Chapter 14
Fourteen
Hawk worked the opening ceremonies, which he had to admit was not near as fun as attending them as an athlete. He had a good crew. He’d gelled with Casey, and the other two guys, Brian and Tony, were really decent, solid guys. Maybe a bit boring, but people probably said the same thing about him.
They kept up a steady stream of commentary, and it was up to him and Casey to do the color stuff while Brian and Tony did the scripted work.
So by the time the fireworks went off at the end of the official opening, his brain was fried, and Hawk was exhausted from trying to come up with clever things to say about countries, athletes, outfits, opera, and dancing.
They went off air finally. The night crew was going to come in and do the rest of the work. And he made sure everything was off like his mic and the cameras before he sat back in his seat and blew out a deep heavy breath.
“Right? Oh my god.” Casey grinned at him, smacking him in the arm with a closed fist. “That was like a marathon.”
Brian looked exhausted and he shook his head. “That was grueling, man.”
Hawk fist-bumped everybody. “But we got through it, right? Go team.”
“What do you think the chances of us actually getting back to the hotel are?” Tony asked.
“You guys have a dedicated transport, right? So you just have to make it there, and then I bet you can make it to the hotel pretty easily.” He was going to have to try to get a rideshare or something, and that was a little less fun.
Hopefully he could get something to drop him off at least close to his hotel, and then he could walk the rest of the way.
“I might hang out in the green room for a little while,” Brian said. There was a makeshift broadcaster prep room that had been set up on-site, and they could all just go hang out and have a drink or something, and a snack, and wait for some of the crowd to disperse if they needed to.
“I think I’m going to bundle up and go find my wife.” Casey winked at him. “See you tomorrow, guys.”
“Be safe out there,” Hawk warned. “Text me if you two need me.”
“We will.” She gave him a one-armed hug before heading out.
“See you tomorrow, Hawk,” Tony said, stacking his paperwork in a portfolio before stuffing it in a briefcase. Then he raised a hand and left, Brian following with a murmured goodnight.
Hawk stretched, then, since he was mostly alone for the moment, shucked his suit jacket, tie, and dress shirt, and pulled a fleece pullover out of his bag to tug on over his T-shirt.
Then he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and texted Caleb.
How’s it going out there?
I’m so ready to go somewhere warm
A grin stretched his cheeks, and he texted right back.
Might be hard to get a ride
I don’t mind waiting with you
OK. Meet me at the US athlete shuttle
They could both find that, and then they would go from there.
He made his way out of the booth area and threaded his way through throngs of workers, then athletes. At least he didn’t have to go through the enormous crowd of spectators too.
It took the better part of an hour for Caleb to show up, but they happened to catch the last two seats on a shuttle.
And then Hawk got the driver to let them off near his hotel rather than taking them all the way to the Olympic village and making them find their way back.
He seemed relieved to get two people off the packed bus and was kinda willing to ignore some of the security protocols to do it.
“Wow, what a wild night,” Caleb said, moving close to share warmth.
“Yeah, it was endless sitting in the booth.” Hawk snorted at his own thoughts. “I guess I’m not much on watching. They featured you, though.”
“Of course they did. I’m awesome.”
He shook his head, laughing. “You so are.” In fact, he thought Caleb was beyond awesome.
“Did you have montages yet?”
“Nah, those will run when you’re in prelims at least.” He frowned when he saw Caleb limping a little. “How are your ankles holding up?”
“Oh, I’m okay. A little stiff. How’s your knee?”
“Fine. I sat on my ass all night.” He put a hand to the small of Caleb’s back, letting his body mass shield the action from view.
Any other time he wouldn’t bother, but this was a very mixed crowd of people in the central city tonight, and not every visitor was from a place that was totally friendly.
But he wanted to get Caleb inside and get him warmed up. In fact, he even looked for a bar or maybe a gelato shop that they could duck into for a moment, but everything was packed.
By the time they made it back to the hotel, he hustled Caleb inside, wanting him to be more comfortable, as the limp had gotten worse. Hell, his knee was aching too.
“Shower?” Hawk asked. “I have a bottle of wine in the room. One of the Italian broadcasters gave it to me a couple of days ago.”
“Sure. Heated water and natural painkillers.” Caleb waited until they were in the elevator to grab the zipper of his fleece and pull Hawk down to him to steal a kiss.
Hawk kissed him right back, but he tried not to get his engine revved, though, because he could tell how sore and tired Caleb was.
It worried him.
They got to the room, and he took off his coat and gloves. “Get in the shower, baby. I’ll get the wine open so it can breathe and join you, huh?”
That got him another soft kiss and a squeeze to his ass. “You’re good to me. You know that?”
“I like it. I may be socially awkward, but I’ve always liked doing nice stuff for people I care about.” Was that too much information? Was it too much in general?
Caleb laughed, the sound tired but pleased, he thought. “I like it too, babe. I’m happy to be spoiled.” Stripping off his team USA uniform as he went, Caleb dropped his clothes on the floor, and soon enough the shower came on.
Hawk picked up Caleb’s clothes and draped them over a chair before he opened the bottle of wine with the opener the hotel had provided.
After setting it and a couple of hotel glasses next to the bed, Hawk stripped off as well before heading to the bathroom to see Caleb through the steamed-up glass, just standing under the spray from the rain bath showerhead, eyes closed, head tilted back.
