Chapter Two #2
Though Sage sends me a curious look, he turns and leads the way with Rhys at his side. I sink my hand into the softness of Tyler’s coat, and follow, soaking up his shy smiles every time our gazes meet.
The two tables our group commandeered earlier are a mixture of my housemates and the Metros players who joined our friend group when Sage and Rhys got together.
The ten of us together are a loud bunch.
Add in Bax and his three friends exiting the dance floor, and I don’t blame Tyler for being overwhelmed.
We make the introductions. Tyler has played against Sage, Morgan, Gio, Phil, and Remy, and he knows Quinn, the captain of the Metros, because they were in the same draft class, which was a few years ahead of me.
Jonas, Maxim, and Rhys are new to him, but thanks to his brief stints playing in the top league between injuries and times with the minor clubs, they know a lot of the same people.
He shakes everyone’s hands, and when he finishes with Rhys, the bandmates arrive.
In case he wants support, I step beside him to make the introductions. Protectiveness surges through me at the feel of his body pressing into mine. “Ty, this is Everett, Gavin, Layne, and Bax.”
The first three exchange hellos with him, and Tyler adds in a happy birthday to Layne.
Quiet contrition blankets Bax. He dips his hands into his pockets, then pulls them out again and squares his shoulders. “Tyler, I’m sorry about what happened at the game. I didn’t realize I’d distracted you until someone mentioned it to me on the way out of the arena.”
“Oh.” The tension in Tyler’s body eases. Not completely, but he seems to take Bax’s apology for what it is, and I rub his back in a quick motion as encouragement.
I’m not sure why it feels so important for Tyler and Bax to like each other, but this moment feels big.
“I got doused with a drink.” The tips of Bax’s ears turn pink, and it’s all I can do not to pull him to me. “It may as well have been a bucket of ice water; it was so cold. And it shocked the hell out of me. I literally jumped out of my seat.”
Layne sets his empty shot glass on the table. “The guy behind us kicked it over. We’re gonna take inspiration from it. Blasted with cherry cola needs to be a song title.”
Bax briefly closes his eyes on a groan. “No, it does not.”
“Yes.” Layne beams at us and accepts another shot from Baxim.
Tyler’s eyes round, and a smile spreads across his gorgeous face. The same smile, all teeth and sparkling eyes, that caught my attention the first time I met him at that offseason training camp. “You’re musicians?”
“Rockers, baby.” Holding his drink high, Layne sways to the music. His shirt hangs open, displaying his tattoos. Everett snags the glass from his hand and downs the shot.
“Hey…”
Hiding a smile, Bax gently nudges Layne toward Gavin then extends his hand to Tyler. “I know buying you a drink doesn’t make up for that missed goal, but can I buy you one anyway?”
His focus glued to Bax, Tyler’s body relaxes as they shake hands. “I saw you earlier. During the second period. Don’t know if you remember, but I was checked into the boards and—”
“I remember.” Bax shifts in closer, his hazel eyes gleaming with interest. He’s taller than both of us. With his short hair, tall frame, and tight shirt and jeans showcasing his muscles on muscles, he looks more like the band’s security guard than its drummer. “So, how about that drink?”
Tyler’s gaze transfixes on Bax as if mesmerized by the man. Not that I blame him, I felt the same way the first time I met Bax, and every time since. After a beat, then two, Tyler breaks through his Bax spell, a slow smile transforming his face from handsome to breathtaking. “Sure.”
An uncomfortable pit lodges in my stomach at the thought of them being interested in each other and not in me. Did I see things that weren’t there?
But Ty’s hand curls around mine, and he slides his body against my torso as he turns into my chest. The heated gaze he had for Bax doesn’t lessen when aimed my way. “Coming, Soren?”
Bax shifts closer, pinning me with the glittering weight of his stare, and the light pressure of his fingers against my biceps goes all the way to my dick. “Of course he is. Right?”
Heat coils and curls, a snaking desire warming me through. The rest of the pub becomes a fuzzy, buzzing thing, with only the two men before me in brilliant focus. “Yeah. I’m coming.”
The brush of Bax’s fingers as he lowers his hand to his side raises nerve endings in their wake.
He falls in step on the other side of Tyler and relays more details of the cherry cola incident on the way to the bar.
We’re groaning and laughing with him as we settle in an empty nook with three beers.
The music pulses around us, lights flare and flash, and I’m grateful for the shadowed corners offering privacy away from the sea of bodies.
Ty shifts closer to Bax but keeps his foot pressed against mine. “So, you’re in a band?”
He nods. “Flame Shade. I’m the drummer.”
“I’ll check out your music.”
“High energy, edgy rock. One of my favorite bands.” I don’t add that ever since meeting Bax, Flame Shade has become my pre-game listening ritual. Or that I haven’t changed my playlist since I was eighteen and had the first shut out of my career.
Bax raises his bottle to me. “Thanks.”
“So do you spend your time touring, or are you based here?” Ty rests his elbows on the table, engrossed in Bax’s every word.
“Touring is the dream. We play anywhere we can, festivals, bars, clubs, but for now, we all still have day jobs. I’m a tour guide at the natural history museum.”
