Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
TYLER
I hoped I hadn’t freaked him out by coming on too strong earlier. I bit into my slice. He’d been looking at me funny ever since. And Sylvia? Yeah, that was a problem. He’d better not be tempted to hook up with her to see if he still liked girls. I winced. My thinking was fucked up and flawed. We’d barely been together, and I already wanted him all to myself. This was his journey, and I needed to let him navigate it how he saw fit. I drank my beer. Even if it hurt a little bit, it was what I signed up for. I licked sauce off my fingers. “So, tell me what you know about gay sex?” Might as well get this conversation started.
His eyes widened. “Well, I, uh, I’ve been watching gay porn.” He ate some pizza.
“Okay, so you have a clue. What we just did on the wall over there”—I huffed a laugh. At some point, we needed to move things into a bed—“was called frotting.”
His brows snapped up. “It has a name?”
With a nod, I said, “It does. I rather like it myself.” I gave him a cheeky grin. Might as well make this less awkward by injecting some humor. “We can keep doing that if you’re into it or?—”
“What about blowjobs?” He licked his lips. “I really like those. ”
“I don’t know of a guy who doesn’t.” I set my pizza down. “Do you think you’re ready to put my, uh, my dick in your mouth? You know, so you can reciprocate?” Jesus Christ, this sounded juvenile. But then, I’d never had this conversation with Cory in high school and look where it had gotten me? I wanted this time to be different, and here we were.
“Yeah, I think I could do that.” He tipped his beer can back. “I could try, at least.”
I sipped my beer, fighting the image of him sucking me off.
“Do you top or bottom?” He sank his teeth into his lower lip.
Slapping my hand to my mouth, I startled and spat beer into my palm. Beer dribbled down my chin. “Shit, what?” I snatched a napkin off the table and wiped my face, choking out a chuckle. He had a gay friend. Of course he would have heard those terms. He wasn’t stupid.
“Did I ask it wrong?” Furrowing his brows, his gaze fell to his plate. “I thought it would be pretty important.”
“No, you didn’t ask it wrong. I’m vers. I like all of the above.” He was right. It was pretty important if we were going to have anal sex anytime soon. As my heart jolted, I stared at him for a second. “Have you been watching guys fuck each other?”
Shrugging a shoulder, he said, “I’ve seen a few of those. Mostly, I’ve been watching guys jerk off or give each other head.” His cheeks reddened.
My attention dipped between his legs. A clear boner stretched to the band of his joggers. My skin heated. Somehow his inexperience and openness were turning me the fuck on. “Tell me what you like the most.” I slid a new slice of pizza onto my plate and took a bite.
He adjusted his cock to the side. “I think the blowjobs are really hot.” He sipped more beer. “I don’t know if I’m ready for anal. It looks like a lot of work.”
“It is.” I thought through this. “For the guy on the bottom.” When he was ready, if we got that far, I’d prep beforehand to make it easier on him. “But for now, let’s just ease into things, okay?” I was pretty sure he still had to process what we’d done already.
“Sure.” He ate more pizza, and his breath caught. “What about condoms?” His gaze flicked to mine as he chewed.
“We should use them unless we both get tested.” Fuck if I was going to catch something from Sylvia or the other girl I’d seen him with. But then, I was no saint myself. “I always use them even though I’m on PrEP.” I peered at him. Did he know what that was? “There are other things you can get besides HIV.”
He straightened his spine. “Well, I’ve always used condoms too. Not only do I not want some STD, I’m not ready to be a baby-daddy.” He smirked.
I chuckled. “Yeah, I hear ya. That’s smart.” I held up my fist and he bumped it with his own. We were on the same page when it came to our sexual health, at least. “Have you ever had anything?”
“Nope, and I’m keeping it that way.” He picked a pepperoni off his slice and dropped it into his mouth. “I know it’s not related, but after seeing my mom sick with MS, I’ve been really careful with my health. So many things can go wrong, you know?” His grin waned.
