Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Luka
Reid pulls away.
“I can’t,” he rasps, and my stomach drops. “You’ve been drinking, you’re not thinking—“
“It was non-alcoholic.”
“What?”
“Kirkston dared me to chug a full pitcher. I wasn’t going to do that if it was real beer. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
His palm comes up to rest against my cheek, and he brushes his thumb lightly over my bottom lip. It’s not exactly secluded out here, but against the wall we have some cover from the shadows. I lean into his touch and slide my hands around his waist to his back and pull him closer.
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” I repeat, peering up into his deep brown eyes. “I know exactly what I want.”
“And that is?”
I spin us around and press my hands against his chest, shoving him back against the wall with an oomph.
“I want to know how you taste,” I say, and then I push up on my toes and kiss him again.
This time, he doesn’t pull away. His large, warm hands grip my waist as his tongue fights mine for control. His stubble scratches deliciously against my skin.
Just like I imagined, he’s sweet, almost like honey, the scent of his earthy cologne filling my nose and heightening the flavor of him.
A low, greedy moan rumbles through Reid, and my cock thickens in reply.
If this were a dream, I’d drop to my knees and blow him right here in this alleyway.
It would make one hell of a birthday present, that’s for sure.
But this isn’t a dream, and just behind this wall waits our entire team and his family.
I break our kiss and step back two paces.
“That was . . .” I begin, my fingers brushing along my lips, reveling in the taste of him that lingers there.
“I’m a bit out of practice,” he says, and a pang hits my chest.
“I was going to say incredible.”
“You were?”
Before I can reply, though, the side door opens, and White pokes his head around.
“Oh, thank fuck you haven’t killed each other out here. Is everything good?”
I turn away a little, shielding my half chub, so as to not give away just how good we are.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Reid replies.
“Okay, then get your asses back in here, Aunt Peggy is lighting your candles.”
Reid starts to follow him in, but pauses by the door and turns his attention back to me.
“Can we . . . talk after?”
“You still want me to stay?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Then I’ll stay.”
He smiles, and it’s like seeing an eclipse for the first time, only those might actually happen more often. It brightens up his face, and the fine lines around his eyes crinkle deeper, giving me the impression he used to smile a lot. Maybe he just doesn’t smile much around me? Well, he does now.
Back inside, we do cake and speeches. Reid’s brothers, David and Benji, give a surprisingly heartfelt speech about how much their Dad Bro has done for them, and Reid keeps it brief, thanking everyone for coming before raising his glass.
After that, it’s like he’s on a mission to talk to everyone in the room but me. I join a group chat he’s having with White and a few other guys, and like a second later, he pretends to spot someone waving his way behind me and excuses himself to go say hi.
I give up and decide I’m better off just waiting until after everyone leaves.
I’m standing at the bar with Kirkston’s wife, Otter, as she’s telling me about some intense fire they were called to a few weeks back, when I spot Reid laughing with Dawes and Harris, but then his eyes land on me.
Without thinking, I fold my arms over the bar and adjust my stance, pushing my ass out in his direction.
He bites his lip a little, shaking his head before returning to his conversation, but I still catch him glancing my way every chance he gets. Okay, this could be fun.
I do everything I can after that to tease Reid, and it’s the most fun I’ve had in ages.
When I get up from a table, I purposefully drop my keys, so that I have to bend to get them, and of course, I’m sure that Reid’s right behind me when I do it.
Later, I order a disgustingly sweet mocktail, just because I spotted one of the girlfriends drinking one, and it comes with a thick straw.
I sit at the bar and wait until Reid’s gaze finds me, then I suck the straw into my mouth, letting my eyes flutter closed a little as I drink it down, like it’s the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.
I know at least one thing that I’d prefer to be sucking on, and that’s exactly the thought I want popping into Reid’s mind right now.
I would have blown him right there in the alley, which would have been dumb, and not just because of the party going on in here, but being arrested for public indecency is not exactly the headline either of us wants to see.
When I pop off the straw, I hold his gaze and wipe the corner of my mouth with my pointer finger, then suck the tip of my finger into my mouth for just a second. I watch Reid gulp, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as his face grows pinker, and I turn away satisfied.
“Are you having a good time?” Colt asks me as we sit at one of the small bar tables, picking at a bowl of fries. They brought out towers of pizzas earlier, and while I still think the pizza I had in Boston was better, this place is the best I’ve tasted in Philly so far.
“Yeah, it’s nice hanging with the team away from the rink. We should do this more often.”
“Coach usually plans at least one bonding event every few weeks, but because he knew the brothers had this planned for Raines, he chipped in for the party instead.”
“That’s cool of him. My birthday’s in December, and I’m more into outdoor games like paintball, go-karting, and shit like that, just in case he asks.”
“I’ll make sure he knows,” Colt laughs.
