“So you coming?” Noah asks.
I nod. “Sure, probably.”
I’m going to check in with Torin first to see what he wants to do. I love my friends. And I love to hang out with them. But I really want to spend the night cuddling and kissing Torin. I’ve never felt so conflicted before. It’s never been a difficult choice as to whether or not I choose my friends over a date. My friends were first every time.
This is different, though. Torin isn’t just some random hookup. He’s important to me. I really like him. Like… for real. Everything about this feels different.
Once I’m finally out of my pads, I grab my towel and head for the shower where I stand under the spray for a long time. Just letting the warm water wash over me, taking my sweat and tonight’s failure and running down the drain.
I wash my hands while I stand there, eyes closed. My cleaning procedure is a meditative process for me. I spend most of the time showering with my eyes closed. Shutting out all the light and noise as I bring myself out of my hockey mindset and into Hugo head.
I’m thankful we don’t ever run out of hot water. That would suck.
Once I’m finished, I wrap up in my towel and head back to my cubby to dress. The locker room is quiet, with less than half the team left. There were still showers running when I got out and those in the locker room are in various states of dress.
After giving myself another pat down to make sure I’m dry, I begin methodically dressing. Thankfully, I have sweats in the car and fully intend on changing as soon as we’re at the beach. Do I care that I’m naked under my pants? Nope. You want to look at my dick, have at it. It’s not like you can’t already see it perfectly running along my left leg in these dress slacks, anyway.
Once I’m dressed and have shoved everything into my gear bag, I head down the hall. Torin’s door is cracked so I gently knock andpush it open a little more. His big seal head is already off and he’s pushing himself out of the costume suit.
When his eyes meet mine, he smiles. How have I never noticed how beautiful he is until now? The way my breath catches, I’m sure I should have already known that.
“Hi,” I greet, stepping inside and shutting the door. I cross the space until I can wrap my arms around him.
Hugging Torin is the best feeling. I love how he’s almost as tall as I am, so there’s no bending over. But he’s still smaller than me, so I can wrap around him and hide him from the world. Keep him all for myself.
I sigh.
“You played a good game,” Torin says.
“Do you get to watch the games?”
His shoulders rise. “Not uninterrupted, but I take peeks and watch for a minute or two here and there.”
“We lost,” I point out.
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t play a good game,” he counters.
I suppose he’s not wrong.
“My friends want to drown our sorrows in ice cream at the beach. Will you come with?”
“Yeah. That’s much better than a bar.”
I grin, pressing my lips into the side of his head. “Then you’ll come home with me?”
Torin sighs. “I want to, but I really have to go feed my fish.”
Everything inside me feels like it’s sagging.
“You can come home with me,” he offers.
Just like that, my insides fill with life again and I grin. “Yeah?”
“It’s a long ride ,though.”
“That’s okay. We can drop my car off then head to your place. Or maybe I should drive my car, too. I have conditioning tomorrow.”
“I can still drive you. I’m not going to do anything in here tonight, so I need to come back before the next home game anyway.”
