Page 4 of Icing the Play

“So you never answered me when I asked about your family.” He opened his bag and pulled out a burger.

I sipped my iced tea from a straw. “No, I haven’t told them yet. There’s been no reason to, eh.” Why upset the family dynamic unless I had to?

“Okay.” He bit into his burger and hummed. “Oh my God, so good.” He washed it down with his drink.

As I squirmed in my seat, I focused on his mouth as hechewed, my cock plumping in my shorts. What the hell? Why was my dick so interested in him?

With a grin, he said, “You’re not into my buddy, JJ, huh?” He dumped fries over his bag and squirted ketchup over them.

Why did he care so much? “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t know he was interested in me last year.” Unwrapping my burger, I ate a bite. Wait, was he trying to set me up with JJ? I arched a brow. “Should I text him and see if he wants to go out with me?”

He stared at me for a beat, wrinkled his nose, and said, “Uh, maybe, if you want to.” He set his burger down, his gaze falling. Wiping his hand on a napkin, he said, “Let’s talk about you. It’s been, what, almost five years since high school?”

“Yeah. I spent a year in juniors before starting school here. I lived with five other hockey players at one time, but they all graduated and got NHL contracts.” As an ache ghosted through my heart, I slid my fries out of the bag and poured a pool of ketchup to dunk them into.

“Wow, that sucks. What’s your living situation like now?” He sipped his drink, fixating on me.

“I’m still living with one of them, Ace. He was our goalie last year and the year we won the championship, but he got picked up by the Coyotes.” I slid a few fries through the ketchup and ate them. “He has a boyfriend who’s still in college and does figure skating. So, they stayed in the place we rented last year and I’m living with them.”

“Wait, you’re living with an NHL goalie?” He leaned toward me, his brows snapping up.

“I am. And two of my other buddies are Coyote players too, eh.” My chest swelled with warmth. Yeah, I had some successful friends. “When they’re in town, we still party.”

“Wow, that’s awesome. So I guess you’ll be getting a sweet contract by the end of the year?” He drank some of his tea down.

I shrugged. “We’ll see. My dad has an agent for me to talk to.” I shouldn’t talk myself up too much, especially with the wayI’d played last year. “What about you? Are you living with JJ this year?”

“Naw…” With a smirk, he waved his hand at me. “I found a dude on a message board and he’s a douche.” He ate some fries. “I’m trying my best not to get into a pissing match with him, but he’s trying my patience.”

“Yeah? How?” I ate my burger. Living with the squad had been so easy. If anyone had a problem with someone, we’d always talked it out like adults.

“Get this.” He jabbed his finger at the table. “When the guy cooks, which is all the fucking time, he uses every pot and pan in the apartment and then leaves it. On the stovetop.” He scoffed. “The only way I can cook is to clean up his mess first.”

I widened my eyes. “Damn, that sucks. My roommate, Ace, likes to cook for us at home, but me and Zoma usually clean it up right after since he did the cooking. It’s a deal we made way back in the beginning.”

“That’s how it should be done. Sometimes this dude even eats my food and then tries to tell me he didn’t know it was mine.” Shaking his head, he pressed his lips together. “I put my fucking name on it. It doesn’t matter.” He ate more of his burger.

“What’s his name?” I sipped my tea. Thank God I’d never had to deal with bullshit like that.

“Tony.” He shook his head and smirked. “You know, Tony’s not a bad name, but I’m learning to hate it because of him.” He twisted a fry on his bag. “I tried talking to him about it and he agreed to clean up after himself. But it got worse. It’s like he’s doing this shit on purpose to fuck with me.” With a sigh, he threw some fries into his mouth.

“That sucks. How about the football players? Is there any extra room in their place?” Shit, we had an open bedroom at the squad house. My eyes popped open. No, I wouldn’t offer it.

“No, they’re all settled. You know how it is. They’ve all been bunking up since freshman year.” He rolled his lips. “It’s okay, it’ll work itself out.” With a wide smile, he slapped my shoulder. “But let’s not dwell on that bullshit. It’s good to see you again. Tell me more about your life here.”

“I’ve just been focusing on school and hockey.” I raked my gaze over his wide shoulders. He’d filled out so nicely since high school.

“That’s it? No boyfriends anywhere?” He eyed me. “I’m sure you have guys all over you. I know JJ was surprised you weren’t dating anyone last year.”

There he went with JJ again. “No, there’s the random hookup, usually at the gay bar down the street, but nothing solid.” I ate some of my burger.

“There’s a gay bar? Down the street?” He swayed his head, looking toward the window.

“You can’t see it from here.” With a chuckle, I shook my head and drank my tea.

“How often do you go there?” His gaze found mine and dropped to my mouth, then back to my eyes.

“We go there for cellys when we win.” My chest pricked. “Well, used to. When all the guys were here and we played a home game, we’d go there and have a Fuck U of A shot.”

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