Chapter 17
Camden
“You took us to a gay club?” I ask Xander.
He frowns like he’s never been more confused as he looks at the sign in front of this new club just outside of downtown Denver.
He looks back down at his phone. “I thought this was a hot dog place.”
Del rolls his eyes. “It’s called The Wiener Spot.”
Xander looks at Del, his brow furrowed like he’s offended. “That could be the name of a hot dog place.”
“Looks like there is a hot dog place called The Wiener Spot, but it’s in Colorado Springs,” Sam says, holding up his phone for all of us to look at.
“Oh. Well, shit.” Xander chuckles. “Sorry about that, guys.”
We all burst out laughing. Even Del and Ryker crack a few chuckles.
Del shakes his head. “This team is fucking hopeless. First, Connors mistakenly hires a party princess instead of a stripper for our bachelor party. Now Williams takes us to a gay club when he meant to take us to get hot dogs for dinner.”
Everyone laughs harder. When we get ourselves together, Blomdahl walks over to look at the menu posted outside the front entrance. “They’ve got a pretty decent menu. Wings and burgers and nachos.”
“Sounds good to me,” I say. “Let’s go in. I’m starving.”
Dance music booms around us the second we walk in. We make our way through the crowded dance floor to a table near the bar and sit down. We order food and drinks from the server. When our glasses are empty, Del and I head to the bar for more.
We order two pitchers of beer, shots, and a glass of Scotch from the bartender, who’s an insanely ripped shirtless guy that looks like he’s in his forties.
“Haven’t seen you fellas in here before,” he says as he gets started on our drink order.
“It’s our first time. We came here by mistake, actually. My friend thought it was a hot dog place,” I say.
The bartender bursts out laughing. “Damn, really?”
“Yup. We’re very stupid.”
He laughs harder. Del, who’s standing next to me, just rolls his eyes.
“Hey, you guys look familiar.” An older guy sitting on a stool near the bar squints at me. “Wait, you’re Camden Connors. And you’re Del Richards. You guys play for the Bashers.”
Del nods. I grin. “That’s us,” I say.
He introduces himself as Kirk, and we shake his hand.
“A bunch of guys from the team are here too,” I say, nodding to our table.
“This is so cool. We don’t get many professional athletes here,” Kirk says.
“We didn’t plan to come, but I’m glad we ended up here. The food’s great,” I say. “We’re really digging the vibe. And the music is awesome.” I bop my head along to the dance beat in the background.
Del thanks the bartender when he drops off a tray of shots.
I turn to the bartender. “I gotta ask, what’s your workout routine, dude? I look like a slob standing next to you.”
The bartender chuckles. “You’re very kind. I do mostly weightlifting and running. And I’m pretty strict with my diet.”
I hold up my shot of tequila. “And there’s my problem.” I down it. The bartender and the patron next to me laugh.
“You’re young, and you’re an athlete. Enjoy the fact that you can drink alcohol without it showing up on your body,” the bartender says.
Kirk turns to me. “Hey, I just gotta say, I think it’s really cool that the Bashers started hosting Pride Night last year. I didn’t care much for sports until I saw that. Now I try to go to a home game a couple of times a month. I love that you wear the rainbow jerseys for Pride Night too.”
“Yeah, man. We want everyone to feel welcome,” I say. “And Pride Night was his fiancée’s idea.” I nod at Del, whose serious face cracks a small smile.
“She’s head of our social media. She’s all about thinking of cool stuff like that,” Del says.
“Would it be okay if I got a photo with you guys?” Kirk asks.
“Yeah, absolutely,” I say. Del and I pose for a pick with Kirk, then take one with the bartender.
Just then, “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan blasts on the speaker. I look over and see Xander leading the guys onto the dance floor. He points at us to join. I laugh. Del rolls his eyes, but we both know we’re going to be tearing it up on the dance floor in a second.
“You guys like this song?” Kirk asks.
“Yeah. It was our pump-up song it in the locker room during the playoffs the first year that we won the Stanley Cup,” I say. “It’s our good luck jam.”
He laughs as Del and I make a beeline for the dance floor. We dance with the rest of the guys on the team and sing along to the lyrics. Around us, people take photos and selfies with us.
When the song ends, we head back to the table and order food. We’re almost done eating when all our phones buzz. There’s a message in the group text that we have with the ladies.
Stopped by our favorite local sex shop and stocked up on some naughty stuff.
My eyes go wide when I see the photos of vibrators, dildos, lube, sexy panties, and more.
All the guys are staring at their phone screens.
