Page 148 of Brace and Chase

“I woke up like forty minutes ago,” he explains. Then the condom foil is finally torn apart and he covers my dick gently. “I’m going to ride you so hard,” he warns.

I groan and throw my head back against my pillow.

“You’re gonna do that edging thing again, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” he says happily.

“Your legs are gonna get tired,” I say, like that’s a winning argument.

“No they’re not. My legs are strong enough to take two hours of riding.”

“Oh, God. Please don’t take two hours to make me come,” I whine, though he knows I secretly love it.

But I also know he loves my whines so neither of us are going to stop.

“Maybe I’ll take even more time.”

He places his knees on the outside of mine and shuffles forward, grabs my dick to line himself up, and then sinks down, torturously slow.

He waits a beat and doesn’t move, even when I’m as deep as I can get, and then he leans forward, grabs something from my nightstand and offers it to me.

I can’t help but smile, but I stick my tongue out so he can place the heavy-duty mint on it.

“I wanna kiss you,” he says like he has to defend his actions.

He doesn’t.

“I wanna kiss you too,” I tell him truthfully, and rise up to wrap my arms around his torso. I kiss his chest, right where his heart is in an act of cheesiness that’s surprisingly natural to me. “I love you,” I whisper, still amazed that I can say it freely and trust that he’s going to say it back to me.

“I love you more,” he tells me, managing a challenging tone even as he starts to move his hips slowly. “Alwaysmore,” he whispers right against my lips before he kisses me.

It’s like that first kiss. The rush of light, the feeling of rightness is still there, and since he promised he’s never going to stop chasing me around, I’m going to make sure it always is.

EPILOGUE

Nik

Since we decided allthose months ago that we were going to work tirelessly to achieve both of our goals, I have wondered what Charlie’s face would look like when it hit him that he’d done it.

But life throws you curveballs sometimes.

Only two weeks after we came out as a couple to the world, he was announced as the winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for showing stellar sportsmanship on the ice. It was the first time he’d ever won it, and his face...

I mean, I still laugh when I remember it.

He was so confused.

He was speechless, and he was humbled.

It’s something he never even thought of being awardedfor, but it had more meaning than anyone could’ve predicted.

He told a story about his father when he accepted that award.

“Giovanni Heart taught me how to skate, how to hold a stick, and how to do millions of other things. But the first thing he taught me when I told him I wanted to play hockey, was that you never hit harder than you have to, you never go against those less powerful than you, and you never back down from a fight you believe in. I only remembered those lessons when I was announced as the winner, and for that I thank you.

“It was those lessons that made me the man I am today. A man recognized around the country for being a gentleman while playing the most animalistic game on the planet. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

After that, we continued our battle to the top, and when we were almost there, it was a surprise to no one that it was Boston we were up against.

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