Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ROWAN
I woke up with a dry mouth and the smell of bacon and eggs wafting through the house. Clanking and hushed voices filtered in through the closed doorway. I opened my eyes. I was wrapped around Tyler from behind, and my morning wood had found its way between his ass cheeks. The sneaky little fucker. “Hey, you smell that?”
“Yeah.” He pushed his ass against me. “I feel that too.” He turned his head, showing his profile to me. “I’m at a loss of what I want more, breakfast or for you to fuck me again.”
“We could go and get breakfast while it’s hot and then come back in here and fool around.” Now that I’d gotten into my head how fucking awesome having his dick in my ass might be, I was all on board. I mean, the way he looked last night? Pure bliss.
“Okay, sounds like we have a plan.” He wriggled free of my hold, climbed off the bed, and threw his sweats on.
“You are not going out there like that.” As my lips pressed together, I focused on the half-hard dick flopping free in his sweats. I poked it. “Nope.”
“Hey.” With a chuckle, he said, “It’ll go down in a minute.” He walked to his dresser, fished out an athletic shirt, and shimmied it over his head .
“Dude, you are not freeballing out there with a house full of queer men.” I stepped up behind him, nuzzled the back of his ear, and cupped his junk, my balls aching. I couldn’t get enough of him. And the fact that he loved me? Only made it a hundred times better.
“They all have boyfriends.” With a snicker, he twisted in my arms. “You’re not really jealous of them, are you?”
I stared at the satisfying bulge in his sweats, my mouth watering. “No, but if I have to look at you like this, my boner won’t go away. Have some decency for my sake, will you?” With a grin creeping over my lips, I kissed his cheek. “It’s the least you can do.”
“Fine.” He dropped his sweats, crouching, and on the way up, he fisted my solid cock and gave it a long, slow suck.
My head tipped back as sensation shuddered through me, and I moaned. “You’re such a wicked tease.” We were definitely headed back to his room after breakfast.
“Get dressed. I’m hungry, and although I love swallowing your load, I need more than that to eat.” He stroked me once and then grabbed a pair of underwear from a drawer.
“Whatever.” With a tsk, I rummaged in my bag for my briefs, joggers, and a shirt and slipped them all on.
After we’d dressed, I followed him into the main room.
Myles sat on the couch with a coffee cup in his hand, and two men I’d never met were in the kitchen, one with dark hair and a blond.
“About time you two woke up.” As his eyes twinkled, Myles sniggered. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told them about your status.” He wrinkled his brows. “I figured it would be pretty obvious when you both came out of Tyler’s bedroom.” He rolled his eyes and drank his coffee.
“No problem, Myles.” He’d saved me the trouble of explaining myself, and I didn’t care if the whole world knew at this point. Tyler was the love of my life.
The blond strolled to us, meeting us by the kitchen table. “ This must be the infamous Rowan Mackenzie?” The man stuck his fist out to me.
“I am.” I fist-bumped him, narrowing my eyes. The guy was built like a hockey player. “Archer Carlson?”
“The one and only.” He stepped aside. “And the chef here is my boyfriend Leo Sandstrom.”
As Leo stirred a frying pan full of scrambled eggs, he waved at me. “Hi, Rowan. I’d come over there and greet you properly, but I’m a little busy.”
I strutted to him and peered into the fluffy eggs, my stomach growling. “Goddamn, that looks good.” I patted him on the back.
“Nice to meet you, man.” Hooking an arm around my waist, Leo side-hugged me. “I hear you may still be getting used to your new sexuality?” He left the eggs to grab a pair of tongs and flipped bacon crackling in another pan. “Archer was my first boyfriend.”
“Yeah, it’s new, but I’m finding it really suits me.” I glanced at Tyler, chatting with Myles and Archer. Tyler was lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. These guys were really close. It was good to see him this way. “My best friend back home is gay, so it wasn’t like I didn’t know anything about it.”
“Yeah? My brother is gay.” He chuckled and plated the eggs and bacon. “Because of that, I hid my attraction to men most of my life.”
