Page 32 of Just a Footnote

“It’s more serious than what the fuck.”

Liam cocks his head while pushing Aiden’s pants down to his thighs. He nods pointedly for Aiden to sit on the bed. What the hell is going on here? All thoughts leave Aiden’s head in a loud whir as Liam takes him in his mouth.

“Christ,” Aiden swears softly. He reaches out automatically to tangle his fingers in Liam’s hair. His hair is longer now, Aiden wonders if it’s a playoff thing. Not cutting his hair. He kind of likes it like this, and he thinks Liam likes it too because he hums around his dick when Aiden grips his hair tight enough to hurt a little.

It’s over way faster than Aiden wants to admit. Liam’s mouthis just too nice, too warm, too good at knowing what to do to make him spiral in such a short period of time. No one else has ever been able to read him like this. He shakes from the aftershocks of the intense orgasm, staring unblinking up at the ceiling to come down from his high. Aiden finally sits up on his elbows to stare down at Liam by his knees. Liam grins, wipes the back of his mouth, then leans up to kiss Aiden filthy and slow.

“I forgive you for not staying the night now,” Liam mumbles against his mouth.

Aiden rears back. “I don’t need forgiveness for not staying in your bed.”

Liam cocks his head to the side, attempting to understand Aiden’s sudden change in mood. “I’m teasing you. I know you don’t want to stay, sometimes I wish you would though.”

“Date someone if that’s what you want,” Aiden says angrily. He pushes Liam away and drags his pants back up.

Friends with benefits don’t sleep over. No matter how close of friends they are. He watches, brimming with annoyance, as Liam goes into the adjoined bathroom to brush his teeth. The bathroom is large, with a tub, and clothes lay scattered on the floor because Liam is messy. His room is organized though, everything has a place, which makes him weirdly wonder if he has a place in the room as well.

Excited shouts rent through the air when they join the party. Aiden slinks away in hopes that no one will notice Liam just sucked his brains out through his dick. He looks around the room, taking everyone in, and his gaze lands on a puzzled looking Miles.

Aiden bares his teeth at him in a feral smile. Miles frowns, whispers something to Archer, and Archer casts him an odd look as well. Flicking them both off, he heads over to the bar to grab a cider.

“Hello, Aiden,” Miles says from behind him.

Aiden jumps three feet in the air. “Jesus. Can you teleport?”

“Maybe.” Miles grabs a beer out of the fridge, twists off the top, and throws it directly at Aiden’s forehead. Aiden rubs the point of impact with a glare. “Are you and Liam fucking?”

“No,” Aiden says quickly and decisively to dissuade Miles from having any such thoughts. The last thing he needs is Miles catching on and telling Archer.

Miles just hums as he stares across the room at Liam’s back. It’s a nice back. Liam’s wearing one of those tight henleys he prefers that stretches over the muscles of his back and shows off his traps. But also there’s that pleased as punch look on his face, not just because he helped win the game, but because the team is so happy they won. Liam’s a perpetual people pleaser, something Aiden didn’t take long to notice.

The party moves on around him. He’s too stuck in his own head to enjoy it. He feels like maybe he needs to put distance up between him and Liam. The lines keep getting blurred. But also some part of him kind of likes that the lines continue to blur. Even though this will never mean anything to him, and he won’t allow himself to mean anything to Liam, he doesn’t want whatever they’re doing to end.

He’s kind of fucked.

Skye and Ollie make their goodbyes and Aiden takes that as his chance. He hurries after them to hitch a ride back to campus. Skye gives him one of thoseare you for real right nowlooks as if she knows but Aiden doesn’t want to know what it is that Skye thinks she knows. If that makes any sense at all. As he’s climbing up the stairs, he glances back once, to find Liam staring after him. He looks a little lost, a little sad, and Aiden hates it. Hates that maybe he put that look there.

But he can’t stay because that would be infinitely worse.

6

Regionals start without any fanfare. Aiden’s oddly thankful because playoffs keep Liam plenty busy. Too busy to notice that Aiden has started to put much needed distance between them. Aiden might be doing it purposely but that doesn’t mean he wants Liam to realize he’s doing it.

All the guys stop shaving like clockwork. Thestupidesttradition. Aiden has never understood it but all the guys do it every damn year. Archer doesn’t have the face for it. Their beards come in patchy and slightly curly but at least they’re blond so it’s not very prominent. Liam’s though…Liam looksgoodwith the beard. The beard covers his baby face enough to make him look older. More distinguished. Aiden would rather be eaten alive by baby goats than ever admit that to Liam though. Or anyone else for that matter.

On impulse, Aiden decides to not attend regionals for the first time in Archer’s college hockey career. It goes over about as well as he’d imagined.

“If we lose, it’s your fault, because you’ve been at every game lately that we’ve won.”

“Yeah,homegames,” Aiden clarifies, just to be a little shit,earning him a reproachful glare from Archer. “These are away games. Maybe I’m bad luck for away games this season. Do you really want to test it for regionals?”

Archer can’t respond to that because Aiden’s effectively got him. Hockey players are wildly superstitious. Archer doesn’t buy into the most wild of stuff but he’s always been weird about wanting Aiden to attend as many games as he can. Regionals are taking place over spring break, leaving Aiden the chance to focus on his research paper for one of his most important classes. A research paper due just weeks after spring break? Well that leaves Aiden itching to finish it when he has some semblance of peace and quiet. Also it’ll get his mind off of Liam Walsh. A nice little bonus.

“I guess you got me there,” Archer grumbles after a short pause.

A few days later, alone in the still dorm, he’s enjoying the silence while working on his research paper when his phone vibrates. His phone is face down so he can’t see who it is but he just kind of knows. AU might not play until tomorrow, but the team is already in Texas. He pushes his phone away a little on the couch, feeling as if it might bite him. Flipping it over, the screen reveals the name he knew it would. He holds his phone up to his face and clicks into the message.

You didn’t come to regionals?

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