CHAPTER ELEVEN
Later that evening, Connor glowered at Tanner Clayton when he hugged Jesse goodbye, whispering something in Jesse’s ear that made him throw back his head and laugh.
Tanner waggled his eyebrows as he pulled away, waving to everyone before he was out the door.
The party had broken up—mainly because there were a lot of kids who needed to get home and get ready for bed—including Connor’s own.
“Well, good luck with that,” Pat said drily, throwing an arm around Connor’s shoulder.
“Huh?” Connor said, turning to frown at his brother.
“The Terrible Twosome there.” He nodded toward the open door where Tanner was still visible, and Jesse, who stood inside the entrance. “We all knew Webber was gonna be a handful but throw in Clayton …”
“Yeah.” Connor pursed his lips. “Tell me about it.”
Because Jesse was … Jesse and, apparently, now he had a sidekick.
After Connor finally pried his kids—and Jesse—away from his family, he fell into step behind them while they walked the short distance home.
So Jesse and Tanner had fucked.
Connor didn’t have to have confirmation from either of them to know that. From the way they looked at each other to the way they touched, it was obvious as hell. What was worse, it looked like they had every intention of starting up again.
The sounds of Maura and Evie’s chatter about the fun new toys grandma had bought and Jesse and Nolan’s discussion about hockey gear brands—they both favored Prescott—floated past Connor without registering as he stewed over the thought of Jesse and Tanner together.
Like this situation wasn’t gonna be complicated enough. Like there wouldn’t be enough issues with the team this season.
Because other than that, what reason did he have for being upset about any of it?
Connor damn well knew Jesse hooked up a lot and why was it that shocking to think that some of those people had been guys in the league? For all Connor knew, Jesse had a guy in every city from here to Manitoba. And that didn’t even include the women he’d probably hooked up with all over North America.
So why did Connor care? Why did it matter to him personally ?
It only mattered if it impacted the team. Connor was gonna have to lay down the law with Jesse about his behavior, that was all.
But when they reached the house, Connor lost his nerve.
Instead, he agreed to let Nolan go to his friend Kyler’s house again while he threw himself into the girls’ bedtime routines, reading Maura an extra story and listening while Evie haltingly read a chapter to him. By the time both girls had settled down, it was later than he’d expected.
Connor had hoped to catch Jesse watching TV in the basement or something, but when he passed Jesse’s door on the second floor, it was tightly shut and there was light streaming out under it.
Determined not to wuss out, Connor rapped sharply on the door.
It swung open a moment later to reveal Jesse who was shirtless, wearing low-slung gray sweats that showed off his v-line. Connor had the sudden urge to step forward, plant his lips on Jesse’s, and push him into the room until they were both sprawled across the bed.
Connor drank in the sight of Jesse’s body. Fuck, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about him. Couldn’t stop wanting him.
“What’s up?” Jesse asked, looking confused.
Connor rubbed his forehead, trying to focus on the task at hand. “Can we talk for a minute?”
Jesse stepped back. “If you want.”
Hell no . Connor stepped inside, closing the door behind him, which he belatedly realized was probably a terrible idea. I don’t wanna talk. I wanna —but no, nothing he wanted to do was actually a good idea.
“We need to talk about your relationship with Tanner Clayton,” was what came out instead.
“What relationship?” Jesse’s brow furrowed.
“You two have been … involved.” Connor crossed his arms over his chest.
Jesse shrugged. “We fucked, yeah. But that was a long time ago.”
“Well, I would strongly suggest you don’t get involved with a teammate,” Connor said.
“Oh, would you now?” Jesse mimicked his cross-armed posture, with one hip jutted out, a look of annoyance on his face.
“You’re already on thin ice with management and the—the added complication of being involved with a teammate is asking for trouble.”
“That’s my middle name!”
Fuck, it probably was.
“I just don’t think that it’s what the team needs,” Connor pressed.
“Fucking admit it, Connor,” Jesse said, leaning in, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “You’re jealous .”
“I’m not—” he sputtered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jesse stepped closer, dropping his voice. “Oh, so you haven’t been thinking about what I did with Tanner? About what we were like in bed together? About which of us fucked the other? Or were you thinking about what it was like when you fucked me? Were you wishing you were Tanner?”
“Of course not!” Connor protested. “I wouldn’t—I wasn’t …”
“Sure.” Jesse patted his chest, still smirking. “You keep telling yourself that.”
Connor grabbed his wrist, though he knew Jesse could easily shake off the grip. “I think that there are already enough complicated things that have happened. Teammates being involved could get messy and the last thing we wanna do is jeopardize?—”
“Oh yeah, tell that to Evanston and Toronto,” Jesse said with a roll of his eyes. “Half of the guys were involved with one another. Really cost them some wins, eh?”
