Page 14 of Provoking the Punter

“How did you know?” he asked quietly.

“Your glass is empty, honey.” Chester took the glass out of his hand and walked behind the bar. “Same flavor? Or would you like to try a different one?”

“I meant…”

“I know what you meant. I was giving you the grace of ignoring the question in case you freaked out.” He put two bottles on the bar. “This is the one you tried. This one is more herbal.”

“I’ll stick with what I was drinking.”

“It wasn’t anything you did exactly… I was looking.” He made up two drinks, both of them non-alcoholic. “When I was at college, I was friends with one of the male cheerleaders. I heard a lot of rumors and locker room talk, and it was mentioned more than once that the coach was more interested in players than cheerleaders.” Chester pushed the glass towards him. “We are both acquainted with Coach Harrison.”

Fuck. Garrett couldn’t breathe. The ground started spinning and threatened to toss him in an entirely new direction. “So when you read the official statement, you read between the lines.” He was going to be sick, and he couldn’t even blame alcohol.

“I did, and I think I read them correctly.” Chester took a sip, barely making eye contact. “He’s married to the owner’s daughter.”

Garrett stared at his glass. “Nothing happened.”

He didn’t want to talk about it, but he didn’t want Chester thinking he was the kind of creep who slept with married men. If Chester was going to spread a rumor about him, he at least wanted it to be correct. He lifted his gaze. “This doesn’t leave this room.”

“I’m out, but I don’t out people. I don’t want to be responsible for people getting hurt.”

Garrett nodded. That was fair enough. Maybe letting out the secret was what he needed. He sat on the bar stool opposite Chester. “I went out for a few drinks because it was my birthday. I had like three beers and a massive pile of ribs. I had a nice buzz going, but I wasn’t drunk.” If he had been, that might have been better because he’d have gone home. “I was horny and lonely and not ready for the night to end, so I looked for something to do.”

Chester smiled wryly. “Someone to do.”

Warmth bloomed on Garrett’s cheeks and spread through his blood. Not that he’d let himself think about doing Chester. “Yeah.” He spun the glass and watched the ice, hoping it would cool him down. “I turned up at the motel, had barely stepped inside the door when I realized who it was. He recognized me.” There’d been a moment of stunned silence as they both took stock of the horrible truth of the situation. “I think I stepped back and said I’m leaving. And if I had, I might still be there. It wouldn’t have been pleasant, though.”

“So why didn’t you leave?”

He took a drink because he needed a moment. “I didn’t make it out the door because a woman stormed in, yelling and screaming, and…” She’d swung her handbag at him, and then at her husband the whole time throwing out accusations. “She thinks we’re having an affair. I tried to say that I’d just turned up, and I didn’t know it was him…”

She hadn’t listened to a word he’d said.

“She sensed something was up, and followed her husband?”

Garrett nodded. “Then I’m called into the coach’s office and told I’ve been traded.”

Chester lifted his eyebrows. “That’s not going to save his marriage.”

“I don’t think he or his wife want it to get out.”

Chester pressed his lips together. “Not until the bitter divorce, anyway.”

“Maybe he’ll stop,” Garrett asked a bit too hopefully.

“Do you really believe that? Especially knowing now that he did the same thing while coaching college football?”

“Put like that, it seems unlikely.” Which meant at some point, his name was going to be dragged through the mud. “I won’t be making the same mistake again. I deleted the apps, and I’m committed to not drinking at all, for any reason.”

Chester considered him for a couple of heartbeats. “I already figured I wasn’t going to be getting you tipsy and inviting you home. If you’re insisting on being celibate as well, that makes things a little harder.”

Garrett couldn’t help grinning. Were they flirting? Was Chester interested in him? “No pun intended?”

Chester groaned. “Don’t smile at me like that.”

“Like what? It’s my smile. I can’t help it.”

Chester’s voice dropped to a low drawl. “Like that because it makes me want to lean in and lick one of your dimples, to find out what you taste like.”

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