it had been a second ago. His eyes a little darker.
Kip wasn’t naive. He knew what this was. Hunter wasn’t out, and he had to get his action as discreetly as possible. Nothing serious or long-term; he just needed to get off, and Kip was more than happy to help him with that. He was honored that Scott felt he could trust him to keep a secret, really.
“Let’s go,” Kip said.