29. Dan
DAN
“Okay. We’ve got me, King, Jay, and Volksy. Are you and Wells in?”
Neo shook his head. “Toby won’t be. He’s got a date tonight.”
My eyes narrowed as I studied my housemate across the kitchen island. The way he’d said “date,” with that lip curl…
“Hey, Clayts?” Sliding off my stool, I rounded the island to come up next to him.
“What?”
“Are you, um, bi?” I whispered the last word.
Neo’s eyes widened. “Wh— Who told you? I’m not—”
“Hey, calm down, bro.” I patted his shoulder. “Just a question.”
“A question that came out of nowhere.”
“Uh, no. It was your face when you told me Toby had a date.” I decided not to add that Liana had mentioned he was potentially bi.
“For fuck’s sake,” he groaned, lowering his head and burying it in his arms. “Yeah, I am, but don’t go shouting about it, okay?”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
“It’s not… It’s not a secret. I’ve hooked up with a few guys. I just don’t wanna make things weird between me and Toby, if he thinks…”
“You fancy him. Yeah, I get it.” Squeezing his shoulder, I sighed. “Are you sure he’s straight? Because I thought I was—” Oh shit, I hadn’t meant to say anything. “—I mean, uh… Oh, fuck it. I recently found out I’m bi. Who would’ve thought?”
Lifting his head, he stared at me with what could only be described as an incredulous look on his face. “Are you serious? You thought you were straight? You?”
“The fuck, Clayton? I’ve literally slept with, like, hundreds of women since you’ve known me, and zero men. I’ve never even looked at another man in that way.”
“But you’ve had a massive thing for Lincoln Bellingham for forever.” Neo’s eyes widened. “Shit, Hoyts, did something happen between the two of you? Is that how you ‘recently’ discovered you were bi?”
“What!” I screeched. My face was getting hot. “I have never, ever had a thing for bellend Bellingham. Not even a sliver of a thing. The only thing I’ve ever had for that wanker is unmitigated levels of pure hate.”
“Are we finally acknowledging Arson’s crush on Bellingham?” Kane Worthington, whose nickname would henceforth be known as Worthy to Die, strolled into the kitchen with a smirk on his smug face.
“Fuck you. I still haven’t forgiven you for punching me at the party.”
His smirk was instantly wiped away. “Don’t start.”
“Yeah, okay. I… Look, Li’s my friend. Just don’t hurt her, or I will castrate you. Slowly. With a rusty knife.”
Neo winced. “You’ve been spending too much time with King.” He glanced over at Kane, who was staring out of the window, his throat working, and then his gaze flicked back to mine. “Let’s drop the Bellingham thing. Arson doesn’t have to tell us anything he doesn’t want to.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I muttered. Nothing I wanted to share with my teammates, anyway.
“Okay. Wells is out today. That means you’re in, Worthy, if you can manage to control your temper.
We’re going to the rink to do some extra drills.
Gotta be prepared for our next game. Coach said our passes were looking sloppy, so we need to tighten them up. ”
“Yeah, alright. I’m in.” Kane drummed his fingers on the island. “When?”
“We’ll go in about half an hour.” That was, coincidentally, the same time that a certain dark-haired, tattooed player would be there doing his own drills.
“Okay.” He crossed to the fridge and pulled out an energy drink. “I’m gonna get my kit together. See you back down here.”
When he’d gone, I glanced over at Neo, who was watching me warily. “I won’t say anything, I promise.”
“Thanks.” Rubbing his hand over his face, he sighed. “I just don’t want to rock the boat with Toby. He’s definitely a hundred percent straight, and I don’t want to fuck up our friendship. He’s my best friend, y’know?”
“Yeah. I know.” Reading between the lines, he was totally into his best friend.
That had to suck. Not that I would ever be into my besties in that way.
I shuddered. Ugh. They were basically my brothers.
Another thought struck me. “Uh…so…let’s hypothetically say that I wanted to do anal with a man.
Like, I’ve done it with a girl before, but is it the same?
What if… Shit, I don’t know if I wanna be on the other end because his dick is huge— Ah, forget I said that. ”
Neo was now laughing openly at me. “You should see your face. We’ve all heard the rumours about his size, so yeah…I don’t blame you for being apprehensive.”
“It’s not him!”
“Whatever you say. Seriously, though, if you want my advice…”
“I don’t, but I need it.” Slumping down, I pressed my cheek against the cool surface of the counter, hoping it would reduce some of the heat in my face. “Please.”
“I’ve only slept with one guy, once, but lube is your best friend. Lube and…uh…stretching. You know.” He coughed, then shook his head. “Bloody hell, I need to be drunk for this conversation.”
“You and me both. Don’t say anything to anyone, please. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” His voice lowered. “Look, we were mostly taking the piss out of you about having a thing for Bellingham. But you know that if you start seeing him, everyone’s gonna have a problem with it? Your family, the team, most of Cranham Uni…”
My eyes closed, and I swallowed. “I know, and it’s not gonna happen. We loathe each other. We just…I don’t know. We have some kind of weird hate chemistry. It’ll be out of our systems once we’ve fucked.”
