9. Jake #3
“No, not at all.” Jake put the card he was holding down and smirked at Allen as he began unwrapping the stick. “This was yours? I can’t believe you went with this curve—what was the highest number of points you had in a season?”
Allen sighed and folded his arms. “Don’t ask me. My parents have it all written down in the notebooks I gave you. I think I was so traumatized by my childhood that I’ve blocked most of it out.”
Screw talking to them. Jake wanted to fight them.
“Do you have anything else?” Jake asked, keeping his voice cheery. “Don’t throw it out. I want it all.”
Allen crinkled his nose, but Jake didn’t miss the blush that was forming on his cheeks.
“I have more sticks and pucks in my storage locker downstairs. My equipment bag is there too, but I don’t know what’s in it.
My dad dropped it off one day because he was pissed at me, and my dumbass brought it inside instead of throwing it in the dumpster.
I played for two teams, so if you want the jersey from my first one, I can give it to you. ”
Jake would take everything. The sticks, the gear and the man himself. It could all stay safe in his home, where it belonged, and be loved and cherished forever.
“Okay, jeez. I’ll let you have everything you damn hoarder.” Allen nudged him with his foot and winked. “Please eat your food before it gets too cold. I can’t be the only one who needs replenishment after last night.”
Jake frowned, but Allen was right. He pouted as he put everything back in the box and set the stick aside, only smiling again when Allen laughed at his ridiculous behaviour.
The eggs were cold, but it was the best breakfast Jake had eaten in a long time. Sitting with Allen and watching corny Christmas movies was a new tradition in his books, even if his boyfriend got easily disgruntled over them.
Jake’s phone chimed as he was finishing the last of his bacon, and he pulled it out to see an alert from the security cameras inside his apartment.
He already knew who it was before he opened the live feed, just in time to see Riley lift his shirt and start playing with his nipples, staring directly at the camera.
He was so lame.
Riley dropped his shirt and started texting on his phone, and the message was delivered to Jake’s device seconds later.
Get the fuck over here. Bring Allen. Let’s get drunk.
“You’re making a face,” said Allen.
Jake was still recovering from the nipple play, so yes, he was.
“Riley’s at my place,” Jake told him, holding up his phone to show off the text. “We usually spend Christmas together, but I’ll tell him to enjoy his alone time at the apartment, and I can visit him later?”
He hadn’t meant for his tone to turn the offer into a question, but he didn’t know how to ask Allen to come to his home without it seeming like things were moving too fast. This was the part of social interaction that he hated.
Should he say the words and risk sounding like an asshole, or should he drop it and tell Riley he was bailing?
Allen had caught on to his indecisiveness and was folding his arms across his chest again, looking as threatening as a cute hamster while he stared Jake down.
“Stop hesitating to talk to me,” said Allen, his foot nudging Jake’s leg. “What do you think I could possibly be scared of after you literally fucked me all night, dressed me in a pair of frilly underwear, and then asked me to marry you?”
Jake dug his teeth into his bottom lip. “They’re not frilly, they’re lacy.”
Allen raised an eyebrow. “What they are—is soaked with cum and sitting in my laundry basket to be washed, Mr. Literal. Telling me you love me can’t be easier than asking me whatever mind-blowing question is spinning around in that sexy head of yours, so spill it.”
Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Jake wrung his hands together, piecing the words into order until they became clear.
“I’m too big for this place.”
Sonofabitch. That wasn’t what he meant to say.
While Jake began to have a mini-breakdown, Allen was tossing his head back to laugh. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, and Jake paused his freak out to watch Allen wipe them away, only for more glistening beads to return the next second.
“Jake—please—you are too fucking adorable.” Allen abruptly pushed off his blankets and stood, crawling closer to swing a leg over Jake’s lap so he could sit and cling to him like a baby bat.
Allen was laughing so hard he couldn’t get a word out, and Jake took full advantage, pulling him in and savouring the warm, familiar weight of him on his thighs, until the laughter tapered off into soft, breathless giggles.
“Do you want to go to your place and see Riley?” Allen asked, grinning brightly. “I don’t know if there are any fast-food spots open, but we could order something, and I’ll hang out while you guys play video games. I’ll probably nap because I didn’t get a lot of sleep, but I can cuddle beside you?”
