Page 65 of Scoring Position

He was munching on veggies and hummus when Nico walked into the kitchen in his mechanic porn costume.

Ryan wasprofoundlyrelieved Nico’s dad wasn’t around to see this depraved fantasy come to life. Those coveralls were the best purchase Ryan had made all year.

The grease-stained white shirt, the coveralls shoved down around his waist, the—gulp—oil smudge on his cheek. Nico looked edible, and Ryan wanted to sit down to the buffet. Was Nico doing this on purpose?

“Hey.” Nico took a Gatorade from the fridge and drank half of it in one long swallow. “Changed the oil in your car.”

Ryan tried to get that to compute. He swallowed. “What?”

“The oil in your car? I changed it.” Nico frowned. “You should drive it more. It’s not good for a car to sit so much.”

“So you changed the oil?”

Nico shook his head. “No, I changed the oil because you were way past due and I know you hate dealing with car stuff. You’re supposed to do it regularly, even if you’re not driving it anywhere.”

Nico had changed the oil in the car that Ryan did not own or care about, and had gotten on a short-term lease since he didn’t know where he would be living next September, because it needed to be done.

And he’d done it without being asked, because he was an incredible boyfriend.

One day he’d be someone else’s incredible boyfriend. Ryan’s chest ached. But before he could do anything to sublimate it, his phone chimed with a reply from Rees.Are you free at 4?

That gave him a little over an hour.I’ll be there.

He shoved it back in his pocket, took a step forward, and fisted his hand in Nico’s shirt. Then he pulled him into a deep, thorough kiss.

When they broke apart, Nico was blinking at him, sloe-eyed. “Don’t get me wrong. This,” Ryan said, indicating the whole ensemble, “is freakishly hot and I have notes to share later. But I just got called into a meeting with Rees.”

Nico tilted his head. “Everything okay?”

Wish I knew.“I think so. I’ll be back soon. We’ll revisit the coveralls later!”

Nico was still rolling his eyes when Ryan kissed him once more and left.

By now he had no problem navigating to Rees’s office. The door was ajar when he got there, like Rees expected him to just knock and open it, so that was what he did.

“Ryan!” Rees swiveled away from his monitor. “Come in, come in. I’ve been expecting you.” He gestured to the yellow Gatorade on his desk, as though it were proof.

Ryan closed the door behind him. “Thank you, sir.”

“Please, after all these months, I think you can call me John.”

Just because hecoulddo something didn’t mean heshould. But Ryan wasn’t going to pick a fight about it when he was there for something already horrible and awkward. “John. Thanks.” He picked up the Gatorade bottle, waggled it in acknowledgment, and then cracked it open.

“So, you wanted to talk,” Rees prompted. “How is our Nico? Or should I say Bert?”

He really should not answer that. Ryan took a sip and set the bottle on the edge of the desk. “Uh, he’s good, really seems to be more focused, and he’s not getting in his head like he was…. I didn’t actually come here to talk about Nico.”

Fuck, he should’ve definitely saidKersh, or maybeGrouch.

At least he hadn’t letNickyslip out.

Rees frowned and leaned back in his chair. “I see. What’s on your mind?”

Here goes nothing.“I know you said you don’t get involved in coaching decisions,” Ryan started cautiously. “And I understand that. But respectfully, sir, I think something is going on with Coach Vorhees, and it’s affecting the team.”

Frowning, Rees shook his head. “Ryan, I know it’s been a… difficult season….”

Fuck, no, this wasn’t about the teamlosing. It was aboutwhy. “It has, but that’s not—I’m not trying to lay the blame for our play on him or whatever.” Even if a good part of it was his fault. “I’m talking about other stuff. Like when he scratched Grange for those games, or Ni—um, Kersh. He never gave a reason for it. From a hockey standpoint, some of his game-time decisions don’t make sense. Like not playing Greenie against good teams, even when he’s rested.” He paused, seeing he hadn’t convinced Rees. He’d have to go further. “And… this is going to sound paranoid. But I’ve seen him with the same man in three different cities. That just seems suspicious. I mean, the same guy who has nothing to do with the team just happens to be where we’re playing on three separate occasions?” Ryan ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe it’s nothing, but it feels shady.”

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