Page 21 of One More Time

“You know, when I said to become friends with him, I didn’t mean fuck him.”

“Who said anything about fucking? He just slept in my room because he was too drunk to walk home.” I knew that anything I said would fall on deaf ears. Nothing got past Colton. He was the all-seeing eye.

“I’m going to guess he slept naked. Also, Kins left way before he did. Not normally your style. What would have happened if someone saw you? What would that mean for the team, Hunter?”

I looked away from Colton’s hard stare. He was an old friend. I knew he didn’t care what I did in my spare time. He never once outed me to anyone. Though, it wasn’t lost on me that a good person in my books is one that will keep the fact that I am bisexual a secret. It should be common courtesy, but that wasn’t the world we lived in

“Unless you decided to be a Peeping Tom, Colton, you know nothing. He slept on my couch because he was drunk. Kinsley left to make it less awkward. So you don’t have to worry, Captain. Your precious forward and I are getting along fine.”

I gave Colton a seething gaze, one of warning. He raked his hand over his face.

“I’m sorry, okay? I just don’t want you messing with team members. I have no issue with your sexuality, you know that, right? Just… you have a way of sabotaging things, and I don’t want the team to be one of them. Aussie doesn’t give me the impression that he likes one-night stands, and thatis what you do. So the last thing I need is you playing with his emotions okay? Don’t you remember what it was like the last time you had a regular fuck buddy that wasn’t Kins?”

I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t the same.” I cursed the moment the words left my lips. I’d just outed myself. I knew Colton wasn’t stupid, but I wasn’t going to out Tyler. Even if he did leave me without so much as a goodbye. “Because he slept on the couch,” I jumped in.

Someone gag me.

“Mmhmm, right, so your banter back and forth is just that.”

“Yup. We get under each other’s skin, just drop it okay? Aussie and I are fine.”

“I’m sure you do get under each other’s skin. But fine, I’ll drop it. Just don’t fuck with the team members, okay? This is the year, and I will not have your sex life get in between it.”

I clenched my jaw so tight my teeth ground together and I nodded—if for no other reason than to end the conversation so I could go back to brooding.

Chapter eleven

Tyler

Istepped into the coffee shop, the aroma like a jolt to my system. I suppressed a groan that threatened to escape at the imminent arrival of caffeine. It wasn’t as good as the stuff back home, but it beat having nothing at all. I surveyed the shop, my eyes catching a hand waving at the far end. There sat Cal with a wide grin on his face. I felt one curl my own mouth, but it wasn’t in response to him—it was the large breakfast and coffee he had waiting for me.

“You are a lifesaver; my head is pounding.” Sliding into the booth, I cradled the coffee in my hands. It was still too hot to take a sip but it was the perfect temperature for warming my frozen fingers.

Cal looked at me with a cheeky grin. “So…” he drawled. “Spill. You’re still in last night’s clothes.”

I groaned and let go of the warm mug to snatch my beanie from my head. I tried to shake off the hangover by tousling my hair. “Can’t you wait until I have something in my stomach? What happened with you and your Sunday golf partner.”

Cal rolled his eyes. “But don’t think I’m going to bypass your first sexual encounter with a guy.”

“How do you know there even was one?” But as soon as I said that my cheeks flamed. I brought my mug to my face in the hopes I could mask it.

“Because that kind of blush doesn’t come from the cold. And your eyes have that post-orgasmic smile to them. Most importantly, my gay power is knowing when someone has been laid, and you have been thoroughly fucked.”

I inhaled my first sip of coffee, making my nose burn.

Does that power also tell him I was the one who got fucked?

“Oh, hot damn, you totally bottomed!” Busted. “Is his dick as good as I remembered?”

That felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over me. The blood drained from my face, the realization hitting me like a ton of bricks—I was just another number. My own roommate had slept with the guy, for fuck’s sake. If not for the pounding headache I might have bolted, hitting the pavement to blow off the tension building in my chest.

I woke up to Hunter holding me tight, his hand over my heart and his head tucked into my neck. Hunter was many things, but I never had him pegged for a cuddler. His body heat and strong grasp were something that caused a visceral reaction that had me scrambling from the bed and rushing out the door. I panicked. The last problem I needed was to fall for the team’s playboy. As much as I wanted to believe that his behavior in the locker room was all an act, I’d been wrong before. And I wasn’t making the same mistake twice.

“No baby, this is something different.”

The sentimental part of me wanted to believe him, but I knew I wouldn’t survive another loss.

“Shit, Ty, I’m sorry. I have a big mouth. He never looked at me the way he looked at you. The night we shared was nothing but a quick fuck. I never slept over. No one ever has—not even Kins. But you did.”

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