Wincing at the reminder of the Cups those teams had won, Connor let go of Jesse. “Well, we’re not Evanston or Toronto,” he pointed out. “Frankly, we’re nowhere near as good. I think we need to focus on hockey and?—”
“This time, I’m not the problem here, O’Shea. You’re the one focused on who I’m fucking,” Jesse said. “Not me. And not that it’s any of your business, but I wasn’t planning to hook up with Tanner again. Not because I don’t want him—he’s hot and we had a fuckton of fun in the past—but because right now I want a fucking friend more than I want to get my dick wet. There are plenty of other people around who I can do that with. And you know what? I think maybe I’ll go do that now.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and did something on it.
“Hmm, he’s hot.” Jesse flashed his screen at Connor, showing off an attractive blond guy on a hookup app. “Maybe I should message him now.” He swiped through a few more pictures, then held it up, displaying a photo of a gorgeous brunette woman. “Or maybe her? Would you be more or less jealous if it was a woman?”
“Jesse …” Connor said helplessly. “Don’t …”
“No, you’re being a dick , Connor,” Jesse snapped. “I was excited to see my friend earlier. That’s it. If you have feelings about that, then work them out yourself.”
“I don’t have any feelings about?—”
Jesse laughed. “Yeah, okay . You’re really going to tell me that your only objection to me and Tanner hooking up is the team? Because that’s bullshit and we both know it. You want me. You don’t want to want me, but you want me.”
Connor swore.
“Lie to yourself all you want, but I know the truth.” Jesse shot him a smug glance, stepping backwards until his thighs bumped the edge of the mattress. “And I can prove it.”
“How?”
Jesse didn’t answer with words but he did sit back and tug open the nightstand drawer, his smug look deepening as he pulled out a clear bottle and something Connor couldn’t quite identify. It was red and L-shaped.
“Know what this is?” Jesse asked.
“Uhh, no.”
He held it up and pressed a button. It began to buzz and heat flooded Connor’s body when he realized it was a sex toy.
Jesse gave him a smug little look. “Yeah, you figured it out. This baby is called a prostate massager. It has three adjustable speeds, and four patterns of thumping and tapping motions designed for my pleasure. The base has seven different levels of vibration and, best of all, the toy comes with a nifty little remote control for hands-off enjoyment.”
Connor’s mouth went painfully dry. “Great. You have something to keep you occupied. And what does this have to do with me?”
“If you want to convince me that you don’t want me, all you have to do is watch me get myself off with this toy without giving in to the urge to touch yourself or me .” Jesse settled back on the bed on his elbows, the toy still clutched in one hand.
For a long moment, all Connor could do was stare at Jesse, the blood pounding in his ears. Fuck .
He drank in Jesse’s crooked, smug grin, his long legs in those sweats, and the soft bulge of his cock under them.
“You can’t do it, can you?” Jesse taunted, playing with the toy, spinning it through his fingers like a magician doing tricks. “You know you’ll fail.”
Connor gritted his teeth. “You aren’t that irresistible.”
“No?” Jesse quirked an eyebrow, a lock of his hair falling across his forehead, his abs contracting with every slow inhale and exhale. “Are you sure about that?”
No , Connor thought desperately. “I’m sure,” he said aloud. “Let’s do this.”
After, he’d probably run out of here like a dog with its tail between its legs and jerk off in his room until his balls ached, but he could prove to Jesse and to himself that he was in control.
“Well, well, well, I didn’t think you’d be up for it,” Jesse drawled. “I’m impressed.”
He tossed the toy on the mattress, then sat up, reaching for the waistband of his sweats.
“One thing first,” Connor said hoarsely. “If I win, that means you keep your hookups away from the team. No Tanner, no one else on the roster—hell, no one within the franchise,” he added, because he’d seen the way Jesse looked at Gavin.
And while Connor didn’t think Gavin was stupid enough to sleep with a player, he didn’t wanna test his luck. He’d never thought he’d sleep with one of his teammates either. “You’ll keep it discreet and totally out of the press,” he tacked on for good measure.
Jesse froze, looking him over with narrowed eyes for a moment before he nodded. “Sure. And if I win?”
“We’ll hook up.” Blood roared in Connor’s ears at the thought. “There’s gonna have to be ground rules because of my kids being around, but we’ll hook up until you move out. You won’t have to look anywhere else to get your needs met.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed even further, like he was tracking a forward on a breakaway tearing toward his net with a puck. “How do I know you won’t throw the wager?”
