Chapter 10
Ten
Hawk left his meeting at five minutes until nine.
All three of the rest of the broadcast team, two former NHL players and a Canadian woman’s hockey star, were still sitting at the table, drinking wine, and they would probably be there for another hour or two.
But Hawk made his apologies and left, because he was ready to meet up with Caleb.
More than ready.
He grabbed a taxi back to his hotel, and Hawk held his breath as he keyed into his room, hoping against hope that Caleb was waiting for him inside. This was pretty wild, hooking up with Caleb again, but it was so worth it as far as he was concerned.
He stepped inside to find one of the bedside lamps on, a to-go box on the dresser just inside the door, and Caleb wrapped up in the coverlet on the bed, snoring lightly.
His heart thudded hard against his ribs. Hawk stared at Caleb for a moment, noting how long and shaggy his honey-colored hair was, how it curled against the back of his neck. He looked cold, his back to the door, his legs pulled up and his arms in the comforter.
So Hawk turned up the heat before he shrugged out of his coat and then his suit jacket. He’d been able to forgo the tie, thank God, but he still felt like he’d been traveling with the damn hockey team. Figured he’d be retired when they relaxed the rule about traveling in a suit.
Then he went to sit on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Caleb’s back. “Hey.”
Caleb hummed and stretched, turning to face him. “Hey. Sorry. I got cold.”
“Not a problem. I’m just glad you’re here.” He ran a hand down Caleb’s back, then peeled the coverlet away.
When he’d pictured this during the day, which he had with full sound and color, he’d pictured grabbing Caleb and pressing him right up against the door of the hotel room and kissing him until neither one of them could see, then stripping down and jacking each other hard and fast.
When Caleb rose up to kiss his thigh, then his belly, through his clothes, though, he got the feeling this was going to play out differently.
He ran his hand through Caleb’s hair, then tilted his head back so they could look at each other.
“You okay?” he asked.
Caleb gave him a smile that looked super wry. “I’m sore.”
Hawk frowned. “I thought you didn’t have a practice today.”
Caleb’s voice went muffled when he hid his face against Hawk’s belly. “Just some old injuries acting up. I didn’t bundle up well enough today.”
Huh. Caleb was so young to be having that kind of issue but, like hockey, the halfpipe was a high impact sport, and Caleb was nearing thirty. It wasn’t completely impossible.
“Would a nice warm shower help?” It often helped his knee. His old physical therapist said sometimes the wet heat helped expand constricted spaces in the joints.
“Yeah, it might.” Caleb looked up again, so sheepish. “I wanted to jump on you and bone right up.”
“Me too. But that’s okay.” He bent to kiss Caleb’s mouth, gently, wanting him to know it was fine. “We have time. Come on, you. Let’s get you all warm and loose. The bathroom is nice. The shower is actually full-sized.”
“That’s epic for Italy, huh?” Caleb slid off the bed, leaning on him when Hawk wrapped an arm around that lean waist.
“It’s a pretty good deal.” Showers in Italian hotels were often a one-person affair where a guy Hawk’s size could barely fit inside and couldn’t really turn around once in there.
Hell, his suite had a balcony and a tiny kitchen area, even. He’d upgraded from the hotel the network had wanted them in, and he wasn’t sorry for it one little bit.
He could have been pickier. Casey, the women’s hockey expert, had rented an apartment for her and her wife.
He led Caleb to the bathroom by the hand, trying not to frown when he noticed a subtle limp. “So, what’s in the box?”
“Huh?” Caleb looked at him, eyebrows going up.
“Sorry, was that too horror movie? The box. You brought a pastry box. What’s in it?” That seemed like a safe topic. It wasn’t small talk, so it didn’t violate the rule, but it wasn’t, “What’s wrong with your legs?”
Caleb grinned when they stopped in the bathroom and started tugging at his shirt. “Cannoli. And a couple of fruit tarts, but nothing with chocolate.”
“You do have my best interests at heart.” He laughed and shrugged out of the shirt once the buttons were all undone, baring him for Caleb’s hands, which slid over his pecs and down his abs.
“God, you are still so fucking ripped.”