There was an interesting story there. “I want to hear about it, Leo. I obviously have been doing the same thing, but I don’t know why.” We probably had some things in common. I picked up the heaping plates of eggs and bacon. “Want me to bring these to the table now?” I spied a turkey resting in the sink. “Looks like you’ve got a full day of cooking ahead of you.”
“Yeah, but I love it.” He ticked his head at the plates. “Go ahead and get these heathens served with some breakfast. There’s also some Danishes on the table from the queer bakery on Mill Avenue. I know how much you all can eat. ”
“Oh, that Queer Confections place? I’ve been meaning to try that.” I walked the food to the table and set it down. The table was already set with plates, glasses, and silverware.
Tyler strolled past me, slapped my ass, and grabbed orange juice out of the refrigerator. “Looks like there’s coffee made over here too.”
“Will you make me some, babe?” I flopped onto a chair and rubbed my hands together. The breakfast looked wicked delicious.
“Babe?” Myles snickered. “You call each other that?” As he spooned eggs onto his plate, he wrinkled his nose.
“Yeah, guess we do.” It had all started during sex, but I wasn’t going to tell Myles that.
“Leo and I call each other that.” Archer, sitting across from me and next to Leo, put bacon on his plate.
Tyler set cups of coffee in front of me and at the open spot next to me and then placed a carton of orange juice on the table. “What’s your problem with it, Myles?” He focused on him.
With a shrug, he said, “Nothin’, I guess. Just sounds weird coming out of your mouths.” He arched a brow at me. “I don’t consider Tyler to be a babe .” He snickered again and poured salsa onto his eggs.
“I can be a babe.” Tyler raised his chin at Myles. “Right, Rowan?”
“Hell yes.” I planted a kiss on his cheek and my heart stuttered. I’d only kissed him in public that one time, but twice in front of Myles…
With a grin and a nod, Tyler leaned into my side.
“Goddamn, look at you two.” Archer stuffed eggs into his mouth and pointed his fork at Tyler. “I have never seen him this happy.” His gaze cut to mine. “You’ve made a new man out of him, Rowan.”
“Thank you.” I squirmed in my seat, picking up a slice of bacon with my fingers. Would our love for each other show at the rink? And if it did, would Coach even care as long as we were playing at the top of our games? I bit off a piece of bacon and chewed. That was a worry for another day. Today, we had friends and a shit ton of food. “So, Leo, how are you going to cook that turkey?”
He set his fork on his plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Well, I’m going to try something new. My family usually cooks the turkey with stuffing in it overnight.”
“Yeah, he was getting silly with his mother last night while they cooked.” Archer gave Leo a knowing smile.
“It’s a family tradition to get drunk on wine with my mom the night before.” He chuckled. “Anyway, today I’ve got some fresh herbs I’m going to season some butter with, then spread over the turkey along with some lemon.” He looked around the table. “I’ll also put the herbs and lemon inside the bird.”
“Sounds delicious.” I ate some eggs. “Is there anything I can help with, maybe? Mashed potatoes or green bean casserole?” I could maybe show off some of my own cooking skills. I hadn’t done that yet with Tyler.
“You can cook?” Tyler lifted his brows at me.
“I can. Just haven’t had a chance yet.” I sipped my coffee. We still had so much to learn about each other.
“I’d love some help in the kitchen.” Leo held his coffee cup in both hands and offered a warm smile. “It’d give us a chance to get to know each other too.”
“Okay, then it’s a done deal.” I snatched a Danish from a box on the table and dropped it on my plate. Maybe fooling around with Tyler would have to wait. But making a good impression on Tyler’s friends was important too.
A few hours later, Tyler, Myles, and Archer sat on the couch drinking beer and watching football on the television while I helped Leo cook. He had me running around the kitchen like nobody’s business, but it felt good to be useful .
The doorbell rang.
“Mason?” Tyler hopped off the couch and waved me over. “Come here, Rowan.”
“Just a minute, Leo.” I set my green bean casserole, all ready for the oven, on the counter and jogged to meet up with Tyler at the door.
