Remember, You Started This
Did watching me play do anything for you?
It was the pregame stretching actually.
Ooo the famous hip openers. Yeah baby, you know how open my hips can get.
You’re ruining it.
I’m too amped up to be romantic.
Wanna help me out?
Your place or mine?
Your text flirting has improved under my tutelage.
Answer the question so I can tell my driver where to go.
Are you still here?
Yeah, in the parking lot.
Wait three minutes! I’ll be there.
I grab my stuff and dash out of the locker room almost knocking Harper over in the process. "Sorry Harp!"
"Go get him!" She cheers and I skid to a stop.
"What?" I turn to her.
Her face is red as a strawberry. "Ummm, I said go get ‘em! Like the general cheering saying." She tosses a half-hearted fist up in the air to sell it.
"Sure you did." But I’m too focused on getting to Rhys to get into this with her now.
"You owe me!" She yells out and I just wave her off.
Our security guys wave me through and I jog past Lydia as she and E.T. argue about something he thinks would be funny for social media. All I see is her head shaking back and forth.
"Good night Pay Day!" Emmett yells.
"See you tomorrow." I call and I round the corner to find a giant black SUV idling near the ramp to the street. I pull open the back door and between panting breaths I get out. "Hey!"
"Hey. Don’t you do athletic stuff for a living?" Rhys asks as he slides over.
"Yeah, but I’m not a TitaniumPerson." I huff as I plop in the seat.
Rhys laughs. "Fair enough. Umm, good game." He waves to the driver.
"Thanks Charming." I pull his hand into mine and press a kiss to his palm. My soap does a decent job of getting the stink of hockey gloves off my hands but Rhys’s smell like the beardbalm he uses and I let my nose linger for a beat before leaning back. "Did I impress you with my skating skills?"
"Absolutely." He laughs. "And after roller skating I wasn’t sure."
"Shut up." I nudge him with my shoulder.
"Really Duncan, it was great."
"Just great?"
He rolls his eyes. "What do you want me to say? That it was like jazz? Like poetry in motion? The way you and your teammates danced around each other and worked together and supported each other?"
"Yeah. That’s exactly what I want you to say." I hold my smile for just a moment. "You also could have said it was hot to watch me play."
"That too." He rolls his eyes.
"Good." Satisfied, I lean my head against the rest and turn to him. "I’ve been thinking."
"Oh yeah, about what?" He tilts his body towards mine, keeping our hands intertwined.
"Halloween."
He laughs. "What?"
"Yeah, Felix usually hosts something for us and we don’t have a game on actual halloween night so we get to participate in trick or treating and everything!"
"I’m not sure that’s a good idea." Rhys says as he looks down at our hands.
"Why?"
The sadness I see in his eyes fills my chest. "You know why."
"Yeah, but can’t we go as friends? Or like, you’re just some guy I met or something and I invited you. Actually, wouldn’t it be funny if I dressed up as you and then brought you to the party!" That’s hilarious.
His thumb begins to trace circles on the back of my hand. "I can’t afford another public breakup." Rhys whispers into the little space between us.
"That’s fine, we’re not dating so there’s nothing to break up."
Logical.
But the words twist in my gut.
"It sure feels like we’re dating."
If i knew what dating felt like maybe, but I’m not the guy to ask here.
"Nah, Charming, we’re just taking advantage of you being in town." I lean in and add, "I mean, I’m just using you for your body and your cooking ability."
"Shut up." Rhys laughs quietly.
"You know how to shut me up." I dance my eyebrows at him and he fully cracks. A smile spreads across his face and he leans over to rest his head on my shoulder.
"I’ll come to your friend’s Halloween party." He says after we sit in silence for a few beats.
"Matching costumes?"
"Don’t push it."