Page 116 of Cold as Ice

“No, don’t,” Elliott said. He’d deliberately been not thinking of how much it was going to suck once this school year ended. Mal would graduate. Elliott would get drafted. And then maybe, they’d be lucky to see each other occasionally. Maybe they’d at least end up on the same coast.

It would be hard, no question, but it wouldn’t be forever and Elliott, flush with love, was pretty sure that was what he wanted.

Forever.

They’d figure out a way to make it work.

All he knew was that now he’d gotten Malcolm, he wasn’t letting him go.

Maybe they’d always been heading this direction, from the first moment Elliott had seen Mal.

“Listen, I need to say this, because you need to know,” Mal said, and Elliott resigned himself to the conversation—because of course, Mal couldn’t leave well enough alone. He’d want to have a plan, probably color-coded and sprawled across some spreadsheet. Orseveralspreadsheets.

“What is it?”

“You know there’s been scouts at our games.”

“Yeah. It’s kind of hard to pretend they’re not there,” Elliott said wryly. Hehadbeen sort of pretending that they weren’t there, almost exclusively, for him. That made approaching every game easier, lessening the pressure so it wasn’t an unbearable force pressing down on his shoulders.

“Toronto’s been at every single game. Ell—” Mal broke off. “I shouldn’t even tell you this, but I don’t know how tonottell you this. But Zach told me they’d been talking about drafting you. Putting us back together on the ice.”

Joy ricocheted through him. “Really? Seriously?” He scrambled up, off Mal’s chest, so he could look him straight inthe eyes. Make sure hewasserious, but this was also Malcolm, and there was no way he’d say this if hewasn’tserious.

Mal nodded, and even though he did look serious, he was earnest too. Hopeful.

“Of course, there’s hardly any guarantees, but they like us together on the ice. And weareplaying together better than we ever have.”

It was only a sliver of hope, but it was enough to fill him with light. Elliott smacked Mal in the arm, unable to contain his smile any longer. “It’s ’cause you finally started leading more with your instinct. You could be just as good as me—”

Mal frowned. “What do you mean,just as good as you?I’m better than you, you young cocky—”

Elliott leaned in and kissed him, swallowing the rest of what might have actually been an entertaining insult.

Mal groaned into his mouth and a second later, Elliott had swung a leg over Mal’s body, and it was no big surprise as their kiss heated up that he was getting hard again.

“God,” Mal gasped as Elliott broke the kiss, mouth working downwards, meandering around his pecs and down his abs. “Every time you’re an egotistical little shit, I wanna fuck you into the mattress.”

“And shockingly, that makes you believe I’m gonna stop?” Elliott smirked. His mouth toyed with Mal’s cock, which was growing harder by the moment.

Clearly, he wasn’t interested in Elliott stopping any time soon.

“Never,” Mal said, and when he flipped them over, caging Elliott with his body, Elliott’s cock twitched at just the thought that they could be like thisall the freaking time.

“Yes. Please,” Elliott begged, his gaze following Mal as he reached into the drawer for the lube.

“Yeah? You want this?” Mal, murmured, fingers barely pressing in where Elliott wanted them, desperately.

“Yes,” Elliott pled and groaned loudly, not even bothering to hold back his approval as Mal finally slid a finger inside him.

“How do you always feel so goddamned good?” Mal muttered, thrusting deep, carefully stretching him out.

But Elliott could feel that he was in more of a hurry than normal, because before he could even plead for a second finger, Mal was giving it to him.

It was just barely enough prep for Mal’s cock, but Elliott didn’t care. He wanted to feel that stretch, to feel every inch.

“Now,” Elliott demanded. “Take menow.”

“God, I love you,” Mal said, slicking up his cock and beginning to push it in. “Even when you’re bossy like this. Maybeespeciallywhen you’re bossy like this.”

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