“Because I wouldn’t cheat ,” Connor snapped. “It’ll be a fair contest.”
“Honestly, it kinda sounds like a win-win to me then,” Jesse purred. “I’m in.”
Jesse took his time setting the scene. He locked the bedroom door, then grabbed one of the chairs by the bay window and set it at the foot of the bed.
“Take a seat,” he said, patting the chair.
With a scowl, Connor settled in, arms crossed, thighs spread wide. He looked both ferociously angry and tense and Jesse wondered how long it would take him to break.
Not long, Jesse hoped.
Because as much as he didn’t usually do long-term hookups, he’d still rather spend the rest of the season fucking Connor than screwing around with random people he met on apps.
Not only was the sex with Connor great, winding him up was Jesse’s favorite new hobby.
He glanced around the room, wondering what else he could do to set the mood. Spotting the speakers he’d set up a few days ago, he had an idea. With few taps on his phone, his favorite music to fuck to playlist drifted through the air.
Jesse turned the covers back, propped a few pillows up at the headboard, then dropped his sweats on the floor beside the bed.
Connor cleared his throat.
But rather than settle on the bed, Jesse strolled toward the bathroom, letting Connor get a long look at his ass. When Jesse returned to the bedroom carrying a towel, Connor whipped his head around, glaring at the bed like he thought he was hiding anything.
Jesse resisted the urge to snicker. Oh yeah, I so have this in the bag. The dude was already wound tight enough to snap.
Jesse carefully spread out the towel, smoothing it down until Connor muttered, “Are you gonna get to it or just spend forever with this shit?”
“Just didn’t want to mess up the sheets,” Jesse said with a little wink when he settled on the bed, ass in the middle of the towel. “You wouldn’t believe how hard I come with this thing.”
He waved the red toy like a cape at a bull and Connor’s nostrils flared exactly like Jesse thought they would. “Hands-free too. One time I shot all the way up to my chin.”
With a grin, Jesse drew his knees up, planting his feet on the bed as far apart as they’d go. Since his career was centered around him being able to drop into the splits on command for sixty minutes a night, three nights a week give or take, that was pretty damn far actually.
A muscle in Connor’s jaw twitched.
Smirking, Jesse reached for the lube. Oh yeah, Connor was so his for the taking.
He squirted a little lube on two of the fingers of his left hand, rubbing them against his thumb. He let his knees fall even wider apart, then reached down with his right hand to press his dick and balls up and back.
He wanted Connor to have a niiice unobstructed view.
Jesse rubbed his slick fingers against his hole, letting a quiet moan fall from his lips. Rather than press inside immediately like he normally did, he rubbed circles against the puckered opening, not bothering to hide the way it made him shiver.
Jesse couldn’t claim he had a lot of patience, but watching Connor shift in his chair was a powerful incentive to go slow. So, for a little while, he rubbed the outside of his hole, letting out quiet moans and breathy sighs, his gaze never leaving Connor’s.
When Jesse finally pushed inside, Connor’s lips parted and he gulped quietly.
“Mmm.” Jesse let his eyes grow heavy-lidded, smugly pleased by the reaction. “That feels good. Not as good as your fingers did in Chicago though. Fuck, you had the perfect angle.”
Connor’s breathing sped up.
“Yeah, you like watching me?” Jesse teased, licking his lips while he pushed in deeper. “You like seeing how quickly my hole swallows my fingers?”
Connor cursed quietly, shifting again, and Jesse glanced at his lap. Oh yeah, there it was. That solid bulge pushing at the fly of Connor’s jeans. Fuck, he wanted that inside him.
“Oh, you do, don’t you?” he purred. “Mmm, fuck, I think I might need to add another finger or two if I want it to be as thick as your cock.”
Jesse scissored the digits wide before he pulled his fingers free, watching Connor’s gaze zero in on where he gaped open for a fraction of a second before winking closed. “Fuck, I can’t take too long though,” he said with a sigh. “I feel so empty without something inside me.”
He slicked his fingers again, and this time, he didn’t wait to push all three inside, just went for it. “Fuuuck, yeah, that’s better.”
He fucked himself a little more forcefully this time, pushing deeper, moving faster. He was probably rushing it a little but he could already hear the rough, ragged sound of Connor’s breathing, see the way he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before he crossed his arms again.
“The only problem with using my fingers is that it never quite reaches far enough,” Jesse admitted with a gasp. Because he might be teasing Connor but that didn’t mean he wasn’t turning himself on too. It didn’t mean he wasn’t also getting desperate.