Hawk wanted to preen a little bit at that, but he managed to not suck his gut in or anything. He still worked hard to keep his body in top shape because, damn it, he hadn’t chosen to retire. It had chosen him.
He tugged Caleb’s sweater off and then his T-shirt, loving that lean, muscled torso with the flat little brown nipples. He ran his thumbs over them before he turned and reached into the shower to start the water. While he waited for it to heat up, he took a kiss he really wanted.
Not a gentle, sweet one like on the bed, but something harder with more intent behind it. He pressed his lips to Caleb’s tongue, running over the seam between them, wanting him to open up and let him in.
Caleb brought both arms around his neck and held on, skin on skin from the waist up. He opened his lips and let Hawk in, taking the kiss making it something even more. The heat between them built into a raging inferno in what seemed like seconds.
Caleb tore his pants open and shoved them down along with his boxer briefs. So Hawk kicked out of them, glad he’d taken off his shoes. He had to bend over a little awkwardly to take his socks off, but while he was there, he just went ahead and tugged Caleb’s clothes off the rest of the way.
Steam was pouring out of the shower by now, so they stepped in and closed the glass door behind them, immediately moving into each other’s space under the spray and kissing again.
Hawk grabbed Caleb’s ass and pulled him close, and he could feel how hard Caleb was against his thigh. His cock pressed to Caleb’s belly. The friction there wasn’t quite enough, but also amazing.
Grabbing the shower gel, he squirted some on his hands before rubbing them together to get some lather.
Then he slid them all over Caleb’s upper body, from his neck and shoulders down his arms and over his belly.
He washed everything he could reach and then knelt to wash the rest, keeping his bad knee off the tile as much as possible.
Caleb sank one hand into his hair, holding on, looking at him with a serious and sure expression. “Look at you, taking care of me. Get up here though. I don’t need you on your knees.”
“Yeah, I probably don’t need to be kneeling on the tile anyway.” Hawk was teasing, but it was the truth. His knee had started to ache from that short time kneeling down.
“Exactly.” Caleb poked him in the chest. “Neither one of us are acrobatic twenty-on-year-olds anymore.”
“Oh, honey, I was twenty-four.”
“I know, so old.” Caleb laughed out loud, yelping when Hawk smacked his hip but then pulled him up for another kiss.
He let the water rain down around him. Let their hard cocks rub and get familiar with each other again. He wanted to do all the things. He wanted to suck Caleb off. He wanted to fuck him. But he felt as if they had time. Somehow he knew it was more important to simply learn one another again.
Caleb seemed to feel the same way because he grabbed the shower gel next and lathered up, washing Hawk thoroughly from head to toe and all the things in between, including his ass and his balls.
By the time they’d dried off, and he had wrapped Caleb in the big, fluffy robe that came with his room, then wrapping a towel around his own waist, they were both ready to get back into bed.
They slid under the covers together, Caleb burrowing into him for warmth, he thought.
And Hawk held him, pulling Caleb half on top of him, one leg across his hips.
He was careful not to jostle Caleb too much because he still looked sore, and Hawk didn’t want all those hard little muscles to tense back up.
“Is this okay?” Caleb petted him, his chest and his belly. Then back to his chest, curling his fingers and Hawk’s chest hair a little bit.
“This is great. Give me a little time to make sure you’re completely warmed up, and then we’ll have cannoli and fruit tarts in bed.”
Caleb glanced up at him, those green eyes bright with something he couldn’t name. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know we had more energetic plans for the night. I just—”
“You don’t have to ever apologize to me. We’ve both had a lot of wear and tear on our bodies, and you’re gearing up for a competition. I’m here for whatever you can give me. I feel good just being with you again, man. Is that weird?”
“No. It’s not weird. I feel the same way. Texting wasn’t enough.” Caleb just petted him and leaned on his chest, curling in tight. “Maybe we could just rest for a little while and then go for it after, huh?”
“Whatever you need, Caleb. I’m here for it.”
“Thanks.” Caleb gradually got heavier against him, going boneless, a soft snore sounded after a few minutes.
Hawk smiled because even though his dick was still trying to make itself heard, he just jonesed on the closeness and the warmth and the trust that Caleb was showing him after all these years. He could wait. He meant it. Whatever Caleb needed, he was going to try to give.