Page 29 of The Shots You Take

In the firelight, Adam could see the way his gaze was fixed on where Adam’s T-shirt had risen. Adam rested a hand there, letting his fingers idly tease at the exposed skin. Riley kept watching.

Adamlikedthe way Riley always looked at him. There was no question about it. He liked that he could spark heat in those wintry gray eyes just by exposing a bit of skin, or by smiling at him a certain way. Adam smiled at him that way now.

He liked that Riley was hot for him. It made Adam feel less weird about being hot for Riley.

Riley bent the knee that was closest to Adam, which meant he was probably getting hard. Adam sat up so he could get closer.

Riley turned his gaze to the sky, so Adam did too.

“Jesus. I’ve never seen so many stars,” Adam said, legitimately awed.

Riley inched closer. “You can see a bit of the Milky Way there.”

“Oh wow,” Adam whispered. He brushed Riley’s leg with his bare foot, then draped it over Riley’s shin.

“And I think that’s Jupiter.”

“Where?”

“The really bright one. Look.” Riley took Adam’s wrist in his hand and guided it up. “Stick your finger out.”

Adam did, and Riley rested their heads together so he could almost see what Adam was seeing. Adam’s heart started racing.

“There,” Riley said, very quietly. “See it?”

Adam looked at the end of his own finger and saw a star that was brighter than most of the others. “That’s Jupiter?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s crazy that we can see it, y’know?”

“I know.”

Adam turned his face, just slightly, toward Riley’s. For a moment, he felt Riley’s breath against his lips, and he wondered if they were really going to do this. Then his question was answered when Riley’s lips brushed his own.

It got really heated, really fast. One minute they were gazing at the stars, the next they had their hands down each other’s shorts. The combination of the darkness and being outdoors and it being Riley had Adam so keyed up that he couldn’t even be embarrassed about how quickly he came. Whatever. He was young. He could do another round.

He and Riley had never gone more than one round in one night. They weren’t like that.

Maybe tonight could be like that. Maybe tonight could be…different. It was a scary thing to want, but Adam fucking wanted it. It felt safe here, so far from their teammates, and hockey journalists, and Adam’s parents.

Riley came less than a minute after him. They lay next to each other when it was over, both breathing hard.

“I gotta clean off,” Riley said when he’d caught his breath.

“You mean…” Adam glanced warily at the pitch-black ocean.

“Yeah. Come on.” Riley kicked off his shorts, which were barely still on his body anyway. Naked, glowing in the firelight like a god, he reached for Adam.

And how could Adam refuse?

Chapter Ten

April 2024

Fuck Adam Sheppard. Fuck his helpfulness, fuck his beautiful eyes, and fuck how cute he’d been while talking to Lucky. Fuck the way he’d licked cinnamon off his lips, and especially fuck how achingly familiar it was to hear his voice again. To have him in Riley’s space.

Why did Adam have to mention the bonfire?

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