I hadn’t thought of that. I set my empty plate next to the pizza box and shifted closer to him. “How is your mom? Have you spoken to her lately?”
“We talk on the phone periodically, but it’s been a while.” He picked at the crust on his pizza. “It’s hard. I’m trying to get away from all that so I can focus on my hockey career. If she’s in a bad spot when I call, I can’t sleep and worry for days.” He shook his head. “Sometimes I text one of my brothers first, so I know what I’m going to face.”
I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Well, we’re in this together now. You know the only people I’ve told about my mom are you and Myles? And the only reason I told Myles was because he overheard me talking to my mom.” He had to know he could confide in me.
“Yeah?” His gaze searched my face. “It’s nice having someone here who understands. I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”
As my gaze ran over the adorable-as-fuck freckles across his nose, my heart bloomed with warmth. Talking with him was easy. I pressed my lips to his and held the kiss, breathing him in, and then broke it. “We’ll be there for each other, on and off the ice.”
“I’m glad I came to Arizona, Tyler, and I’m really fucking glad I met you.” A soft smile spread over his lips.
“I’m glad you did too.” I hugged him tightly. This was different from what I’d had in high school. It was so much better. I glanced at the television resting on a console across from us. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. “Hey, want to watch something together?”
“Sure.” He gave me a broad smile.
After watching an action movie and cuddling with Rowan on his couch, I’d given him a long kiss goodnight and successfully refrained from pinning him against his wall or couch again. Now I was walking through the front door into the squad house with the feel of Rowan’s soft lips and sexy-as-hell body on my mind. I shut the door and turned around.
“Would you look at what the cat dragged in?” Ace, video game controller in hand and sitting in the corner of our sectional, laughed and paused the NHL game on the television.
Myles set his controller on the couch and beamed at me. “Someone looks satisfied.”
“Ha-ha. I got all my assignments done.” I stepped inside, set my backpack on the floor by the sectional, and ambled into the kitchen to grab a Gatorade from our refrigerator. “Can either of you say you’re all caught up?”
“Yes.” Myles scoffed. “You spent the whole night over at Rowan’s, and all you did was study?”
Ace held out his hand. “Hey, can you bring me one of those, please?”
“Sure.” I snatched another one and waited with the refrigerator door open. Myles was sure to pipe in at any?—
“While you’re there, can you get me one too?” Myles asked. “Pretty please?”
“Of course.” I pulled a third bottle out, strolled to the couch, and handed out the drinks. After twisting off the cap, I sank into the end of the sofa and close to Myles. “Rowan’s a nice guy. We hung out a little bit. Had some pizza and watched a movie.” I could tell them that part of it. It was up to Rowan to let me know when he was ready for me to say more.
“Sounds like a lovely evening.” With a smirk, Ace drank his Gatorade. “So, I guess you two are going to play well on Friday and not make me work so hard for a shutout?”
“We always play well together.” I huffed. “Last Saturday was an off night.” I’d never live that down.
Ace leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and pointed at me. “Whatever was off was something between you two. It was obvious the whole way home.”
“And at practices until yesterday, eh.” Myles sipped his drink.
I pressed my lips together. They were right, and they were my best friends. Of course they’d have noticed. “We’re all good, okay? Let’s leave it at that.” I glanced at the paused game on the television. Of course Ace had made Myles play goalie, but Myles was winning. “Looks like Myles could teach you a thing or two about defending the goal, huh, Ace?”
With a scoff, Ace flung backward into the couch. “He’s just been lucky tonight.”
Myles smirked at Ace. “Right on. ”
“Yeah, okay.” I shook my head and drank more Gatorade. It was late. “I’m heading off to bed. You guys should too. We’ve got a game tomorrow, remember?”
“Yeah, about that.” Myles glanced at Ace. “We were thinking about hitting the gay bar after for our celly shot since Coach decided to try not having a morning skate tomorrow.” He lifted his brows. “Zoma is coming with us.”