Jake tightened his grip until Allen made a tiny sound of protest. His heart was beating so loudly that he knew Allen could hear it, but he didn’t care because Jake wanted him to know how he affected him.
“Pre-warned; if there are stairs, I won’t be able to get up them,” Allen continued, taking Jake’s face in his hands so he could force their eyes to meet.
“You’ll have to carry me into whatever mansion you have hidden away.
Shuffling around my small, dismal apartment is one thing, but steps with an aching ass? Nope.”
Jake knew the grumpy tone Allen used while describing his apartment wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, but he still felt like a jackass. “I’m sorry,” he said, kissing his boyfriend sweetly on the forehead. “Your place is very cozy, there just aren’t many places where I can fit.”
Allen’s eyelids slid partially closed, and his lips curled into a smile. “Oh?” He rolled his hips, grinding teasingly on the dick that Jake just succeeded in calming the fuck down, and fluttered his lashes.
“I can think of one place you were able to fit.”
Heat coiled in his stomach, his body responding instantly to the purr in Allen’s voice. Jake was starting to think there might be a line of miscommunication happening between him and his dick, but then Allen winced, and all thoughts of fucking him again went out the window.
“I told you I have a hot tub, right?” Jake told him, softly running his hands up and down Allen’s sides to soothe him. “How about we go to my place, and I help you into it, and then I’ll bring you wine to sip on while Riley and I cook the turkey?”
Allen blinked, cheeks flushing at something Jake had said.
Jake waited, unsure of where he had messed up, until Allen chuckled and poked his nose.
“You said turkey, Mouse. Nobody just has a turkey ready to make—it takes time to defrost them and do whatever, which means—”
“I was planning on having you come over, yes,” Jake finished, joining Allen with his own blush now that he had been caught.
But Allen didn’t appear angry. The only reaction he had was to grin and lean up so he could kiss him, lingering in the contact for the span of a heartbeat before he pulled away.
“Come on, help me find my feet and give me five minutes to get dressed. The thought of Riley wandering around crying because he’s alone is making me sad.”
Jake huffed. If Allen knew what Riley had been doing on the camera, he didn’t think he would be as sympathetic.
Jake helped Allen up and walked him to his room, checking to make sure he was okay before he stepped out to put things in his car. Allen rolled his eyes when Jake took his keys to the downstairs storage unit, but he didn’t stop him.
There was no way in hell Jake was leaving without it, and it wasn’t like Allen’s things wouldn’t be at his place by the end of the year, which was in six days.
But if he could convince Allen to be his boyfriend by the end of two weeks, six days to move in seemed doable.
Allen was moving better by the time they got in the car. His legs weren’t nearly as wobbly, and he wasn’t wincing anymore, but Jake still checked on him and turned the heated seat on to keep him warm.
“I can say with confidence that I’ve never had so much sex that I could barely walk the next day,” Allen groused, but he looked pleased.
“Do you have to work tomorrow?” Jake asked.
Allen nodded and knocked his head against the headrest.
“Call in sick,” said Jake. “I’ll pay you double to stay home—with me.”
Allen stopped beating himself up to shoot him a confused look, complete with raised eyebrows. “This is moving into dangerous prostitute territory.”
Jake scoffed at the suggestion. “I’ll pay you triple. Don’t make me offer your yearly salary, because I will.”
“You’re an obnoxious, rich bastard,” Allen said, puffing out his cheeks. “Fine, whatever. The new girl would probably love to pick up more hours, especially during a slow day.”
Jake smiled smugly and pulled the car onto the road, listening as Allen made his calls and organized his work schedule until he arranged the rest of the week off—like he knew Jake would ask.
“I haven’t had a vacation in years,” Allen said with a sigh. “As long as my rent and power bill get paid, I don’t give a fuck.”
“Consider it done,” said Jake.
He ignored the glares Allen was giving him and kept his eyes on the icy roads.
Jake lived in one of the new penthouse apartments in downtown Halifax, a property that belonged to his father, which he had been given the task of managing to ‘gain experience’.
The job wasn’t so bad; it was a lot of delegating and dealing with insurance companies, lawyers, and construction contract workers, but it kept him busy when Riley was gone all day for training camp.
He thought Allen might be less speechless when he pulled into the parking garage of a building instead of a mansion, but if anything, he seemed even more shocked.
“You really are loaded, aren’t you?” he asked, staring up at the parking lot ceiling.