Page 103 of Brace and Chase

And that feeling carries on to the day after, when we play midafternoon and win. Even two nights after, when we have to go into overtime after we tied the game with a late comeback, I’m smiling through hard slams against the boards, and through exhausting sprints to win the puck from one of the Dallas players.

And even though we lose that night, after they get areally fucking lucky shot in, I still feel like I’m on cloud nine.

But when we arrive back at Vegas and Jules, Bear, and Milkman all get right on another plane to go to the All-Star game, that’s when it hits me.

Whether Charlie and Igo all the wayor not this week, there’s just no way this feeling of rightness can disappear. Not as long as he’s next to me and I’m playing hockey.

So when the front door closes behind me, I feel a sudden, stark need to tell him that, and his response is not what I expected.

“Is that really all you need?” he asks with a frown.

My mouth opens with the knee-jerk reaction ofyes!But then I close it and really think about it. The answer comes clear and undeniable to my mind, but I can’t bring myself to voice it.

“Yes,” I tell him instead. My throat won’t allow me to say another word, at least not right now, so I just go to him, pull the strap of the duffel off his shoulder so it drops to the floor in the entrance foyer, then kiss him.

I’m sure somewhere in the back of his brain he’s thinking that we have to take our bags to the laundry room, but I do a good job of distracting him. With my lips, my tongue, my hands, my hard cock pressed against his hip...

Soon enough we’re panting and have to step back to be able to breathe properly.

“Let’s go upstairs,” I murmur, able to speak again now all I can think about is finally feeling him inside me.

“No.”

I frown at the definite refusal.

“What do you mean, no?” I grumble, a pout starting to form on my lips.

“You go upstairs and take a shower while I sort the bags, okay?”

The pout is very much a reality now, but I see his point.

“Okay,” I relent and lean in for another quick kiss that he has to step back from before it turns into more.

I take my time in the shower, making sure I’m perfectly clean for him, and when I come out, I don’t know how he could’ve possibly spent time in the laundry room because the bedroom has been transformed.

There are candles lit sporadically over the room, the only source of light, and on the bed there’s a towel, condoms, and a bottle of what I assume is lube.

I’m speechless.

I didn’t expect any of this.

He’s standing by the side of the bed, wearing only his briefs, and twisting his hands in front of him.

“I just thought—” He starts explaining something that needs no explanation, but cuts himself off with a wince. “Is it stupid and corny? It is, right? I can just blow out the candles and turn on the light. We don’t?—”

“Don’t you dare.” I cut him off this time. “Maybe it’s corny but never stupid. And I think I like corny.” I make sure my words are clear but delicate. I don’t want to spook him any more than he already is. “We don’t have to doanything, though,” I tell him, trying to make him believe me. “We can keep doing what we’ve been doing forever and?—”

“I think that’s supposed to be my line?” His confidence renewed, he looks at me, amused and still standing too far away. We gotta fix that.

I get on the bed, making sure the towel stays in its place, and pat the space next to me in invitation. He accepts, my sweetheart, and lets me kiss him as much as I want once he’s settled.

“I want your dick in me so bad, sweetheart, but if you don’t want to?—”

“I do,” he assures me loudly, then he lowers his voice. “I just want to make it good for you.”

“It’ll be amazing for both of us,” I say like a promise.

And then there’s no more talking.

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