Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Certain things needed to be done before his date with his coach.
Date? Hmmm, something wasn’t right there.
Certain things needed to be done before his absolutely-not-a-date with his coach.
Things like showering, swishing a gallon of mouthwash, brushing his teeth once or thrice, and dabbing just the right amount of cologne on his wrists and neck, and then another dab for good measure.
Then, he had to get dressed into the same tuxedo he was wearing prior to make it look as if he hadn’t just scrubbed every inch of his body.
Had to dry his hair and then there was the pacing.
From the bathroom of the hotel room to the door, back to the bathroom and to the door. Heart pounding. Mind racing.
With five minutes left before Cooper’s deadline, Nico opted for one final shot of tequila from the mini bar. And then swished another gulp of minty freshness.
Nico only had to knock on the door of 2403 once before the door cracked open with Cooper’s blue eyes staring through the opening.
“Oh, I thought that deadbolt was staying locked all night,” Nico said with a calculated amount of sass that he deemed just the right amount of charming.
Cooper slammed the door on Nico’s face, followed by the unmistakable sound of the deadbolt slamming into place.
Nico leaned his head sideways against the door, desperately trying to hear anything on the other side of it. All he heard was silence. He raised a hand and gently knocked.
The deadbolt unlatched and the door slipped just open enough for Cooper to grab Nico by the jacket collar and rip him inside. By the time the door was closed again, Cooper had Nico pinned against it.
Every time Cooper looked at him, it was with eyes equally weighted between disbelief and disdain, but what could Nico say?
He loved keeping his coach on edge. But this time, Cooper didn’t break his gaze.
Just stared at him with feral eyes as his chest trembled.
Nico reached out a hand to steady Cooper, and swore he could feel his coach’s heart about to break through the bones in his chest.
His own heart pounded like thunder, because what the fuck were they doing?
The silence read like a threat, but Nico—for once in his life—was unable to speak.
So silent, Nico could hear the rumblings in the back of Cooper’s throat.
The other man tilted his head down, brushing his forehead against Nico’s.
With a softness Nico hadn’t experienced before.
Every shallow breath the man took echoed through the startling silence.
Every breath, every brush of warm air against his face stirred something within him. Something in his pants.
Nico swallowed and asked in a hushed whisper, “Aren’t you worried someone might have seen me?”
“There’s three rooms on this floor,” Cooper whispered back. “I booked all three.” He grazed his hands over the sides of Nico’s arms. “What did you tell your date?”
“I don’t have a date.”
“I saw you with that pretty girl all night,” Cooper said, and it came out more like an inquiry than a fact.
“That’s my sister.” Nico laughed quietly. “She got a little too tipsy so I sent her home in an Uber.”
Cooper arched his brow. “She’s not going to question where you’re at?”
“I’m sure I can come up with a lie.”
Nico wished to ask him the same type of questions.
What about Stassi? Your very public girlfriend?
But he considered the thought it was none of his business and it’d spoil a good thing.
This good thing he’d been thinking about for weeks, to finally.
.. hopefully… this thing he couldn’t say out loud.
This thing he tried to push from his mind.
But his cock was running out of places to run, growing harder as Cooper shifted his knee between Nico’s thighs.
Cooper’s hand found its way to the inside of Nico’s jacket and grazed over the fabric of his shirt on his side. A smooth caress that shifted into something rougher as the coach shifted the weight of his body deeper into Nico.
Nico squeezed a hand between the two men and made a quick over-the-pants adjustment of his cock, pushing it to the side to have enough room to breathe in tight briefs.
Cooper chuckled lowly, his eyes watching as Nico pulled his hand away.
But still, Cooper was so close. Lips so damn close to his.
Cooper nuzzled his mouth against Nico’s ear. “So, you’ve never kissed a man.”
Nico stared down the back of Cooper’s neck. Underneath the dim yellow lighting of the penthouse suite, he noticed tiny hairs standing on end. “No.”
“Would you like to?”
“Ma… Maybe,” Nico choked on the word as it came out, and even then it still came out more like a question than an answer.
“Yes…” Cooper pulled back, eyes staring straight into Nico’s, “or no?”
Nico hooked a hand around his coach, holding him by the back of his warm neck. Held his gaze there for a moment and wondered if the agony of waiting was as bad for his coach as it was for him. Felt like it took forever to respond with a quiet assuredness, “Yes.”
“Say please.”
