Chapter 20 #2
Mason raced to Lucas and helped him up, then patted his helmet with his gloved hand. A quick helmet tap and then they went after Jett, who controlled the puck.
“Look at that. The Hopkins brothers playing on the same ice. This has got to be a dream come true for them.” Leo, holding up his beer, gave me a broad smile.
“You’re right. This is so cool to see.” Emotion burst inside me. These guys were a special breed, and I was lucky to be part of it.
Jett passed to Lucas, with Mason close behind him.
Rushing the Falcon’s goalie, Mason spun around.
We all hopped from our seats. Would they score?
Lucas shot to Mason. The puck hit Mason’s angled stick. As the goalie dropped, it slid under his ass and into the net.
As the horn blew, Cardinals players raised their gloves, jumped across the ice and the crowd roared.
“Holy shit, Lucas made an assist!” Leo laughed and held up his free hand.
I slapped Leo’s hand, and then Zoma did the same. My heart soared. “My man did it!”
“He sure did. I don’t think he’ll play with his old team anytime soon.” Leo beamed at me.
Ace scrambled across the ice while Mason and Jett huddled around Lucas, hugging and slapping him. As Ace reached them, he launched himself and they all fell to the ice, laughing and rolling around.
“Archer’s got to be dying to run out there.” Shaking his head, Leo sipped his beer.
“Yeah, but he’s happy to give Lucas his moment. You know that.” Zoma gave Leo a knowing grin.
Following our victory, Lucas, Jessica, and I waited near a side entrance to the press room. I raked my gaze over Lucas, his hair still wet from the shower, his blue suit snug on his muscled body.
“Okay, you remember the plan, right? We’re focusing on how you met and we’re not discussing Tate. If they ask about him, defer the question as a legal matter.” Her stark blue gaze peered at us, her brown hair pulling into a high ponytail.
“Got it.” With a glance at me, Lucas squeezed my hand. “You ready, babe?”
“I’m ready.” He was trembling. I needed to be his strength right now. “I’m right here.” I kissed his cheek.
The hint of a grin passed over his mouth. “Coach is already in there, right?”
“Yes.” She touched an earbud lodged in her ears. “Okay, they’re ready for you.” She up-nodded at the door.
“Okay.” Lucas popped the door open, straightened his shoulders, and led me inside, a tight grip on my hand.
With my pulse bucking, I focused on the stairs to the raised platform and followed Lucas up. I only noticed the crowd after I sat down.
Lucas took the middle chair while I sat beside him. Coach Dupont sat on the far end in a crisp gray suit, his hands threaded on the table. You’d never know the guy had spent the last three hours hollering at players from the bench. He was the epitome of well-put-together.
The clicking of cameras slashed through the room and people wearing business casual sat in folding chairs. The room’s gray walls displayed a pattern of the team logo. I focused on the microphone in front of me. It was less overwhelming than the crowd.
Lucas cleared his throat.
“Hopkins, tell us about your boyfriend. When did this happen? We’ve only seen you with women,” a man yelled out.
With a glance at me and a soft grin, he said, “I met Ezra during a photo shoot for the Firebird’s charity calendar. He does amazing work, catching the male form in a unique way. Pick it up for your wives and girlfriends.” He smirked. “Or your boyfriends, depending.”
The crowd chuckled.
“What made you rethink your sexuality?” A woman asked.
“He did. He’s irresistible. Just look at him.
” Lucas held his palm out to me. “I’m not sure what else to say about it.
” He furrowed his brows. “I was told that sexuality is fluid. So, I won’t dwell on what was or define labels for myself.
I only know that I am deeply and hopelessly in love with Ezra Turner.
And if you don’t like it? I don’t give a fuck. ”
“Hopkins, language.” Coach tsked and chuckled.
“What’s it like dating a hockey player, Ezra?” The woman asked.
As my cheeks heated, I forced my gaze to hers. “It’s always an adventure.” I chuckled. “I’ve never been in the spotlight. But for him, it’s something I’ll get used to.”
Another woman in the audience said, “Aw, that’s sweet. You really love him.”
Glancing at Lucas, I twined my fingers through his. “Yes, in fact, he’s my first genuine love.”
As Lucas’s gaze swung to mine, it sparkled.
After taking some sports-driven questions, we left the rink through a back door and Lucas drove me to his place. I had scheduled no clients in the morning, so we could be alone together tonight. After everything we’d been through, we needed this time.
In the car, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I held it to my face. Staring at Lucas, I said, “Lucas, it’s Stella.” I set the phone on speaker. “Hello?”
Lucas flashed a glance at me.
“Ezra, I want you to know Tate was just here, and I called the police on him,” she said. “He had a gun. I saw it.”
