Page 29 of Provoking the Punter

“No. He’s not too popular either. Well, that’s what one person told me. I’m still the new guy. The one no one is sure about.”

“Make them sure about you.”

“I’m trying.”

“I don’t mean the other players. I mean the people who make the decisions. You start with the underlings. The assistant coaches and trainers. You make their life easy, and then they put in the good word with those above them.”

Garrett tilted his head back, his blue eyes dark in the soft light. “That’s not gonna save my ass. If the shit hits the fan, the team will cut me, and they won’t renew James’s contract. I feel like everything I’ve worked for is about to come crumbling down, all because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants.”

Chester groaned. “I’m trying really hard not to think about your dick.”

Garrett’s eyes widened.

For a moment, Chester wished he hadn’t said anything, but getting kicked out of Garrett’s room would be a good thing, right?

They weren’t friends. They weren’t lovers. They weren’t anything.

There was a traitorous whisper in the back of his head that suggested they could be, if he wasn’t so worried about what it would mean if they did have something. “I try to avoid closeted men because I don’t like the pain it will inevitably cause.”

“For you?”

“For both. I’ll resent the way you won’t acknowledge me in public, and you’ll hate yourself for not being able to be out in public, and the fights will become more acidic until all the good memories are erased.”

“I already hate myself.”

Chester cupped Garrett’s face. “Don’t. There are plenty of other people who’ll do that for you.” He was close enough to kiss him now. He wanted to taste his lips. “You did what you thought best at the time… but maybe it’s time to reconsider.”

Was he saying that for Garrett or for himself, because he didn’t want to date a closeted football player?

Garrett moved, closing the distance between their lips. His hand slid under Chester’s shirt and pulled him closer until their hips connected. He felt and heard Garrett’s gasp, as if he hadn’t expected Chester to be hard.

How could he not be when he was on Garrett’s bed and wrapped up in Garrett's arms?

Chester pushed Garrett onto his back and moved over him. Garrett lifted his hips, and Chester gave in, grinding against him. Kissing him like he didn’t need to breathe. This wouldn’t be enough. He wanted more.

The first time could be written off as a mistake, giving in to attraction because it had been a while.

This time, it was deliberate. He wanted Garrett.

What was he willing to give up to have what he wanted this time? Because nothing was ever free.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Garrett groaned against Chester’s lips. He hesitated for only a second before sliding his hands beneath Chester’s black T-shirt, because he needed to feel more of him. A few seconds later, he was tugging at the T-shirt, because he wanted everything.

Chester rocked back onto his knees and stripped off the offending T-shirt and tossed it on the floor. “You got condoms?”

Garrett blinked, and it took him too long to process the question. “Bathroom.”

Chester leaned over him again. “Why are they in there?”

Garrett’s hands swept over Chester’s back, over his sides to his hips… to his ass. He wanted to feel the hard length of Chester’s cock against him again. Chester got the hint, or maybe he wanted the same thing.

It felt like he was eighteen again, making out and doing everything to get off, except crossing that final line. He had, of course. It had been his boyfriend who had made the first move, volunteering to go first.

But this time felt different. He didn’t need more.

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