Page 80 of Cross Checking

Yup, I’m buzzed alright.

Nils smiles. “But you want to date him.”

Oh shit.I shouldn’t have spilled something like that to Erik’s best friend.

“I didn’t say that,” I reply.

Nils purses his lips and narrows his eyes at me.

Instinctively, I fill the silence. “Okay, fine, I do, but I don’t want to be clingy and ask him to do long distance.”

“Luke, trust me,” Nils says, “all you have to do is flirt with Erik a little, and then he’ll come around. I can’t say much, but I know it’ll work.”

Really? It’ll be that easy?

I nod. “Okay, I’ll try my best. Thanks for the tip, Nils.”

“Any time.”

At that moment, Erik emerges from the locker room. It might be the alcohol messing with me, but that guy ismajestic. His hair is well-styled, his skin is glowing, and the team hoodie he’s wearing clings to his muscles like it was tailored.

“Sheesh, Erik is a total snack,” I mumble.

Silja pats me on the back. “Excellent. Now remember what you need to do: get flirty.”

Hell yeah, sounds like a plan.

18

ERIK

It only takes three seconds after leaving the locker room for me to realize that Luke is drunk. He’s not falling over himself, and he’s still coherent, but my best guess is that he and Silja had a few during the game. Those two are acting like the best of friends, and even though Luke is way more open than I am, I’ve never seen him this chatty.

There’s also the fact that he gave me a warm, affectionate hug as soon as he saw me, before launching right into a full-scale, no-holds-barred, flirty-as-sin assault on my willpower. And not physically. Of course, he’s doing the classic hand brushing, shoulder tapping, back rubbing routine, but that’s not what’s getting to me.

It’s his words. Compliments. Flattery. Hyping me up to nobody except for the two of us. He’s stroking my ego better than he strokes my dick when giving me one of those toe-curling blowjobs he’s so good at. All that sweet talking is making my heart grow three sizes.

My heart shouldn’t be doing anything at all, but it is, and I don’t want it to stop.

Nils slings an arm around me. “Erik, what’s wrong? Luke is here, so you should be happier.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m trying not to act like a fool around him.”

Silja chuckles. “That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Maybe you two should stop dancing around each other.”

Seriously?I sigh, not knowing how to reply. Again, I’m not exactly blind to the fact that Luke likes me back, but the two of us can’t have anything serious with all this distance between us. That’s not fair to Luke, so all I can do is try to resist him and keep things physical for the week he’s here.

Right when I tell myself that, Luke gives my chest a subtle pat after complimenting my sweater, flooding my body with sweet, fuzzy warmth that’s almost too comfortable to ignore.

Crushes are wild. One second, you convince yourself that you’re fine, and the next, you want nothing more than to have the other person take you apart.

Still, I shake my head and follow the rest of the team. There’s no room to be weak, not now, and not in public.

We make it to Pucken, a hockey bar a short distance from the rink. Most of my teammates order beers for themselves, but I stick with water to keep my head on straight. Luke and Silja do the same, and they’re both a little quieter now.

Nils, on the other hand, hasn’t had enough of messing with me.

“Hey, Luke,” he says when the drinks arrive, “what did you think of the goal Erik scored in the second period?”

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