The bell rang a second time and kept going.
“Holy shit, dude.” Huffing a laugh, Tyler flung the door open. “Seriously?”
“You’re slow as fuck. Hope you’re not like that on the ice this year.” With a wide smile, a man with dark hair and blue eyes stepped into the house, grabbing Tyler up and spinning him around. “Fuck you look good.”
Another taller man stood in the doorway, shaking his head of dirty-blond hair, his green eyes piercing. Jett fucking Jarvis. One of the best NHL wingers in the league. I’d know him anywhere. Holy fuck. His gaze skipped to me. “Hey, you must be Rowan.”
“Uh, yeah.” I swallowed as my mouth went dry and held out my hand. “Nice to meet you, Jett.”
“Likewise.” Shaking my hand, he smirked at me. “Sorry for my obnoxious boyfriend.” His smirk widened and he held up a finger. “And yes, he’s always like that.”
“Like what?” Mason twirled around, his gaze trapping on mine. “Holy fucking shit. Tyler’s new friend .” Tonguing his cheek, he planted his hands on his hips and looked me up and down. “Fucking hot for a straight guy. Tyler hasn’t tried to get in your pants on the road yet?”
“Uh…” Dipping his head, Tyler peeked at me and tented his hands over his nose, then dropped them. “Rowan? You want to tell him?”
I stuck my hand out to Mason. “I kissed him first, and yes, he got in my pants on the road.” I curled one side of my lips.
“You dog, you.” Mason wrapped both his hands around mine, his eyes lighting up. “So, you’re a hot queer guy.” He gave my hand a furious shake and let it go. “Tell me more. Are you boyfriends yet?”
Myles and Archer turned around from the couch, and shaking his head and smiling, Leo stopped cooking to watch us.
“We are…boyfriends. I was attracted to Tyler from the beginning and didn’t understand it at first. But I’ve gotten over all that.” What else was there to tell? I took a deep inhale. “I have a gay friend back home. He helped me figure my shit out.”
“Thank God for that. You a New Englander like me?” He slapped my shoulder. “That Boston accent is hard to miss.”
“I am.” I snatched Tyler’s hand. Mason was an interesting character. I’d love to hang out with him more.
“Good, we’ve got to stick together. These Midwesterners are a handful.” He waltzed into the kitchen. “Not to mention the desert rat here.” He patted Leo on the back, and they side-hugged each other. “How ya doin’, man?”
“Great, Mason. Want a beer?” Leo opened the refrigerator and handed Mason a canned beer.
“Hell yeah.” Mason snicked the beer open. “Jett? Leo’s got a bottle of wine over here too.”
“Wine would be perfect.” Jett greeted Leo with a hug. As he chuckled, he said, “At least Mason knew better than to chirp on Cali.”
Leo poured a glass of red wine for Jett and handed it to him. “He knows where his bread is buttered.” He chuckled.
Jett swirled the wine in his glass and took a sip. “Damn, this is good. Pinot Noir?” He picked up the bottle and looked at the label. “From Simi Valley.”
“Yeah, it’s one of my mom’s favorites for Thanksgiving.” Leo picked up his own wine and drank it.
“Leo’s using it to get over his hangover from cooking with his mom last night.” Archer walked into the kitchen and wound an arm around Leo.
“Thank you for spending this day with us. I know we took you away from your family today.” Jett squeezed Leo’s arm .
“No problem. I’ve spent every other Thanksgiving with them, so this wasn’t a big deal. Plus, they’ve got my brother and his boyfriend, along with the boyfriend’s family, over today. So, it’s a full house.” Leo kissed Archer’s cheek. “It’s nice being here with my hockey family.”
“Is it ever.” Mason sauntered to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “And we have a new member.” He planted a quick kiss on my cheek. “Welcome to the squad, Rowan.” He freed me.
My heart burst with warmth and my eyes stung as my gaze cut to Tyler’s. “Thank you. You guys have something special here, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Tyler walked to me, grabbed my hand, and pressed a lingering kiss on my mouth. Under his breath, he said, “Love you.”