Would Rowan want to go with us? “Yeah?” If he did, how would we hide our feelings in a place like that? “I’ll talk to Rowan and see if he’s up for it.” I stood and ticked my head at each of them. “See you in the morning. I’m going to bed.” Before they could ask any more questions about Rowan.
The next night, we were playing Providence and Ace was well on his way to earning his shutout. We’d scored two goals, and it was the third period. I hit the ice with Mackenzie and raced toward the puck while Cummings and a Providence winger battled for it against the boards in our D-zone.
As I sped toward the boards and Cummings, my periphery caught a flash of motion and I swiveled my head.
Mackenzie flew off his skates onto his back and rolled around in obvious pain.
“Fucker.” Mackenzie wasn’t even close to the puck yet. With heat swarming my chest, I set my sights on the asshole who hit him. “Hey, hoser, gotta play dirty to get anything done out here?” I skated in front of the guy, a Providence winger named Knight, putting myself between him and the puck, which Cummings made off with down the ice. If I wouldn’t get a suspension, I’d have decked him.
“Get out of my way.” Knight sneered at me. “Mackenzie had it coming.”
“Why is that?” I glanced behind him at Mackenzie, pushing onto his skates. Good, he was okay. Skating backward, I swayed in front of Knight.
“We have a history. He had it coming.” Knight glared toward Mackenzie, twisted around, and took off behind the net.
“What the fuck was that?” Shifting on the edges of his skates, Ace kept his eye on Knight.
“Don’t know.” I skated toward Mackenzie, now on his feet. “You okay?” I patted his arm.
Flinching, he nodded. “Yeah.”
As we headed toward Providence’s net, where all the action was taking place, I said, “Do you know Knight?”
“I do.” He kept his gaze straight ahead. “Talk later.” As he threw himself into the pack of players vying for the puck at the edge of the goal, he elbowed Knight.
Knight swung his stick out and cracked it over Mackenzie’s back, the stick falling to the ice in two pieces and sliding off.
Falling to the ice, Mackenzie grabbed his back. “Fuck!”
The ref blew a whistle and skated into the melee.
Everyone stopped.
“Holy shit.” I hightailed it to Mackenzie, fell to my knees beside him, and threw a glare at Knight. “You should get thrown out of the game for that, asshole!” I set my gloved hand on Mackenzie’s back and leaned in. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just smarts like a motherfucker. I think he hit me in the kidney.” He sat on his ass on the ice, his legs sprawled out.
A ref skated to us. “He okay?”
“I’m fine.” Mackenzie tensed his face, parting his lips. “Just need a minute.”
Knight blew past us with a new stick in his hand. “Next time you want to fuck around with someone else’s girl, remember this.” He smacked Mackenzie’s helmet with his gloved hand.
What the fuck? With my chest burning, I hopped to my skates, shoved Knight against the boards, and held him there with my stick against his chest. “Whatever the fuck beef you have with Mackenzie, you have to go through me first. ”
“Why, you his boyfriend? Did he start fucking dudes too?” He scoffed.
Cummings grabbed my arm. “Dude, stop. Don’t get suspended.” He ticked his head toward Knight. “He’s not worth it.”
“You’re absolutely right.” I freed Knight, glanced toward Coach, who motioned for me to come in, and then skated to Mackenzie.
Mackenzie stood, planting his hand on his side and stretching backward and to the side. “That’s going to leave a bruise.”
“You and your bruises. I’ll help you ice it later.” I wagged my brows at him. Fuck, did anyone see that? I scanned the rink. Everyone was skating around, waiting on the call.
“Can’t wait for later.” He puckered his lips, making a fake kiss.
“Jesus Christ.” With a chuckle, I hung my head and shook it. “Let’s go. I might be headed to the sin bin.” But damn, it was fun flirting with him a little bit on the ice.
After the post-game routine and a pep talk by our coaches, we showered and dressed in our suits. As I slid into my coat, I glanced at Mackenzie, gliding his slacks up his legs. We had to talk about what had happened out there, how the hell this Knight guy knew him, and the accusation he’d thrown out. I’d also had yet to talk to him about the celly.
