We all got home from Napa last night and decided to meet up for a workout this afternoon.
“I don’t know how much longer I can last,” Theo says.
Del rolls his eyes. “We’ve been playing for twenty minutes.”
Theo drains the last of the water in his bottle, then coughs.
“You’re like this every off-season,” Del mutters. “You skip any and all workouts for a month, then when you finally get back into it, you’re dragging.”
Theo flashes a smug smile. “So I like unwinding and having a good time. Sue me.”
The rest of the guys and I chuckle. We start playing again and finish out the hour we have booked at the practice rink. By the time we’re finished and changing out of our gear, we’re all drenched in sweat.
“Feels good to get back on the ice,” I say.
“Spoken like the youngest guy here,” Sam says.
I grin. “I can’t help that at my spry age, I’m lasting longer than you old guys.”
“We’re in our late twenties. Not ancient,” Blomdahl says.
“Theo’s an old man at almost thirty-one,” I joke. He tosses his sweaty glove in my face.
“Good thing Ryker didn’t hear you say that,” Sam says to me. “He’s pushing thirty-six. He would have cold-cocked you.”
I laugh harder.
“I’m surprised he didn’t join us,” Blomdahl says.
“He was going to, but Madeline got sick, so he’s taking care of her,” Theo says. “Anyone feel like getting a beer?”
Del glares at him. “You were just complaining about drinking too much wine, and now you want beer?”
Theo flashes a smug smile and shrugs. “It’s off-season. Live a little.”
Sam and Blomdahl say they’ll join Theo for a drink.
“How about you, Connors?” Theo asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve got plans with Ellie.”
He nudges me. “Aww look at the former manwhore getting all romantic and wanting to spend the evening with his wife,” he teases.
Nerves fire off inside of me when I think about what I’m about to do with Ellie.
My head is still spinning from our conversation yesterday in our hotel room in Napa, when she essentially asked me to be her sex teacher.
A weird energy swoops through me. I feel excited and nervous at the same time. Really nervous. Which is different for me. I’m not the kind of guy who gets nervous about hooking up with a woman.
I know how douchy that sounds, but it’s true. I wasn’t even all that nervous when I lost my virginity to a puck bunny after winning my high school hockey championship.
But this is more than just hooking up. It’s helping my best friend overcome her nerves so she can be more comfortable and learn to enjoy sex.
I think about what she told me about her ex. How he just tried to shove his dick inside of her without any warmup or foreplay or doing anything to make her feel comfortable and aroused.
I grit my teeth, pissed off just thinking about it. What kind of a selfish asshole was this guy?
I’m not perfect. Far from it, especially when you consider my aversion to commitment. When I hook up with a woman and tell her that I’m only interested in sex and nothing more, a few of them have gotten upset.