“Okay if I come in?” Hawk wasn’t a little guy. He couldn’t slip into the shower easily without Caleb moving.
“Fuck, yeah.” Caleb moved toward the tiled wall, and Hawk stepped inside, reaching for his shampoo.
“So, how did this opening compare to the last two?” Hawk asked as he lathered Caleb’s hair.
“Uh… It was good. I mean, both PyeongChang and Beijing were cool, but, you know, Beijing was during Covid, so that was weird…”
“Yeah. Like I said, it’s different from the booth, but I enjoyed it. Having to keep talking, though, that was a lot of pressure.”
“I thought you did it all the time?” Caleb blinked water out of his eyes, then stared at him curiously.
“Hockey is different. It’s easy. They give us a sheet of stats and shit, and we toss those in while we talk about what’s happening on the ice. But trying to color commentate something like the opening and make sure there’s no dead air… Ugh.” He’d felt the pressure. Thank God for Casey.
“Huh. Well, I’m sure you did amazing.” Caleb grabbed the shower gel from the shelf, getting his hands all soapy. “You’re way less awkward that you think, you know.”
“Am I?” Hawk hummed when Caleb began washing, starting with his shoulders and arms, then his chest.
“Yeah. I mean, I can see where some shit makes you uncomfortable, but you got me all charmed.”
He laughed, massaging Caleb’s head for a moment, which made Caleb seem to lose words. He moaned, instead, leaning toward Hawk.
“That just means I’m good at hiding it. So yay.”
Caleb pinched his nipple, making him jump. “Don’t put yourself down.”
“Ow!” He rinsed Caleb’s hair, smiling. “Okay. I’ll do my best, huh?”
“Good.” Caleb scrubbed his chest, then his hips and ass. God, he loved those hands on him. Caleb had calluses in a totally different pattern than his own hockey ones, and his touch was firm and strong.
They washed each other, and his cock was half-hard the whole time, but it never got urgent. Hawk reminded himself that Caleb was exhausted, and he was pretty damn tired too.
They could be acrobatic in the morning, maybe, before Caleb had to leave. But now could just be wine and bed and being together.
They finally turned off the water and dried themselves, and Hawk noticed Caleb was moving better, which made relief loosen up his chest.
Caleb slid into bed with Hawk pouring the wine, and inspiration had him raiding the mini fridge for the little charcuterie tray he’d noticed in there.
“Oooh, fancy.” Caleb propped up against the pillows. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” They clinked glasses together.
They sipped wine and ate cheese and meat, and soon enough they had set everything aside and just cuddled up on the bed watching some kind of Italian documentary. Caleb put his head on Hawk’s shoulder and Hawk looped an arm around behind him so they could snuggle together.
“Are you looking forward to the prelims?” Hawk asked
“Is it bad for me to say I’m just ready to be done?” Caleb rubbed his stubbly cheek against Hawk’s skin, sighing. “I want that gold medal. I’ve worked my ass off for it for years. I’m on track for it, if my last year of events is any indication, but—”
Hawk stroked his back, just waiting, encouraging Caleb to take his time.
“But I guess I’m tired,” Caleb finally finished. “I’m hurting a lot, and I’ve been on a tour of some kind since I was fifteen, and I’m ready to retire. So medal or not, this will be my last Olympics.”
“Oh, baby. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s shit-hard, but it’s totally reasonable.”
“Yeah?” Caleb patted his belly. “You don’t think it’s weird?”
“I think whatever you want to do is what you want to do. It’s your body, and it’s your career.”
Caleb glanced up at him, those bright green eyes full of surprise. “You’re the first person who’s said that to me. My coach keeps telling me I’ve got another two or three years left in me.”
“But I imagine he’s also worried about your health, right?”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “The team doctor is worried for my health, my doctor back home is, but my coach, I think, he just sees gold medals and endorsements, and so does my agent.” He’d lost his coach Brandon after the Beijing games because the man had retired and was now living somewhere in Alaska, he thought.
His current coach, Tyson DeLallo, was great, but he wasn’t as careful with him.
“Ugh, well, I can tell you as somebody who’s had a major injury that if you can avoid that, you’re doing well.” Hawk tried not to tense up because thinking about his broken knee didn’t do him any good. “But seriously, I think you need to make your own decision.”
“Thanks.” Caleb patted his chest. “That actually means a lot to me. You’re not just blowing smoke up my ass either, I can tell.”
“Nope, I’m not a blowing smoke kind of guy. In fact, I have trouble with that, so you know I’m sincere if I say it.” Hawk was probably the worst liar in the history of the earth. Maybe, maybe not. His mom might be worse at it than he was.
Caleb’s fingers traced patterns on his chest, tugging a bit at the hair there, and he had to smile because Caleb was never still. But the touches started to slow down, and he could feel Caleb going lax against him, his breathing evening out until he was sound asleep.
Hawk smiled up at the ceiling. He would wait until Caleb moved a little bit before he turned the lamp off, but he was glad he could give Caleb this.
Give him some good rest before he had to go up and start competing.
Hawk kept telling himself that what he felt for Caleb wasn’t new.
It was eight years old. He’d had plenty of time to process it.
Even if they’d only spent a minuscule amount of time together. It didn’t matter.
And this time, he was going to try really, really damn hard not to let Caleb up and disappear on him.