Ace, dressed in his deep-blue suit, stepped to me with this hand raised. “Thanks to you and Mackenzie, we pulled off the shutout.”
I slapped his hand. “Hell yeah.” Ace deserved it. He was on his way to a contract with the Red Wings. Which reminded me—I would probably be hearing from my agent any day now .
“So, The Club on Mill?” Ace glanced from me to Mackenzie. “You in, or are you too sore from that hit?”
Mackenzie’s gaze cut to mine. “I, uh…” He bit the side of his lower lip. “Hodge?”
Shit, he wanted some sort of confirmation from me. If I didn’t go, it might look suspicious. And if I went without him…that wasn’t cool. “Yeah, let’s go. It’ll be fun.” I plastered my best smile on my face.
“Good.” Nodding, Ace said, “I’m picking up Zoma, and we’ll meet you there.”
“Sure, see you later.” I glanced at Cummings, buttoning his shirt. “See you there?” It was a rhetorical question, and I wanted to get Mackenzie out of there so we could talk.
“Of course.” Cummings shrugged into his black suit jacket.
I slung my gear bag over my shoulder and up-nodded Mackenzie. He looked about ready to leave too. “Follow me out?”
“Yeah.” He grabbed his duffel and threw it over his shoulder. “After you.”
I strode out of the locker room and into the hallway with a few of the other guys. “Can I follow you to your place?” Then we could talk, and no one would get suspicious.
“Sure, see you over there.” He offered me a flirty smile.
Did he think we were getting a quickie in before the bar? With a snicker, I shook my head.
After parking and following Rowan to his front door, I stood behind him, breathing in the spicy and musky scent of his shampoo, my dick waking. I couldn’t be alone with him and not think about sex. I had to restrain myself.
He unlocked the door, threw his bag next to his couch, and faced me, his lips shining in the ambient light.
God, he looked good. I flicked on the light, stepped to him, and cupped both his cheeks, pressing my mouth to his and then sliding my tongue between his lips. Heat flared in my body and tingled in my balls. But I wasn’t here for this. I wanted to know what the hell Knight had been going on about. I broke the kiss. “I have questions.”
His hooded and darkened gaze met mine, and he scraped his teeth over his upper lip. “What sort of questions?” He leaned in, fixated on my lips.
“No.” I pushed him back. “Tell me about Knight. How do you know him, and what was he saying about fucking his girl?”
“Shit.” His shoulders slumped as he turned from me and trailed his hand through his still-damp bangs. “I fucked up.” He fell into the corner of his sofa.
“Okay.” I set my duffel down. I’d only brought it in to change into the jeans and shirt I’d brought for the bar. “How did you fuck up?” I rounded the end of the couch and sank down next to him.
“It was last year. I was at a frat party, and his girlfriend was there.” He huffed an exhale. “I played juniors with the guy, so I knew him and his girl.” He scrubbed his face.
I stared at him. “You hooked up with another guy’s girl?” This was not what I’d expect from him. Oh, but he did have player tendencies…shit.
He threw his hands into his lap and shifted to face me. “Look, she came on to me. She acted like he didn’t even exist, so I thought they’d broken up or something.” His forehead wrinkled. “She was hot.”
“You didn’t ask?” I raised my brows. “How good of friends were you with Knight?” No wonder Knight had wanted to pound him into the boards.
“We weren’t friends. We were teammates for one season. I went on to Boston College, and he ended up at Providence. I’d only seen his girl with him a few times, but he talked trash about her in the locker room.” He dipped his gaze and fisted his hands. “ It didn’t sound like he was into her all that much. I have no idea why he’s so pissed off now.”
“Wait a minute.” I grabbed his fist and twined my fingers through his. This plot was thickening by the minute. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You were in juniors with this guy who was a dick to his girl, then when you found her at a frat party, she came on to you and you two hooked up?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know they were still together. I swear it.” He pursed his lips. “We didn’t fuck either. She gave me a BJ in a restroom.” His cheeks flushed. “I was drunk.”