I shouldn’t even be entertaining the thought, because Neo was right. But the truth was, the things I’d done with Lincoln had fanned the flames rather than dampened the fire.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit to anything, but we both knew the unspoken truth. When it came to Lincoln, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.
“This is open practice.” I gave Ryker my most innocent look as we skated onto the ice, and he shook his head, his jaw set.
“Don’t pretend that you didn’t know he was gonna be here.
Shit, Arson. Do you realise you’re playing with fire here?
He’s your enemy. His uncle is actively working against crime families, which includes yours, mine, and Volkov’s, for a start.
The Fontanas too. His dad worked with the Culverhouse Network to try and take your firm down, and he still holds a grudge. ”
“I know all that,” I snapped, “and I need you to stay the fuck out of my business.”
“Dan.” He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. “I’m not going to interfere, but if anyone I care about ends up at risk because of this, all fucking bets are off. Understood?”
“Let me make my own mistakes.” At his low growl, I held up my hand.
“Ry, my best friends and family come first. I’m not going to do anything to put any of you in danger, I swear.
I’d die before I let that happen. Whatever it is between me and him, it’s only sex.
He’s not my fucking boyfriend, and we still actively hate each other.
You don’t need to worry.” I repeated the words I’d said to him in the torture chamber. “Trust me. Please.”
He sighed heavily. “Alright. Shit, I know I’m coming on too strong, and it’s not my place to tell you who you can and can’t see. I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust, and I think this whole thing is the worst fucking idea you’ve ever had.”
“Same. It’s just a…I dunno, a weird blip me and you can joke about in the future. C’mon. Let’s forget about Bellingham and whip the team into shape.” I knocked my helmet against his, and his lips kicked up into a wry smile.
“I’m almost impressed with the amount of gaslighting you’re doing to yourself. But okay, you brought us here—under false pretences—so let’s get it over with. Stay away from Bellingham, though, unless you want a bloodbath.”
Stay away from Bellingham? My gaze flicked to the far end of the rink, where number fifty-two was passing back and forth with Campbell. Damn. He was so fucking sexy.
I tore my gaze away to find Ryker watching me with an expression that couldn’t seem to decide if it was frustrated or amused.
“Dan.”
Flashing him a grin, I touched my gloved hand to my helmet in a salute. “Got it, Cap. Stay away from him? Easy.”
I was a liar. The first thing I did when we reached the centre line was to call Lincoln over. It was an impulse I couldn’t seem to control. “Hey, Bellingham!”
His head shot to mine, his eyes sparkling as he bit back a smile. “Can I help you, Hoyton?”
“Mmm. Maybe. Wanna have a little friendly competition? Cranham versus Whelford?”
Behind me, I heard Ryker groan, but I kept my gaze fixed on Lincoln. He stopped struggling to bite back his smile, his mouth curving into a grin as we eye fucked each other across the ice. Damn him for being so gorgeous. “What are you doing here?”
“Open practice, baby.” I blew him a kiss, and he snorted, gliding closer to me.
“Were you stalking my stories again, demon?”
“Were you posting private stories with your upcoming schedule just for me, bellend?”
His cheeks went red. Yeah, I knew it.
“What the fuck are you two doing? Why are you smiling at each other?” Campbell’s big body pushed in between us, his eyes narrowed on me.
“It’s called psychology. Getting inside your opponent’s head. Jealous, Campbell? Want me to blow you a kiss?” Batting my lashes at him, I gave him a wide, fake grin.
“I want you to fucking die.”
I tutted. “That’s not very nice, is it?” Raising my hand, I called Enzo over. “Captain Fontana! Your teammates have challenged us to a battle, Kings against Flames. May the best team win.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. Glancing over at Ryker, who had come up next to me, he jerked his thumb in my direction. “Control your teammate, Thorpe.”
“Arson’s uncontrollable. Want to swap? You for him, what do you say?”
“No, but if you want a bit of friendly competition, I’m up for it. No checking, though. If those two get into a fight—” He nodded at me and Lincoln, which was rude, in my opinion. “—I don’t trust them not to take it too far.”
Ryker looked between us, his brows pulling together, but eventually, he turned back to Enzo. “Okay. We can practice against each other, as long as there’s no checking. No dirty play. Just act like it’s a normal practice session with our own teams. Can we trust everyone to stick to the rules?”
“If anyone doesn’t, they’re out for the next game.
I’ll come up with a reason if Coach questions it,” Enzo said immediately, glancing around at his teammates.
I barely paid him any attention, my gaze sliding to Lincoln, who was already watching me.
My stomach jolted at his heated look, and as for my dick…
The less I said about that fucker, the better, given we were surrounded by our teammates and rivals.
Slowly and deliberately, I licked my lips and then moved forwards in a slow C-cut until I was right in front of Lincoln with my skates nudging against his. “Hi.”
“You’re gonna get me into trouble,” he murmured.
“But you like trouble.”
“Hmmm.” His gloved hand reached out, brushing against mine, out of sight of anyone else. “Meet me after. Come to mine?”
I smiled, butterflies erupting in my belly. “Yeah, okay.”