Page 38 of Fresh Ice
Alonso tried not to feel embarrassed. It wasn’t like he was that sore—the sensation had just surprised him. “Yeah. It’s just…you know.”
It took Levy a few seconds to catch on, but when he did, his eyes widened in realisation, skin flushing. Alonso blushed in response.
It was going to be a long day.
Things didn’t get much better during practice. Levy would barely face his way in the locker room, avoiding him as much as possible on the ice.
Every awkward moment made doubt bubble to the surface.
Had Alonso done something wrong? Had he embarrassed himself, or been too needy, or revealed too much?
The previous night had probably been nothing out of the ordinary for Levy, just another casual sexual experience. For Alonso, though…the connection he had felt, the closeness, had flayed him open.
Maybe Levyknew. Could see it written on Alonso how the yearning was still there, pathetic and begging.
Still, the one thing they had agreed to was that whatever happened between them couldn’t affect their chemistry on the ice. Levy seemed to have completely forgotten that—all over the place during practice, barely glancing at him.
Alonso finally had enough when Levy missed Alonso’s pass for the fourth time. He waited for the right time and then bumped Levy into the boards just shy of too hard.
“You need to get it together,” Alonso whispered.
Levy winced, caught out. “I…”
“Youpromised, Levy.”
They stared at each other until the coach shouted at them to get the fuck in line.
Alonso skated into formation with a sinking stomach.
He should have known it would go badly. Hadn’t his dad warned him a million times? But he’d given in to dumb, childish urges just so he’d be touched, and now he’d ruined the best thing he had on the team.
There would be no going back.
**********
Alonso slinked into the apartment, Levy trailing behind. The air was stagnant inside the living room, holding its breath. Alonso could barely look at the couch, the memories of last night corroded under his anxiety.
“Alonso,” Levy called out as Alonso tried to sneak into his room.
Alonso froze. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear whatever Levy had to say, but this wasn’t something he could run away from.
Alonso turned around, prepared to hear Levy say he regretted what they had done together. Levy had seemed to enjoy himself at the time, but what did Alonso really know? Levy might have been faking it—Alonso was completely inexperienced after all.
Levy ran a hand down his face. “Sorry. I know I’ve been weird all day.”
Alonso forced his gaze to remain steady. “I…get that last night wasn’t what you wanted but, yeah. You can’t let it affect how we play on the ice.”
Levy frowned at him. “I mean, it’s not that I didn’t want it. It just…”
“Weirded you out?” Alonso finished for him.
“No. Dude, that’s not it at all. It was just, you know.” Levy chewed on his lip, “I guess it was just more intense than I expected,” he said after a long pause.
Alonso had no idea what that meant. “Intense bad?”
“No, definitely not bad. Almost the opposite,” Levy replied with a blush.
Alonso frowned, not really understanding what Levy was trying to get at. “It was too intense…in a good way? And that made you feel weird.”