“Being drunk is no excuse.” I slowly shook my head, peering at our entwined hands. It didn’t sound as bad as it had at first. “So how did he find out?”
“She told him about it. He came home for the holidays, found me at a bar in Boston, and tried to rip my head off.” He scoffed a sigh. “The guy is a psycho, and so is she. I think she did it to get attention from him. I don’t know.” He hung his head. “I was afraid he was going to be a dick tonight.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before the game?” Tilting my head, I attempted to see into his face. At least with some warning, we’d have been able to protect him better. Okay, I’d have been able to protect him better.
“It’s embarrassing. The whole thing was stupid.” He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Would you want to admit to being played like that?”
I squeezed his hand and kissed his knuckles. “No, guess not.” As heat flashed in my chest, I said, “If he comes at you again tomorrow night, I’m going to take him out.”
“Don’t do anything to jeopardize your chances with Chicago. They’ll be watching you this weekend.” He sucked his lower lip between his teeth. “Especially not on my account.”
Flicking my gaze to his, I smirked. “I’ll be stealthy about it. Don’t you worry.” Yeah, I had some moves.
He mirrored my smirk. “Okay, Hodge. We’ll both get him tomorrow. ”
I glanced at my bag, resting on the floor. “I need to change.” My attention drew to him. “How are you feeling about going to the gay bar with me and my friends tonight?”
“Truthfully? A little excited and anxious. It’ll be my first time being in a place like that, knowing I’m queer.” He peeked at me from under his brows.
“Do you want to come out to Myles and Ace?” I chewed my lower lip. Then they’d know we were together. I wouldn’t have to hide it from them anymore.
“I…don’t know.” He shook his head. “Can we play it by ear? I trust your friends, but these things have a way of getting out the more people know about it.” He puffed out a breath.
“Okay. I’ll leave it up to you.” I rose from the couch. “Let’s get changed so we can go. I’m sure Ace, Zoma, and Myles are there already.” And we weren’t staying out too late since we still had a game tomorrow.
After showing the bouncer our IDs and strolling into the crowded bar, I scanned the area for my friends. Myles had texted to tell me they’d been waiting for us to do our celly shot. My gaze landed on Myles’s blond head of hair, and he was chatting up a dark-haired man who stood next to him. Leaning into Rowan, I pointed in his direction. “Myles is over there.”
“Oh.” He weaved through mostly men, the flashing lights lighting up his fluffy hair, and stopped beside Myles. Tagging Myles’s shoulder, he said, “Hey, man.”
With a wide grin, Myles twisted around. “Hey, you both made it. I was starting to wonder.” He arched a brow at me.
“Where are Ace and Zoma?” I swayed my head as I perused the place, the dancing men, some shirtless, others in crop tops and tight shorts. Funny, normally, I’d be scoping the guys out. Not tonight. My gaze wound to Rowan. No, tonight I had a guy who held my full attention .
“On the dancefloor.” Myles waved and lifted his chin. “I think they saw me. They’re coming back.” He dropped his arm. “We have to do our Fuck U of A shot.”
Rowan chuckled. “But we played Providence tonight.”
Giving Rowan’s shoulder a gentle slap, Myles said, “Doesn’t matter who we play, we always do this shot.”
As a grin crept over his lips, Rowan said, “Okay. Fuck U of A then.”
Ace and Zoma stepped up from behind us, and Ace said, “What did I miss?” Wrapping his arm around Zoma’s shoulder, his gaze darted from me to Rowan. “Hey, Rowan, this is my boyfriend Zoma.”
“Oh hi. You’re a figure skater, right?” Rowen held out his hand.
“I am. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve only heard good things.” Zoma shook Rowan’s hand.
Myles flagged down a burly and bare-chested bartender and ordered our shots.
“I’m thinking we should stick with a few beers tonight and not get those drinks we had last time.” I cocked a brow at Rowan. Because they’d fucked me up last time.