Reid is talking with his brothers a few tables behind us. He’s positioned himself at the table in the one seat that faces my direction, and his eyes keep flicking my way like they’ve done all night since our rendezvous in the alley.
“Is it getting hot in here?” I ask, and Colt shrugs.
“Maybe a little.”
“I’m hot,” I say, and I strip out of my jacket, letting it fall over the chair back. Then I stretch my arms up over my head, gripping my hands together, and my shirt tightens over my biceps. I make sure to see Reid checking me out before I bring them down.
“Better?” Colt asks.
“Much. So, this is like your second year, right?”
“Yeah, I was brought up last year when Cross broke his collarbone. His recovery’s taking longer than he expected, but he’ll be back eventually.”
“They wouldn’t trade you, though. You’ve been killing it ever since you came up.”
“Yeah, I guess, but I only have a two-year contract, so they could.”
“I guess that could be said about any of us,” I say when I look over and notice Reid is gone.
I try to look for him without being too obvious. When I finally find him, he’s shaking hands with a few of the guys who are leaving.
“Last call,” the bartender shouts, and a few people grab a last drink order.
Suddenly my stomach is a flurry of butterflies.
Okay, how do I do this? I can’t just hang back while everyone else leaves, that would be weird.
His brothers probably expect him to go home with them too. They brought him here. Shit.
I go to the bathroom as a way to delay my departure, and when I come out, there are only a few people left. His brothers are taking the gifts out to pack into the car, and Reid is standing by the door with his aunt Peggy.
I guess I’ll head out and wait by my car. No, that would be even weirder. Oh, I can wait until he’s coming out and then pop the hood like there’s something wrong with it. Yeah, that’ll work. Maybe.
“Times up, rook,” White says, and I smile and nod.
“Yep, just grabbing my jacket,” I say, picking it up and following him over to Reid.
“Hope you had a good night, brother,” White says, wrapping Reid in a hug and slapping his back like all guys seem to do whenever they hug.
Like the tapping is their way of making it more manly.
God forbid they just fucking hug. I won’t be hugging Reid, though.
Half because it would look weird for his new rookie to hug him for his birthday, and half because if I did, I can’t be sure I won’t get an instant chubby being pressed up against him.
My cock twitches. Fuck, nope, don’t think about it.
“Yeah, so, thanks for inviting me,” I say.
“No worries, rook,” he replies, and we shake hands.
I glance down at his large fingers gripping mine tightly and instantly flash a fantasy of seeing those fingers wrapped around a totally different part of my body. My cock thickens, and I pull him in for a half hug, whispering in his ear, “I’ll be waiting outside if you still want to . . . talk.”
I step back, and he gives me a curt nod before turning his attention to the next person to leave.
I get out to my car and wait inside it, watching everyone else leave, and when Reid and his brothers come out last, I pop the hood and climb out of the car.
“Everything okay?” David calls.
“Thing won’t start. I’ve called Triple-A.”
“You can’t wait out here all alone,” Benji adds. “Call them and get them to come out in the morning. We can give you a lift home.”
“I’m okay, they said it won’t be long.”
“I’ll wait with him,” Reid offers.
“You don’t have to,” I say, trying not to let my excitement shine through in my voice.
“I can’t leave our star rookie out here alone in the middle of the night. You said they won’t be long. You can drop me off at home after they get you started.”
“I mean, if you’re sure?”
“I’m positive. Thanks, boys, for a great night. I’ll see you back at the house. Don’t wait up, who knows what ‘not long’ actually is in Triple-A terminology.”
Benji laughs and hugs his brother tight—no slaps on the back, just arms wrapped around each other, real and totally adorable.
David practically launches into his brother’s arms next, hugging him just as tight.
It reminds me of how I hug my parents, and it hits me that it’s exactly like I hug my mom and dad, because he is pretty much their parent.
He raised them; they call him Dad Bro. They love him, and in their hug, it’s like I can see Reid even more clearly now. The real him.
He walks over slowly as his brothers leave the parking lot.
“Please tell me there’s actually nothing wrong with your car?” he says, and I laugh and close the hood.
“Not a damned thing. So, where do you want to . . . talk? I’d offer up my place, but I’m still with my parents while I look for a place.”
“There’s a hotel not far from here. I booked a room.”
“When?” I ask as he holds the driver’s door open for me to climb in.
“After I watched you tease me all night. I figured I’d either be taking you there or jerking off to a replay of those images all alone.”
“I’d love to watch that,” I say, looking up into his eyes glistening under the streetlights as I climb into my car. He closes the door behind me and makes his way around to the passenger side, climbing in quickly.
“The Rosewood on Fifth,” he says, sliding his palms down the thighs of his jeans. “And if you can get there in under three minutes, I just might let you watch whatever you want.”