Jesse’s cock was hard against his belly now, a sticky trail of pre-cum leaking from the tip. He was tempted to stroke himself but he couldn’t risk coming before Connor gave in and fucked him.
“You know what works better?” he purred, grabbing for the toy beside his hip with his free hand. “This.”
Connor released a shaky exhale.
A little reluctantly, Jesse pulled his fingers free. He rubbed the lube on them across the head of the massager, then added some more, drizzling it carefully along the shaft until it was thoroughly coated. He held up the toy, watching it glisten in the light.
With a wink, Jesse lowered the toy, easing it inside his body. He sighed when it was seated deep. “Nice, huh? It’s not your cock, but it’ll do.”
The chair creaked when Connor shifted again.
“Don’t you remember how good it felt?” Jesse asked breathily, letting his head fall back as he squeezed around the toy. It wasn’t even on yet and it felt fantastic, nudging up against his prostate perfectly. “Yeah, I bet you do. I bet you remember exactly how good it was to have your dick inside me. I know I do.”
Connor let out a strangled moan and Jesse lifted his head to see Connor’s eyes glittering intently.
“But this toy has been good. And I’m about to show you exactly how much I like it.”
He reached for the remote, turning it on, a long, low moan leaving his lips as the vibrations started. It stimulated him from the inside and the outside, tapping and vibrating and nudging him in all of the right places.
“Fuck, Connor,” Jesse said with a gasp, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. “Fuck it’s so good. God, I try to hold out as long as I can but I can’t stop thinking about you. Your dick inside me. How you pinned me down and fucked me. There’s a reason I named the toy Connor?—”
A clatter filled the air and Jesse lifted his head to see Connor standing, the chair tipped over onto the floor, his chest heaving.
“Jesse …” His voice cracked.
“C’mon, Connor.” Jesse licked his lips. “Just think about it. You could spend all season imagining all of the other people I’m screwing or you can be the one whose name I’m calling out. It’s your choice.”
With a groan, Connor put one knee on the bed. His chest rose and fell in quick, desperate little inhales and exhales. “I’m gonna regret this,” he said roughly.
“No you won’t.” Jesse looked him in the eye. “I’ll make sure of it.”
With one final sound of surrender, Connor surged up and kissed him. He settled his mouth over Jesse’s, plunging his tongue into Jesse’s mouth while he nudged Jesse’s hand away from the toy. “Let me,” he said.
And then he was pressing in deeper, biting at Jesse’s lips and swallowing his moan.
Jesse could feel the rough texture of Connor’s jeans against his inner thigh and the soft brush of his shirtsleeve against his balls as he fucked the toy in and out of Jesse’s body.
Jesse’s hips rose and fell with every thrust and he shuddered, clenching around the toy. He wanted to come but a part of him was half-afraid that Connor would change his mind after and he wanted it to last.
When Connor sat back, Jesse whined in protest. Connor reached for the remote, urging, “C’mon. I wanna see you come.”
He pressed the button—increasing the intensity of everything—and, with a gasp, Jesse let go. His whole body went tight, cock and balls pulsing with the hard, rhythmic contractions of his orgasm.
He shot up onto his chest, struggling to pull in enough oxygen, feeling like he was turning inside out. The release went on and on, his body trembling, his dick and balls aching when he’d emptied them completely.
“Off,” he gasped. “Off, it’s …”
Connor fumbled with the button, everything going supernova intense until it abruptly stopped.
Jesse fell back against the pillows, thighs still trembling, dick twitching a little. His skin was sheened with sweat and when he shifted, he could feel the toy still inside him. It was almost too much but he liked that, so he lay there limply, waiting to see how Connor would react now that the heat of the moment had passed.
“Fuck.” Connor set the remote down. “Fuck. I … fuck, you were right.”
“Yeah?” Jesse gave him a lazy smile because shit did he feel good right now.
“Yeah.” Connor sat back on his heels. “Yeah, I was jealous. Yeah, I want you. Yeah, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since July.”
“Mmm.” Jesse straightened his legs, then wrapped them around Connor’s waist. It was kinda hot that he was still fully dressed. And hard …
Jesse licked his lips at the thought. He was definitely going to have to do something about that. “Well, I have great news for you then,” he said with a smug little smile.
Connor blinked. “What’s that?”
“You’re going to have the next nine months to fuck me as often as you want.”
“Nine months, huh?” Connor said. “You think we’ll make it to the playoffs?”
Jesse grinned and sat up, getting a fistful of Connor’s shirt. The one he’d been dying to rip off him all night. “With you leading the team and me in net, we’re going all the way, baby,” he murmured against Connor’s mouth.