“Yeah, sure. Did you know having a beer or two the night before can be good for your game?” Rowan looked at each of us in turn.
“No, where’d you hear that?” Ace sniggered. “Is it some Boston hockey magic shit?”
“It’s true. As long as you hydrate properly.” He lifted his chin. “Beer has carbs and electrolytes and shit. Some runners I know have a beer or two the night before a big race, and they swear by it.”
“I don’t know about that.” Myles handed out our shots as the bartender dropped them off. “Here.”
I grabbed my shot from Myles, and Rowan did the same. One shot and one beer and then Gatorade when I got home.
We all held up our shots and, in unison, said, “Fuck U of A. ”
I downed my shot, the sweet, cold liquid gliding down my throat, and planted my empty glass on the counter. “Okay, I’m ready for a beer now.” I made to wrap my arm around Rowan, then stopped. Shit, I had to watch myself.
“We’re going back to the dancefloor now.” Ace planted a kiss on Zoma’s lips and sauntered off with him.
“I ordered us each a beer.” Myles threw a shit-eating grin at me and then Rowan. “The hot guy you hooked up with a few weeks ago is here, Ty.”
“Yeah?” Fuck, why now? As I peeked at Rowan, who was watching me, I tensed my jaw. I had to pretend to be interested. “Where?”
The bartender set down our beers, and we paid for them.
Rowan picked up his drink. “Yeah, Myles, where is this hot guy Tyler hooked up with?” He took a step away from me.
“Over there.” He ticked his head. “Looks like he’s coming this way.”
My gaze caught on the guy, tall, dark hair, and muscled. Fuck, what was his name again? I’d never gotten his number. It was only a hookup, and neither of us had wanted more.
As a sly grin stretched over his mouth, Tall and Handsome stopped at me. “Hey, Tyler, wasn’t it?” He looked Myles and Rowan over. “Joel.” He shook each of their hands.
“Hi, Joel.” Rowan gave him a thin-lipped smile. “I’m Rowan.”
“And I’m Myles. I don’t think we actually met when we were all here last.” Myles picked up a beer as the bartender set them all down and slid one to Myles and one to me.
Rowan eyed Joel. “You come here often?” As he sipped his beer, he kept his gaze on Joel.
“Not really.” Joel’s gaze landed on mine. “What are you doing here on a Friday, Tyler? Doesn’t ASU have a game tomorrow?” He raised his brows.
“Yeah, but we won tonight, and Coach called off the morning skate.” I glanced at Rowan, crinkling his nose at Joel. He was making it pretty obvious he didn’t like the guy being here.
“I see.” Joel glanced at the dancefloor. “I know Myles is a teammate. How about you, Rowan?”
“He’s a teammate too. He’s our straight buddy, but he doesn’t mind coming here.” With a chuckle, Myles drank more beer.
“Oh. You’re a brave man, Rowan.” Joel edged in closer to me and set his hand on the bar behind me.
I tossed a glare at Myles. Why did he have to say that? He was giving Joel the wrong impression. But then, Myles didn’t know any different.
Leaning in closer to me, Joel said, “So, do you want to go out and dance? Maybe a repeat of?—”
“No, he doesn’t. We’re here to celebrate our win with a shot they only make in this establishment, and then we’re going home. Right, Tyler?” Rowan lifted his chin at me.
“Uh, yeah.” I inched away from Joel and closer to Rowan. Hopefully, Myles would keep his mouth shut.
“Oh, I see. I don’t want to break up the little celebration you all have going on.” Joel slipped his phone out of his jeans pocket and held it up. “Maybe I could get your number, Tyler? I was kicking myself for not getting it last time.” He gave me a charming smile.
Rowan stepped on my toes.
“Ow, shit.” I startled and backed away from Rowan, grabbing the toe of my shoe and staring at Rowan’s satisfied smirk. The little shit did that on purpose.
“You okay?” Joel made to grab my arm.
