“The bench I have to use for my workout tomorrow?” Rhett groaned louder. “I’m getting a beer. You want one, Cole?”
“I’m good,” he said, smiling over at me. “Was it good? Did he grunt a lot?”
“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” I said curtly. “You wouldn’t want me telling everyone the details of our sex life, would you?”
“True.”
Rhett came back from the kitchen with a beer in hand. “I don’t want to focus on thistoomuch, but adding a third man to our little group opens up a lot more sex positions and combinations.”
“I’d be afraid to have a threesome or foursome with Elias,” Cole said. “I’m imagining him glaring the entire time.”
“Ten minutes of annoyed grunts.” Rhett started humping the air and grunting loudly.
Laughing, I said, “Elias might surprise you. He has a softer side.”
Rhett dropped onto the couch next to me. “I don’t want to say I don’t believe you… but I don’t believe you.”
“Don’t mention the fact that I told you,” I warned them. “Itjusthappened today, and I don’t know how he would react. Let me feel him out first.”
“Are you kidding? I’m usually too terrified to bring up the weather to Elias. I sure as hell ain’t gonna mention his sex life!” Rhett exclaimed.
Our laughter helped take our minds off the stress of the day.
But it still simmered underneath, like a volcano preparing to erupt.
34
June
Tensions were high when we played the Tampa Bay Lightning two days later. Despite Coach Jay’s mandate about keeping the new threat a secret, word had spread among the rest of the team.
When Cole was announced in the starting lineup, I couldn’t help but tense up a little. I imagined a faceless man sitting at home, scowling at his TV and building a bomb on a coffee table.
Yet as the game progressed, I noticed Coach Jay and the other assistant coaches occasionally glancing around at the crowd. That created a new fear within me: that the unknown person washere in the building.
The team played sloppy, likely because they were preoccupied. Cole made two awful mistakes late in the third period, one of which led to a goal that ended up being the deciding factor in a 2-1 loss.
Cole was more frustrated with himself after the game, slamming his equipment and glaring at anyone who dared approach him. And since he was the captain of the team, his frustration bled into the emotions of the other players.
I loved my job, but it really sucked when everyone was in a shitty mood.
Elias was in the corner of the room, jogging on one of the treadmills. It had been two days since we’d hooked up, and neither of us had brought it up. Which, in my opinion, was too long to go without talking about it.
There were a handful of other players exercising after the game, so I lowered my voice. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” he replied without breaking stride. “Five minutes left. Then stretches.”
“I really enjoyed the other day in here.”
He glanced over at me. “I did as well.”
And then the tiniest little smile flickered onto his lips. It only lasted a moment, but for the stone-faced Elias, it was the equivalent of a flashing neon sign that saidI like you.
“I hope it happens again,” I said. “Somewhere else, though. Not here.”
“Yes.”
I patted the railing of the treadmill, then walked away feeling a lot better than I had before.