“Awe, isn’t that sweet? They’re in love.” Mason snorted and clapped while the rest of the room cheered and whooped.
I belly laughed. This might be the best Thanksgiving I’d had in a long-ass time.
After a filling afternoon meal, while simultaneously watching the football game, I retired to the couch with Leo while the rest of the guys cleaned up. It was only fitting since we’d cooked. Holding a hand on my belly, I watched the Giants kick the Cowboys asses in the second football game of the day. “You like football, Leo?”
“Sure. I like hockey better.” Ticking his brows, he threw me a wry smile.
“Ah, you’re a smart man.” With a grin sweeping over my lips, I patted his thigh. “Tell me more about your situation with your family and how you came out to them.” At some point, I’d have to do the same, right? Maybe Christmas would be a good time .
He shifted and drank some wine and then stared at the glass as he held it in his lap. “It was complicated. My brother, Axel, was always the out and proud son.” Leo glanced behind us toward the guys cleaning and joking around in the kitchen. “My brother’s a lot like Mason. He doesn’t hold back. He’s always known what he wanted, and he’s always gone for it.” He chuckled. “Including my best friend, Remy, even though we all thought Remy was straight.”
I widened my eyes. There were lots of dudes who didn’t come out until later. It wasn’t just me. “Is Remy bisexual too?” Maybe there was a theme here.
“Yep, he is.” He threw his arm over the cushion behind me, angling himself toward me. “See, Axel came out at a young age and when he did, my parents both stood firmly behind him, though it took my dad some time to fully accept it.” He wagged a finger at me. “Mind you, my dad never let Axel see that it bothered him. He knew it was his problem, not Axel’s, and he didn’t want to see Axel hurt by it.” He pursed his lips. “But I saw it. I knew.”
Holy shit, would my parents be okay with me coming out? I rubbed my chin. They were fine with Teddy, but he wasn’t their son. “Okay, so when did you know you were bisexual?”
He chuckled. “Pretty soon after Axel came out. He’s four years younger than me, and I realized my attraction to men was about the same as my brother’s. But, of course, I was also attracted to women.” He sighed. “I’d date women, and in between girlfriends, I’d seek out hookups with men but kept it a secret.”
“Shit…” I stared at him, my mouth dropping open. “I just never acted on it. I never got close enough to a guy I was attracted to.” Not like with Tyler, where I already knew he was gay and we were partners on the ice. “Tyler was my first opportunity.”
“And Archer was so…” Leo’s gaze drifted away for a moment, his mouth curled into a soft smile, and he said, “He’s my person. I guess that’s all I can say about it. There was no denying the pull between us.” His softened eyes focused on me.
With a slow nod, I fingered my beer can. “Yep, I totally get that.” My heart ached to have Tyler next to me. But we had all weekend for that. “So, what happened when you came out?” Somehow, we’d gotten off track.
“Well, with Axel being the gay son, my parents had a lot of dreams of me giving them a daughter-in-law and grandkids and all that. When I came out to them, it destroyed the dreams they had for me.” He took a deep inhale and sipped his wine. “They’re accepting of it now. They just had to rearrange in their heads what the rest of my life would look like.” He knitted his brows. “I think it might be harder for your parents if you come out later in life because they’ve formed a picture of you in their head, and then you have to break it.” He shook his head and huffed. “I don’t know if I’m explaining it very well.”
“No, I get it.” I drank some beer and thought on it. “So, I take it they were surprised and maybe a little unbelieving and upset but got over it.” Is that how it would go for me? How would my brothers take it?
“Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.” He peered at me. “Are you out to your parents?”
“Hell no.” I choked out a laugh. “I think I’ll talk to them over the Christmas break.” Furrowing my brow, I said, “I think my mom will be cool with it, but I have no idea about my dad. He’s a sports dad, you know?” I eyed Leo.
“Sports dad? Like Archer’s biological father? Is he a coach?” Leo sipped more wine.
“Naw, he’s a lawyer.” With a snicker, I shook my head. “He was a football player in high school and pushed me and my brother to go into sports. He supported us in every way he could.” I let a grin creep over my lips. “He was always there, coaching the coaches.”
