Tom chuckled, slapped his shoulder, then walked off.
Thad glanced down at his list like he didn’t already know who was next. “Graham Pennington!” he called out. “You’re up!”
Graham’s breath picked up as he stepped through the door of the room where they were doing headshots.
Thad set his camera down next to a laptop set up with a couple of monitors and other electronics Graham couldn’t begin to identify. He leaned over, frowning at something on the monitors in front of him, his arms braced on the edge of the table.
He’d rolled his sleeves up, exposing his forearms, and his hat was turned backwards now.
He looked simultaneously professional and casual, and damn was it doing something for Graham as he took a seat on the stool in front of the white backdrop and stared forward.
There were other people in the room, a couple of interns, and Finn O’Shea, the team’s president of hockey operations, who was on the far side of the space, doing something on his phone and not appearing to be paying any attention to anything happening around him.
“This pose okay?” Graham asked, clearing his throat. It wasn’t like he was posing, mostly parking his ass on the stool and looking forward into the camera lens but he didn’t know what else to say. It really had been easier before.
Before he knew what kissing Thad was like.
Thad barely glanced up. “Yep. Give me one sec to make adjustments.”
“Sure.”
Thad straightened, then moved around the space, doing something with a little device he held up near Graham’s face, then fiddled with a light for a moment.
When he seemed satisfied, he grabbed his camera. “Gonna do a couple of test shots. Just look straight forward.”
“Do I need to smile?”
“Only if you want to.”
Graham didn’t.
“Hmm,” Thad said after a few moments. “Hang on.”
He set the camera down again and walked over to Graham, stopping with one foot planted between Graham’s sneakers.
Graham had worn more gear earlier when he’d been on the ice for the action shots, but he had on jeans and a tee under his jersey now.
He suddenly wished there were more layers between them.
“Hey, so, are we good?” Thad asked under his breath. He fiddled with Graham’s jersey and Graham’s face went hot at the way his knee brushed the inside of Graham’s thigh.
He stood so close Graham could feel the warmth of his skin.
It made his skin prickle, suddenly aware of the last time their bodies had pressed together so closely.
Thad brushed a finger along the side of Graham’s throat as he fussed with his collar, making Graham’s breath catch.
He tried to think about how the silky length of Madison’s hair had brushed against his inner thighs last night but somehow that morphed into imagining the prickle of Thad’s beard and?—
“Graham?” Thad asked a little louder, his voice more urgent now.
Graham smiled tightly. “Yeah, we’re good. Um, we should grab wings or something soon, man. Catch up on our summers, you know?”
Thad’s shoulders lowered and he stepped back, his usual easy smile back in place. “Cool. Now, are you ready for picture time?”
Graham really wasn’t.
He was panicking internally becausewhat the fuck? Summer and distance from Thad was supposed tohelpthis situation. He wasn’t supposed to get more …whateverthis was about Thad.
