CHAPTER FIFTEEN #3
“I don’t know!” It was only the end of February now so maybe Tanner was getting a little ahead of himself.
He could barely remember to make a phone call on time.
He reached for the top sheet and used it to mop at his stomach.
God, he was sticky everywhere. He was going to have to hop in the shower or something before he went to sleep.
“Maybe. I’m just saying, you go to Norway in the off-season, right? ”
“Usually. For part of the summer, anyway. It’s the only time I get to see my extended family there.”
“So maybe I just ‘happen’ to be near there when you’re there,” Tanner argued, lying down again. “I went to Spain last summer with a couple of guys I know.”
“That is nowhere near Norway.”
Tanner snorted and shifted onto his side. “Well, I don’t know geology.”
“It’s geography!”
“See! I told you I didn’t know anything about it.”
“You’re hopeless, Clayton.” Leif sighed.
“All part of my charm.” Tanner winked. “Anyway, whatever. If you don’t want to meet up in the off-season, that’s cool. The idea just popped into my head. I thought it might be fun.”
“It … maybe,” Leif said. “I don’t know what my schedule is going to be like yet.”
“Neither do I,” Tanner said. “I mean, I might be too busy with Cup parties anyway.”
Leif grimaced. “I can’t believe you’re tempting fate that way.”
“I didn’t say whose Cup parties,” Tanner pointed out. “But the Harriers are doing pretty well. God, I fucking hope you guys make it to the playoffs. It’ll be so fun to destroy you.”
The Harriers were currently in first position in the division while the Rockets were flirting with a wild card spot.
“Destroy us?” Leif looked amused. “You have to be kidding me. Nicky’s coming back and—”
“Shit, really?” Tanner said, sitting upright. That was news to him.
Leif cursed. “Fuck! I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. It’s not public yet.”
“I can keep a secret.”
“No you can’t. Earlier, you blabbed about August Manning returning next fall.”
“Fuck, you’re right.” Tanner grinned at him. “Whoops.”
“Nicky’ll be doing a press conference soon to announce it,” Leif said. “But for right now, you can’t tell anyone. Swear to me you’ll keep your mouth shut about it, and I’ll agree to plan something for the off-season with you?”
“I can be bribed,” Tanner said. “Fun! Okay, so I’m thinking we, like, rent a little place for a week or whatever and just fuck the whole time.”
“Um, I do need to train this summer, you know?”
“Fine, fuck and train,” Tanner said impatiently. “It’ll be awesome. And we can do the club thing sometime. There are gay clubs in Norway, right?”
“Of course,” Leif huffed. “But I am kind of a big deal there, you know? I could get recognized.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Norway,” Tanner said with a laugh.
“I mean, it’s not a huge hockey country,” Leif said grudgingly. “It would be a bigger deal if I was a professional skier, probably. But between Dad’s fame and …”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re gonna get mobbed by rabid fans wherever we go.”
“I didn’t say that! I’m just saying if we’re trying to fly under the radar, it might be better if went somewhere else. Like Italy.”
“Cool, Italy’s great.” Tanner waved a dismissive hand. “We’ll fuck, train, and carbo load with pasta. I need to get my weight up this off-season anyway. They’re already worried about how much I’ve lost so far.”
Leif grimaced. “Same.”
Neither of them were guys who bulked up easily. “So yeah, Italy. It’s a plan,” Tanner said.
“France would also work. Monte Carlo is nice too and—”
Tanner groaned. “I literally do not care where we go. I just want to go to a club and dance and make you try to pick me up. If you’re bad at it, I’ll go home with someone else.”
Leif let out this annoyed little growl that made Tanner laugh and he cheered internally. Yeah, this was gonna be a blast.
Somehow, they kept talking even after Leif told Tanner he needed to go shower and tried to hang up.
“So take me with you into the bathroom,” Tanner said with a shrug.
Leif sighed but he carried the phone with him. He set it on the counter and turned on the water.
Tanner whistled as he walked across the room. “I totally need to eat your ass again next time.”
“Twist my arm,” Leif said with a wry grin. There weren’t a lot of guys he felt comfortable with enough to let them eat his ass or fuck him. Besides, the number of guys who found out he was a hockey player and just assumed he was a top was ridiculous.
Tanner had been amazing at rimming him and he’d probably be just as good at fucking.
“Hey, your apartment looks dope,” Tanner said. “Will you give me a tour sometime?”
“Sure,” Leif said slowly. “But I don’t think you’ll be playing here in New York until—”
“No. Not in person. I mean on your phone.”
“Oh.” Leif stepped into the shower, leaving the glass door cracked open a little. “Can you still hear me?”
“You’re a little muffled but yeah,” Tanner said. He sounded a little muffled too.
“Yeah, I’ll give you a tour on my phone, sometime,” Leif promised, speaking a little louder to be sure he could be heard.
He wasn’t sure how he’d suddenly wound up making all of these plans with Tanner but here they were. “Are you going to go shower?”
“I should.”
Leif glanced over to see Tanner hadn’t moved an inch. “Do it,” he said.
Tanner whined and sat up. “It’s so much work. Do you know how much styling I have to do on my hair?”
“No.” Leif dunked his own head under the water and let it soak in.
“Curls are a lot of work.”
“Really?” Leif teased. “Because it usually looks like you just rolled out of bed.”
Tanner scowled and shot him the finger. “I have to use a lot of products and diffuse it, and it takes forever.”
“Well, I have a ten-step skincare routine,” Leif said with a shrug. “We all make our choices.”