“Well, fuck,” Xander mutters.
“Yeah. Holy shit,” Theo says.
Another text.
Meet us at Spanky’s to buy us a bottle of champagne and maybe we’ll show you guys everything we bought.
The guys stand up, throw cash on the table, and start to leave.
I chuckle. Theo pats my shoulder. “Admit it. You’re eager to see your wife’s sexy toy haul too.”
“Oh, definitely,” I say through a chuckle.
I instantly feel guilty. Ellie and I aren’t together for real, so it’s not my business the kind of sex toys she buys…but I can’t help but be curious about what she likes. I’m not going to make her show me what she bought though. That feels weird.
When we walk into Spanky’s, the ladies are already there, sitting at our usual table near the back.
I clock the crimson red shopping bags on the table. I sit down next to Ellie, who’s downing a glass of water.
I eye her bag, which is the biggest one on the table.
I grin. “Went buckwild on your shopping spree, huh?”
She nods, her smile tight and her cheeks flushed.
“So what did you guys get up to?” Ingrid asks.
“Xander meant to take us to a hot dog place, but we ended up at a gay club instead,” Del says.
The ladies all burst out laughing. When Xander explains how the mix-up happened, they laugh even harder.
“It was a fun time though,” I say. “We met some cool fans and took some photos. We even danced a little.”
The ladies raise their glasses of champagne to us.
Del gazes focuses on his fiancée. “Show me your haul.”
Each couple turns to each other as the girls show their guys what they got.
I lean my mouth close to Ellie’s ear so only she can hear. “You don’t have to show me.”
Her expression eases. She looks relieved.
“Thanks. I just…I’m pretty private about this stuff,” she says quietly.
“Yeah, of course. I get it.”
“Ellie, what does your new husband think about your haul?” Bella teases.
Ingrid looks at me. “Don’t we have good taste?”
I look between them, confused.
Ellie clears her throat. “The girls all picked out stuff for me. As a wedding gift,” she says.
“Oh.” I notice that Ellie’s cheeks are on fire as she makes a flustered noise. Her expression is tight and on edge. I can tell just how uncomfortable this is making her, to be put on the spot like this.
“Aren’t you going to show Camden your new toy collection?” Ingrid teases Ellie. Ellie smiles, but it looks forced.
I know Ingrid and Bella mean well, but since they don’t know Ellie all that well, they’re not picking up how she’s feeling in this moment.
I slide my arm around Ellie’s shoulder and flash an easy smile. “She’s gonna surprise me when we get home,” I say. “It’s more fun when you have to wait a little.”
The table whistles and chuckles.
Ellie looks up at me, a small, relieved smile playing on her lips. “Thank you,” she says softly.
I give her a small nod and tuck her hair behind her ear, trying to play it off like we’re a normal newlywed couple and not two friends who are trying to navigate this charged moment.
The night winds down, and everyone heads home.
When Ellie and I walk inside the house, I carry the shopping bags of dresses to her bedroom and set them on the floor.
When I come back into the main part of the house, she sets the big red bag of mystery sexy toys on the kitchen counter, then goes to let Gus out into the backyard to use the bathroom.
He runs back inside after a minute, then flops on the floor.
I try not to look at the bag as I refill his water dish, then grab a glass of water for myself.
Ellie turns to me. “Thank you for letting me use your credit card to buy those dresses. And thanks for playing it so cool earlier when everyone was talking about…that.” She looks at the red bag.
“Sure thing.” I clear my throat as I look at the bag, then Ellie. The air between us suddenly feels thick.
I lean down to pet Gus, who’s lying on the floor, half-asleep, just to do something.
Ellie fiddles with the hem of her dress. “I’m tired. I should head to bed.”
She starts to walk off.
“Wait, don’t you want your stuff?” I nod at the red bag.
She blinks at it. “Right. Yeah. Thanks.”
She grabs it and heads to her room. I walk to my bedroom and wind down for the night. I’m about to hop in the shower when I remember that tomorrow is trash day. I head back into the kitchen, grab the trash, and haul it into the garage where the can is.
When I open it, I freeze. There’s the red bag from the sex shop.
What the hell?
Maybe Ellie just threw away the bag. But when I reach down and grab it, it’s heavy. I peer into the bag and see a bunch of unopened sex toys.
I stand there, confused as to why Ellie threw them away. Maybe she tossed it by mistake.
I take the bag out of the trash can and set it aside while I take out the garbage. And then I bring the bag inside and set it on the kitchen floor for her to grab when she wakes up.