A mental image of Bax, wearing a blazer and lanyard, giving a talk in front of dinosaur bones is enough to know I need to see him in action. “I remember Layne saying something about you hanging out with dinosaurs and rocks, but not that you worked at the museum.”
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but there’s no heat in the action. “He thinks he’s funny. Have you two known each other long?”
“About five years.” I take a sip of my beer. “We got to know each other pretty well when we were part of the same offseason training program.”
Tyler nods, smiling at me. “We bonded over video games and sharing Soren’s stash of snacks.”
As music swirls around us, we drift closer to each other.
Bax tells us more about how he and Layne have known each other since they were kids, and their antics over the years.
Tyler and I share stories of hockey shenanigans, trying to one-up each other with the ridiculousness of them, and drawing out laughter from Bax.
And with every story, I scoot closer to Tyler.
Bax’s fingers brush my hand resting on the table until our forefingers are linked together.
Under the table, Tyler’s foot is now wrapped around my ankle, keeping me close, while he smooths his hand along Bax’s thigh.
The air between us sparks with an electric current that everyone in the pub must feel.
How could they not? My skin tingles with it, Bax’s cheeks are flushed, and the grin on Tyler’s face is what I wanted for him after the game.
As much as I want to stay here with them, talking and flirting, I want to go somewhere quieter, more private.
But fear that moving, breaking this bubble we’ve created will put an end to whatever this is, has me struggling with the words to ask them to come to my place.
“Okay, you three.” Layne dances over to us, arms raised over his head, the pink drink in his hand spilling as he wiggles his hips. “It’s my birthday, and you haven’t danced with me.”
“I danced with you when we got here.” Bax’s mouth quirks, making it impossible to look away from those lips. A droplet of beer rests on his bottom lip, and I want to lick it off.
Layne waves Bax’s comment away with a pfft. “Not you. I can dance with you anytime.”
Bax presses his hand to his chest. “And here I thought I was special.”
“You are.” Layne wraps an arm around Bax’s shoulders, pulling him close and giving him a smacking kiss on the cheek.
“That’s not what I’d be kissing,” Ty mumbles as Bax makes a show of wiping off his cheek.
I press my lips to Tyler’s ear, reveling in the way he trembles. “Same.”
Tyler turns his head, heat banked in his eyes, igniting a flame in my gut.
“Pleeeeease,” Layne whines, pulling Tyler’s attention to the inebriated birthday boy. “I want to dance.”
Bax stands, running his hands down the front of his jeans.
“He won’t stop until we dance with him.” His gaze takes in Tyler, pressed into my front, my arm around his shoulder, and even in the dim light of the pub, I see his eyes darken.
In an offering that surprises and delights me, he holds out both his hands. “Ready to dance?”
I take one hand and Tyler takes the other, while Layne bounces and claps as he leads us to the dance floor. I can’t remember the last time holding someone’s hand left me breathless, but here I am, skin tingling and heart dancing in my chest while shallow breaths barely fill my lungs.
The four of us hit the dance floor, but we only make it through half a song before Layne leaves us to dance with another group.
“He thinks he’s the ambassador of the dance floor.
” His gaze on his friend, Bax moves in closer.
There’s a protectiveness as Bax watches Layne dance from group to group, shaking his ass, and leaving a trail of smiles.
Once Everette joins Layne, Bax seems to relax, and shifts his attention from his bandmates.
The bass pulses, vibrating through the floor and up my legs.
Tyler moves behind me, his front pressed to my back as his hips grind to the beat of the music.
He reaches around my sides, but instead of wrapping his arms around my waist like I think he’s going to do, he grasps the hem of Bax’s black T-shirt and tugs.
Bax stumbles into my chest, and I catch him, holding him close.
At my back, I feel the hard planes of Tyler’s chest, his stiffening cock pressing into my ass with every shift of his hips, and the heated breath that hits my neck.
Bax has one hand exploring my chest, while the heat of his hardness grinds into me.
My cells ping, sensitive to every inhalation, every puff of breath, every caress.
Hands roam until it is impossible to tell whose are whose.
A low moan in my ear. The heat of lips on my jaw.
My cock, so full I fear it will explode from the slightest touch.
Hell, a light breeze will have me going off.
Bax looks down at me, his hazel eyes alive with want. Cupping the back of his head, I bring our mouths together, the need to taste him too great. His tongue sweeps along mine, twining and exploring, and his warm spice scent wraps around me.
“So hot,” Tyler jerks his hips, rubbing his cock along the seam of my ass.
Thinking is impossible. There is only feeling. Being surrounded by these two men is overwhelming and a dream.
Bax breaks our kiss, and I chase his mouth, wanting more.
But the protest dies on my lips when he reaches behind me and, tugging Tyler even closer, takes him.
Their tongues duel for dominance as they pin me between them.
And when they break apart, and Bax turns me to face Tyler, my head is spinning from more than the quick and unexpected twist. Tyler’s strong hands cup my cheeks as his lips descend onto mine.
He tastes of hops and Bax. Having their taste on my tongue is more than I ever dreamed because I never knew anything could be this delicious.
I don’t know what this is or what it means, but I know I want more.