Chapter Nine
Luka
“Seriously, Gem. You have two drawers full of grapes in your fridge and nothing else. We need food.” Luka closed the fridge and turned as Gem walked into the kitchen barefoot and dressed in low-riding sweatpants and nothing else.
Luka had to swallow back the drool that threatened to escape the corner of his mouth.
“You act like I haven’t been feeding you.” Gem crossed his arms over his naked chest while leaning against the threshold to the kitchen.
“Your cock doesn’t count,” Luka teased.
Gem growled as he lifted a brow. “You better watch it, boy.”
Luka shuddered, loving the dominant tone. And Gem had been feeding him. Luka hadn’t made it back to the apartment since he and Gem had met at the club. Not that Luka had moved into Gem’s place or anything. He just didn’t want to be away from his sir.
Pushing off the doorframe, Gem stalked closer.
Luka stepped in reverse until the edge of the counter dug into his back.
“And you weren’t complaining about choking on my cock twenty minutes ago,” Gem reminded him. He wrapped his hand around Luka’s neck and pulled him forward.
Luka grunted as his chest bumped into Gem’s. “I’m not complaining. I just wanted to make you lunch. You’re playing tonight.”
They had barely been able to squeak out a win after the second game that Gem had been forced to sit out for his suspension. One more win and they were going to make the playoffs. The game that night was important. And Luka wanted to do something nice for his Dom.
Gem had been taking care of Luka for nearly a week now. Luka had turned into the needy little sub that he’d always kept inside him. With Gem, Luka could allow himself to turn over his worries and just be. It was freeing and Luka wanted to show his appreciation.
“Are you worried about the game tonight?” Gem asked softly.
Luka shook his head. Florida was already in the playoffs so they didn’t have the same drive to win as Boston. The entire team had been hitting practice hard, knowing this was their last chance. They would win.
“Then what is it?” Gem asked. He removed his fingers before placing a kiss over Luka’s Adam’s apple.
He sighed, not really wanting to answer that. Couldn’t he just concentrate on taking care of Gem for once?
“No, baby.” Gripping Luka by the hips, Gem lifted him to sit on the counter.
Luka grabbed Gem’s shoulders, always surprised by the strength of the smaller man. It should not be possible for Gem to throw him around so easily. Luka was nearly over a head taller and much bigger than his Dom.
“Talk to me,” Gem ordered in his low, calm voice.
“We’re playing Florida.” They were playing one of Gem’s brothers.
And one of Luka’s oldest friends. Even though Gem and Luka showed up at the arena and left together, no one had mentioned anything about how much they were together.
Well, except Tomas. Luka was getting used to the smirks that Tomas sent his way.
“We are. And we are going to beat them. And then I’m going to rub in Nix’s defeat for the entire summer.” Gem’s smile was bright.
Luka looked away.
“Is that it?” Gem questioned.
“Is that what?” Luka replied, still avoiding Gem’s gaze.
Gem grasped Luka’s chin, forcing Luka to have to look into his eyes. “Are you nervous about meeting Nix?”
“I’ve played against him before.” Luka didn’t want to talk about this.
Was Gem going to pretend that Luka wasn’t sleeping in his bed every fucking night?
Did his Dom want Luka to return to his own apartment alone so he could spend time with his brother?
As often as Gem spoke about Nix and Aries, Luka knew how much Gem missed them.
“But you haven’t met him as the man that his brother is in a relationship with,” Gem pointed out.
Luka shrugged.
Gem gave his lips a quick kiss and smiled up at him. “Did I tell you that Nix had the biggest crush on you when we were kids?”
“No, you failed to mention that.” Luka grinned.
“Yes, I spent years staring at the poster of you above his bed,” Gem told him.
“Really? Was I shirtless?”
Gem pinched Luka’s chin hard. “No. And you’re damn lucky about that or I’d have to track down every picture of you ever taken.”
Luka loved how jealous Gem sounded. “Would you do that?”
Gem had his stern Dom face on. “The only bed that you belong near is mine.”
Luka’s heart gave a solid thud against his chest. That statement brought all of Luka’s fantasies to the surface. To have someone want to put him first for once in Luka’s life.
“You are Luka Kotov and I won’t share you with anyone, including my annoying brother.”
“He can’t be that annoying,” Luka teased. ‘He does have excellent taste in hockey players.”
“We’re just going to pretend it was your hockey prowess that Nix was obsessing over,” Gem quipped.
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”
Gem rolled his eyes.
That might be the first time that Luka had ever seen his Dom do that. It made Gem come off so much younger. Like his actual age. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Gem was so much younger than him. Shifter aging was slow anyway, but Gem’s presence just radiated that he was the man in charge.