Shoving Joel’s hand away, Rowan said, “He’s fine. He’s a hockey player. He can handle way worse than someone accidentally stepping on his foot, right, Tyler?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Sorry about that, buddy. But you know how clumsy I can be out of my skates.”
Myles dropped his mouth open as he watched us .
“Yeah, okay.” Blinking once, I faced Joel. How the hell was I getting out of this? “I’m, uh…I’m seeing someone, so I don’t feel right handing out my number right now.” There, it was the truth.
Narrowing his eyes at me, Myles planted a hand on his hip.
Shit, Myles knew something was up. I knew that look on his face.
“Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you around then. If it doesn’t work out with the new guy, maybe we can get together?” A flirty smile swept over his face, and he touched my arm.
Rowan’s gaze grew hard and his jaw clenched. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
With his brows furrowing, Joel tilted his head. “Anyway, nice to see you all again.” He walked off.
“Rowan and Tyler, what the hell is going on?” Myles stomped in front of us. “And don’t try to fake me out.” He poked me in the chest and then Rowan.
Glancing at me, Rowan huffed a breath. “Fuck it. I found out I’m bisexual.” He fixated on Myles. “It’s new, so?—”
“You and Tyler are hooking up?” Myles clasped his hands over his chest and his gaze softened. “I knew something was going on between you two.”
“Not so much hooking up as trying to see if things could work out between us.” How the hell else could I describe it? I took a few gulps of my beer.
With his gaze dipping to the floor, Rowan said, “Your friend Tyler here is something else. I think he’s turning me gay.” He snickered.
“If anyone could turn a guy gay, it would be Tyler.” With a nod, Myles patted me on the shoulder, and then his eyes widened. “Holy shit, did it happen while we were on the road?”
I glanced at Rowan, who was watching me. “Sort of. We had our first kiss.” How much should I tell him? Myles knew me best.
“Who kissed who?” His brows lifted .
“I kissed him.” Rowan’s face flushed to his ears and his breath caught. Bumping Myles with his elbow, he said, “I’m not going to be like the fucker who broke his heart in high school. I’m taking this seriously.” He nodded once.
Warmth swept through my chest. He had no idea how much it meant to me to hear him say that to Myles. As my lips curled, I drank more beer. If he kept this up, I’d be a goner for him.
“Good, because if you pulled something like that on my man Tyler here, I’d have to take you out.” Myles arched a brow and threw his arm around Rowan’s shoulders. “You’re one of us now.”
“Yeah, guess so.” As his gaze slid to mine, his smile lit his face. “It feels good to get it out.”
“It’ll get easier the more people you tell, but I understand if you want to keep this between us.” He glanced toward the dancefloor. “I don’t think Ace suspects anything.” Myles freed Rowan.
“Let’s keep it between us for now.” Rowan stepped to my side and hooked an arm around my waist. “I know Ace is a good guy, but I need time to digest all this before I tell the whole world about it.”
“I get it, eh.” Myles downed the rest of his beer. “We should get going soon.” He peered at me. “Are you staying the night with Rowan?”
“What?” I chuckled and lifted my brows. “We have a game tomorrow. We need to rest and?—”
“And you wouldn’t get any rest if you were in bed with Rowan, eh?” With a cackle, Myles wagged his brows at us both.
Rowan peeked at me. “I wouldn’t mind it, but you’re right. Maybe tomorrow night?” He lifted his beer glass and tapped it on mine, then finished it off.
“Ace is staying with Zoma tomorrow night, so…” Myles glanced from me to Rowan.
Shit, it would be a perfect opportunity. “What do you think, Rowan?” I studied him. We’d definitely try blowjobs .
“Sure.” His grin widened and he bit the side of his lower lip. “As long as Knight doesn’t fuck me up too badly.”
“I won’t let him.” Swinging my arm around his neck, I kissed his cheek. Holding his head to my shoulder, I said, “I got your back.”
With a quick glance at the dancefloor, he planted a hard kiss on my lips.
Myles squealed and waved his hands. “Oh my God. You two are so cute together.”