“What?” My pulse spiked. “He must have brought his Glock.” I was hoping this shit show was over.
Lucas squeezed my knee. “Did they arrest him? What happened?”
“Yes, when the police came, he fired his gun at them, and they shot his arm. He dropped his weapon, then they handcuffed him and carried him off. It was quite a scene and cops were everywhere.” She huffed. “I unfortunately had a first-row seat to the entire thing.”
I stared at my phone. Tate was in a shootout with the police…it didn’t seem real. “Did they put him in an ambulance?”
“I think so, but I’m sure he’s going to jail for a long time,” she said. “I’m sure it’ll be on the news.”
My gaze roamed to Lucas. “I don’t think I care to see it on the news.” I’d had enough of him. I didn’t care anymore what happened to him.
“Good, babe. We won’t watch it.” With a tight grin, he patted my thigh. “He’s done for. And it’s over.”
“Thank you so much, Stella. It was the right call.” I swallowed a lump in my throat. I didn’t know how to feel, but I wouldn’t feel bad for Tate. He’d had it coming.
“You’re welcome. I’m so glad you weren’t home,” she said.
“Me too. I’ll stay in touch.” I took a calming breath. “Bye.”
“Bye now and stay safe.” Stella ended the call.
Lucas opened the door to his apartment and stopped. “Let’s not bring up what happened with Tate and the police. Let’s forget about him for the rest of our lives.”
With a nod, I followed him inside. I couldn’t agree more.
“Dude, I watched the game and the press conference. I think you won them over.” Evan sat on the sofa in his team sweats, the television tuned to a sports channel.
“Yeah?” Lucas swiped his hand through his hair, lifting his bangs off his head for a second.
“I hope so.” He glanced at me. “I’m beat, so I’ll look at it in the morning.
” Throwing an arm around my shoulders, he dragged me to his side and kissed my head.
“I need some alone time with my boyfriend right now.”
Evan wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, whatever. Keep it down in there.” He lifted the remote off a couch cushion and turned the volume up a notch.
As Lucas hauled me to his bedroom, I said, “Goodnight, Evan.” Once Lucas got an eyeful of my new jock, I doubt he’d be quiet.
After locking the door behind us and flicking on the nightstand lamps, Lucas cupped both my cheeks and claimed my mouth in searing kisses, his tongue flicking against mine. “Want you.” He bit my lower lip and slid it between his teeth. “Fuck, do I want you.”
Sinking my teeth into my lower lip, I backed toward the bed, unfastening my jeans and dropping them to the floor, my dick lengthening into the band on my sheer jock. My balls hung just under the hem of the jersey.
His gaze dropped to my junk, and his pupils flared. “Holy fuck, what are you wearing?” Stalking toward me, he palmed his swelling cock through his slacks. “I think you made me come a little.”
“As long as you can go again.” Tilting my head, I fixated on his thick cock, a wet spot seeping through the material of his slacks at the tip. He wasn’t kidding. A pulse shivered up my spine.
As he stopped, his chest flush with mine, he cupped my balls and ran his thumb over the base of my cock. “Soft, and…” His other hand squeezed my bare ass cheek. “Fuck…it’s a jock.” His eyes shut for a moment as he bit his lip. “Am I fucking you tonight?”
“If that’s what you want.” I wrapped a hand around his nape, brushing my lips against his. “I’m all yours.” Emotion surged in my chest. Unlike every other man I’d been with, there were no walls with Lucas. I could say those words and mean them. He was my safe place.
He tucked his hand underneath my ear, his thumb at the edge of my cheek.
“Damn it, babe, when you tell me that, it makes my heart feel like it’ll explode.
” He pressed his mouth against mine and held it, all the emotion zinging between us in a simple kiss.
When he broke it, he said, “I love you, Ezra.”
“I love you too.” I stepped backward, one arm hooked around his waist, unfastening his slacks, our gazes locking. As the back of my legs hit the bed, I shoved his slacks down his hips, and they fell to the floor.
He pushed our hot cocks together and devoured me in heated kisses, rutting into me, his fingers burrowing into my ass.
With a soft moan, tension twisted in my gut, and my dick grew sensitive. My tongue glided against his as I slanted my mouth, taking more of him. When he broke the kisses, he shoved me to the bed and shrugged out of his suit jacket. Holding his palm to me, he said, “Take nothing off. Wait for me.”
He folded his suit coat and slacks over a chair in the corner and then slowly unbuttoned his shirt, exposing the rippled muscles of his abdomen a little at a time.
My breath grew thick, and my cock ached. He was a sight to behold. I’d never had a man turn me on like he did.