“Oh.” Leo nodded. “Sounds like a man’s man, then?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” I picked at the pull tab on my beer can. “ He’s never said anything derogatory about queer people or my friend Teddy, so I just don’t know.” My chest tightened. This would be hard, but I had to do it.
“You’ll be fine, Rowan. It’ll all work out. You’ll see.” He squeezed my forearm. “You have all these guys around you for backup, and I’m sure Teddy will be by your side when the time comes.”
“Thanks, man.” Reaching across him, I gave him a quick hug.
“What in the world are you two bonding over?” Tyler stepped up behind us, wiping a platter with a towel, his mouth spread in an open-mouthed grin.
“Bisexual shit. You wouldn’t understand.” I freed a soft snort. That would fix him.
Lifting a brow, he said, “Oh, well, carry on.” He bent over, placed a hand on my cheek, and kissed the other one. “We’re almost done here, and then the guys want to play NHL when the game’s over.” He flicked his gaze to Leo. “Are you in?”
“Hell yes, I’m in.” Leo smiled at Tyler.
That evening after everyone had left, I followed Tyler into his bedroom, my cock waking in my sweats. I wanted to try new things tonight. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about anal. I shut the door as he flicked on his nightstand lamps.
With a coy grin directed at me, Tyler shucked his sweats and briefs down his legs, his half-hard dick swelling over his balls. “Time for some fun?” He lifted his hoodie over his head and tossed it into the corner.
“Hell yes.” I quickly undressed, throwing my clothing into a pile on the floor, and stepped to him, my hot skin brushing against his.
Gazing deeply into my eyes, he brushed his fingers over my cheek and said, “Tonight was so great, Rowan. Having you here with all my friends was really special. You fit right in.” He pressed long kisses on my mouth and slipped his tongue between my lips, the kisses growing heated.
As my cock ached, I rubbed it against his, tension knotting in my gut. I broke the kisses. “I want you to, uh, finger me or put something in me tonight.” Did I want to go all the way? Shit, I didn’t know. My dick twitched on his.
“Yeah?” He skimmed his teeth over his lower lip, his gaze fixating on my mouth. Sneaking his hand between us, he gave my cock a few long strokes. “Want to try playing with one of my plugs?” He nuzzled my neck and stroked faster over my shaft.
My head tipped back as pleasure flashed up my spine. “Yeah, why not.” I freed a soft moan and rocked my hips, my cock brushing through his palm and fingers.
“I have some that vibrate.” He bit my neck and smiled against my skin.
My eyes popped open. “You do?” Grabbing his shoulders, I held him in front of me and faced him. “You never mentioned this before.”
“I wasn’t sure you were ready.” He nipped at my lower lip and pressed his solid dick into my hip. “I didn’t want to scare you.” He freed a husky chuckle.
With a nod, I said, “Yeah, I can see that.” Cupping his cheek, I gazed deeply into his eyes and said, “Make me feel good, Tyler. Show me why you like it so much.” I was going all in.
“Gladly.” He stepped away from me, snatching my hand and leading me to his bed, and then pulled the covers down. “Get in and lie on your back.”
“Okay.” My dick jumped and my balls ached. Whatever he was going to do to me, the anticipation already had me on edge. I crawled onto the bed and rolled to my back, lifting my knees.
“Fuck, you look incredible, babe.” He opened the cabinet under the drawer on his nightstand and took out a few black plugs of different lengths and a remote.
“Jesus fuck, they have remotes for these things?” I chuckled. I felt like a virgin here. Guess, in a way, I was .
“Yep.” He threw them on the bed next to me, crawled between my legs, and then pulled out lube from his drawer. “Okay, we’re all set.” As his gaze met mine, his pupils grew wide. “I’m fucking leaking already just thinking about this.” Hovering over me, he squeezed the end of his cock, a bead of precum forming at the tip.
“Fuck, that’s hot.” I swiped it off and spread it over the head of my dick. A shudder rolled over my body.