“He’s the one that told me about your trade,” Gem continued. “And he tried to get me to either get your autograph or become your best friend.”
Really? That was interesting.
“He has been very persistent,” Gem said. He pulled out his phone and showed the text message chain from earlier that morning.
‘We are going to beat your ass so hard that your team is going to go home crying.’ That message had come from Nix.
‘The only one that will be crying tonight is you. And I’ll make sure your Daddy is too busy to comfort you.’ Gem’s threat was pretty good.
‘Stay away from my Daddy!’ Nix had replied.
‘Or what?’ Gem asked.
‘I’ll tell Mom!’ Nix couldn’t think that was a real threat.
Except Luka had heard stories about the triplets’ mom and how she was like the best person ever and adopted their teammates.
She was very involved in the triplets’ lives.
Unlike Luka’s mom who always put what Luka’s father wanted before her children.
That wasn’t fair. Luka’s mom loved him. She just backed his father even when she knew he was wrong. She also expected Luka to take care of the entire family financially. No matter what. Like he owed his siblings anything. They were all assholes.
Luka didn’t want to think about his family. He’d exchanged messages with his mom but not one other member of his family had checked on Luka or asked about his move.
Gem had sent three laughing emojis.
‘So is Kotov your BFF yet?’ Nix asked.
‘Of course. I would never let you down. He follows me around like a little puppy.’
Luka lowered the phone. “Puppy?”
Gem grinned and shrugged. “It did give me some thoughts of leading you around on a leash. That could be fun.”
“The only thing I want around my throat is your hand,” Luka told him.
Gem licked his bottom lip. “Agreed.”
Luka went back to the messages between the brothers.
‘So your BFF will join us for dinner after the game?’ Nix asked.
‘I’ll ask him after he wakes up. He likes to sleep after I get done filling him with my cum.’
‘WTF!!!! Stop saying things like that! Eww!’ Three throw-up emojis.
‘Hey! You’re the one that keeps asking about my relationship with him,’ Gem had written.
‘Friendship! I said to make him your BFF so I can hang around him,’ Nix argued.
Luka glanced at Gem again. “I can’t believe you told him that.”
“He wanted to know,” Gem replied. “And you were asleep. After I filled you with my come. After you begged for more of my come. Remember that, baby?”
Luka nearly dropped the phone. Fuck! Yeah, he did and now he was getting hard again. He shifted where he sat on the counter, feeling the ache return. Did they have time for another round before they needed to get to the arena before the game? Was food really that important?
Okay wait! That was not what Luka was supposed to be thinking about. He couldn’t believe Gem was basically laying everything out for his brother. If Luka ever met him, how would he ever be able to look Nix in the eye! “You don’t tell your brother that!”
Gem shrugged. “It’s not like I plan on hiding you. Nix will see us together. Now it will bother the shit out of him, not knowing if I was messing with him the whole time or if what I said was true.”
“You…” Luka lowered the phone.
“I…” Gem said.
Damn it! “You just said you didn’t plan on hiding me. Does that mean you’ll tell your brother about us? Your family?”
Slowly, Gem nodded. “Is that not what you want?” His eyes widened before he took several steps back. He was in the middle of the kitchen, looking worried before Luka could even blink.
“Wait! No! I mean yes! Yes! I want you to tell your brother. Your family. I want you to tell everyone.”
Gem eyed Luka as he roughly ran his fingers through his own hair. “Luka. I need you to be very clear here. If I do something wrong, please tell me.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Luka was quick to assure him.
“I should have talked to you before. I was teasing Nix like I always do. I’m sorry if I crossed a line,” Gem said.
Luka jumped down from the counter and rushed to Gem, throwing his arms around Gem’s waist. “I messed up. I said something wrong.”
“You didn’t,” Gem assured him.
“Then why are you backing off? I can feel the distance you’re putting between us.”
Gem sighed. Turning his head, Gem kissed Luka’s neck, then pulled away.
Luka started to bite his lip nervously.
“Come on.” Gem grabbed Luka’s hand and drew him out of the kitchen to the living room couch. Gem urged Luka to sit beside him.
With his head down, all Luka could do was stare at the carpet. The last five minutes were confusing. They’d been talking about food, then joking around, and now Gem was sitting him down to talk. Luka knew he’d messed up. He just didn’t know how.
“Will you look at me?” Gem asked.
Luka turned his head.
“Baby,” Gem said softly. “Let’s talk this out.”
“Okay.” What else could he do but agree?