Page 114 of First Puck

“Now,whatare you two doing?” Lance’s teasing amusement interrupted our fun.

Alex shot back from me, his eyes wide as an even deeper blush rushed over his skin.

I stepped forward, instinctively getting between them before they could react. I’d make sure Lance couldn’t get anywhere near Alex.

He was my boyfriend, absolutely and officially and forever. Which meant no room for shiny manwhores looking to take advantage of him.

And no one else was getting in our way.

If Lance thought I didn’t notice the way his smarmy gaze danced over Alex’s bare chest and thighs, he was dead wrong. At first, I was happy my boyfriend had gone for a short towel but now I just wanted to chuck every piece of clothing in the locker room over Alex so Lance couldn’t look at a single inch of him.

I was all for shouting about our love from the rooftops, but only if Lance Austin wasn’t involved.

“What do you plan to do now, then?” Alex asked him softly. Pain flickered over Lance’s face and, even though I wanted to ask him if he was okay, I was more worried that we’d really hurt him somehow.

“Hmm, I’ll figure it out. It’s not for you to worry about it.” Lance threw him a wink.

“You mean you’re going home?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I can’t keep playing like this.”

Even though Alex had told me Lance's mom was ill, but that didn't mean he couldn't go pro. It just wasn’t adding up. Lance was one of the best of us.

“Dude, what the fuck? You must have tons of offers by now.” As soon as Lance’s gaze flicked to Alex, I realized it was off.

Something passed between them. Something I really didn’t like.

But when Lance looked back at me, his wide grin returned. “Brad, you look like you’re going to chew my face off,” he said. There was some part of my monkey brain that was looking for a way to ask Lance what the hell was going on, but all that went out the window the moment Lance tilted his head to look at Alex behind me. “Oh!” he purred as his face split like an evil cat. “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”

Alex sucked in a sharp breath as I instantly spun around to look at him.

He winced as his shoulders rode up to his ears, cringing as he avoided me.

“Haven’t told me what, Alex?”

“Alex, seriously, you’ve got this far and you’re still hesitating?” Lance laughed. “You really do suck at this.”

I didn’t know who to get annoyed at, but it was simmering there, ready to let rip. I just needed to find out what kind of secret they were keeping from me. Whatothersecrets, I mean.

Lance clapped me on the shoulder, forcing my attention back to him. “Listen, from the way you’re reacting, you’d think I’ve still got a thing for Alex, but I promise you, nothing was ever going on.” He threw a grin at my boyfriend. “You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about. He’s all yours.”

I didn’t believe him for a second, and I didn’t trust him a single bit, either. I wasn’t going to hide that, especially when he shot Alex a meaningful look and continued.

“Alex has been absolutely insane about you since before we met.”

“And you never liked him?”

Lance just shrugged as he glanced at Alex. “Well, I never stood a chance anyway, did I? Besides, now that Brad 9.0 is a success, I’ve got my own man to worry about.”

I looked at Alex, who was staring at Lance, the color draining from his face as Lance beamed at him.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I really didn’t want to go into what he meant by ‘Brad 9.0’ or ‘chance’. I was just happy to know that, if Lance really did have someone else, then he would keep the fuck away from Alex.

“Well, I think it’ll be so much more interesting if you hear it from Alex.” Lance chuckled, hitting us with another glittery wink. “Oh, and it looks like we’re the last to leave, too.” He lifted the keys to the locker room, swinging them around on the tip of his finger with a smirk. “Think you can lock up for me?”

He tossed the key to me without waiting for a reply and just swanned off as my brain raced to catch up with what he just said.

“Brad, I’m sorry,” Alex said, his hand pushed against his locker, his eyes squeezed closed. I noticed a tremble running up his arm as he dropped his gaze to the floor. “I shouldn’t have pretended to date Lance, but I just wanted—”

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