“Nah, fuck this.” Nico pushed against Cooper, broke free from the hold the other man had on him, and spun in a quick circle.
It was now Cooper pinned against the door.
“I don’t beg,” Nico barked. “Besides, I didn’t come here to kiss.”
The two of them reversed roles. Nico adjusted himself once again before pressing his body against his coach’s. Reached down and passed a hand over Cooper's crotch, felt the hardness of Cooper’s cock that was somehow harder than his.
Cooper eked out a desperate whisper, “Beg.”
But Nico calculated it was Cooper who was begging.
Nico held all the power here. He reached for the other man’s belt and hastily undid it, the metal clanking against itself.
Cooper latched onto Nico’s wrist with a strong grip, holding him in place. Cooper was stronger. Clearly, the man’s prior injuries did nothing to slow down his training regimen.
“I can see it in your eyes,” Cooper said. “Your puppy eyes are doing all the begging, but I just need…” He exhaled sharply, flustered, cheeks flushing. “Need to hear you say it.”
Nico relented with a slow nod, the words escaping gritted teeth, “Please.”
Cooper’s eyes lit up as he brushed the back of his fingers over Nico’s cheek, all while Nico stood there stuck in stone. Feeling stupid because he wasn’t a beggar, he wasn’t an asker, and he wasn’t the kind of guy to say, please.
And he did it anyway.
Because he was a good boy?
Fuck that.
Cooper brushed over Nico’s bottom lip with his thumb. Real gentle, real seductive. But this wasn’t what Cooper forced him to beg for. Nico knocked his coach’s hand away and took the leap, pressing his mouth against Cooper’s.
Cooper stumbled back, his body colliding with the door.
The lips of a man felt different—bigger, dryer, and when Cooper pressed a hand on Nico’s cheek, they tasted hungrier.
Cooper gripped Nico at the hip, spun him around and threw him back against the door. This thing between them, this idea of who’s in control and who isn’t. This back and forth. Nico let Cooper win this battle and for the first time in his life, pondered the idea that maybe he liked losing.
Nico gave into the moment, gave into whatever it was that Cooper craved from him.
The dryness of Cooper’s lips turned into something wetter. Not a sign of tenderness in sight. Nothing to cling to other than the other man’s body as Cooper threatened to devour him whole, stealing every last bit of oxygen.
When Cooper finally broke away, Nico gasped for air and prayed another round would soon follow.
Cooper bowed his head against Nico’s, breath warm and ragged. “Now, you can’t say you’ve never kissed another man.”
“Less talking,” Nico begged, reaching for another kiss but his attempt was rebuffed.
Cooper began to tread backwards, slow and steady but gaze unwavering. “Would you like another first?”
Nico met each of Cooper’s steps. “Yes, please.”
A half-cocked grin rolled over Cooper’s lips. “There you go.”
Cooper stopped in place, standing against the backdrop of floor-to-ceiling windows with the curtains drawn shut around the entire penthouse.
“There are rules,” Cooper said as he pulled off his jacket. He disposed of it onto the back of a chair parked against a dining table large enough for a party of eight.
Nico tore off his own jacket, waiting to hear these rules he knew he’d most likely break. He had nowhere to place the jacket, so he threw it over his shoulder for now.
“Firstly, knock it off with the public shenanigans.” Cooper untied his bowtie and tossed it onto the table. “The team jet, the bathroom downstairs. It’s a dangerous game and it’s not worth the cost of losing.”
Nico rimmed his lip with a finger, amused. “You have the power to say no.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Cooper turned and disappeared into the bedroom.
Nico hesitated for a moment, waited for his coach to come back. But when Cooper didn’t come back, Nico made his way into the bedroom where Cooper stood beside a nightstand, fidgeting with the cufflinks on his shirt.
“I don’t have control,” Cooper said, voice raspy. “Not when it comes to this.”
“Comes to what?”
Cooper looked him dead in the eyes. “This part of me I’m forced to hide.
Sometimes, it makes you do stupid shit like going over to a rookie’s house on a Sunday afternoon.
Stupid shit like not locking the door behind me in a mile-high bathroom.
” He dropped the cufflinks onto the nightstand and pointed to the bed. “Have a seat.”
Nico did as told, taking a seat on the edge of the plush bed, the weight of his body sinking into it. He stretched his arms out and steadied himself with his hands.
Cooper tore his belt through the loops and dropped it to the floor. Stepped between Nico’s parted legs and angled himself high above the rookie.