Page 1 of The Husband Game

CHAPTER ONE

Dustin Fowler groaned into a pillow, his brain at least three sizes too big for his skull and throbbing with the beat of his heart.

He’d definitely gotten in one last night.

After playing in the NHL for over a decade, he’d had his share of hangovers.

But this … this was among the worst.

A sleepy grumble made Dustin lift his head and squint at the person beside him, trying to get both his eyes and brain to cooperate.

Who exactly had he ended up in bed with?

Hard to tell.

They were so thoroughly burrowed under the covers that all Dustin could see was a slender arm and some messy blond curls.

Huh.

That was pretty much his type so it didn’t really tell him much.

Dustin dragged himself upright, his vision slowly clearing as he leaned against the headboard.

He studied the person next to him and a flash of memory pierced through his foggy brain.

Charlie Monaghan pinning him up against the bar, their mouths inches apart, as he sassed Dustin about something.

“Oh yeah? Wanna make a wager on that?” Dustin had teased him.

“I don’t know. What are the terms?” Charlie’d asked with a purr to his tone and a defiant tilt of his head that had made Dustin so hard.

Charlie Fucking Monaghan was in his bed.

His bed?

Dustin glanced around. Yes, this was his hotel room.

He never stayed at the hotel where the NHL awards were held. He preferred a boutique hotel a few blocks away that gave him a little more privacy to do what he felt like.

With whomever he felt like doing it with.

His sister Emily had called him Schrodinger’s queer once. Both in and out of the closet, depending on who you talked to.

He’d been annoyed by it at the time, but she wasn’t wrong.

His team had known he was bisexual and so had his family and his coaches. He simply hadn’t wanted to go the route his former goaltender, Noah Boucher, had gone.

But oh, Dustin had been itching to get Charlie in bed for months. Ever since they’d met, in fact.

Dustin could admit he’d made a little bit of an ass of himself trying to get Charlie’s attention in the past four months but, well, here they were.

Dustin grinned.

He might not have clear memories of the previous night, but based off what he did remember, he’d finally gotten Charlie’s attention.

Pretty thoroughly in fact.

Dustin dragged a hand through his hair to get it off his face as he debated what came next. Maybe he’d order room service for them both.

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