There was.
“He didn’t ask this of me,” Guy prefaced, “But I think I want to be monogamous with him.”
Adonis nodded slowly, processing this information. “Okay.” His longstanding friends-with-benefits situation with Guy had lasted throughtwo of Guy’s previous relationships, neither of which had been monogamous. He’d never taken Guy to be the sort of person who wanted a closed relationship. But Adonis wasn’t going to judge the choice.
“If that’s what you want,” he said, “then that’s good. I’m assuming that means no more sex for us.”
“No more sex for us,” Guy confirmed. “Jason knows about us, and he didn’t have a problem with it. Like I said, he didn’taskme to be monogamous. It’s just something I realized I wanted.”
Adonis sat up enough so that he could meet Guy’s gaze. There was a happy, sleepy smile on Guy’s face.
“I’m glad,” he said. “You deserve someone who makes you happy.”
Guy reached up and brushed a hand along Adonis’s chin. “You do, too. You know that, right?”
“I don’t have time to date,” Adonis said with a little laugh.
“You never know what’ll come your way. Hell, I didn’t think the dinosaur twink who threw up in Catrina’s Louboutins would become my boyfriend someday.”
“When you put it that way…”
Guy smiled. “I’d love it if you joined him and me for dinner sometime.”
“I’d like that, too.”
“You can stay on the couch tonight, if you’d like,” Guy said. Though Adonis knew better than to be sad, there was a small part of him that hurt at the offer of the couch. Not so long ago, he would’ve spent the night in Guy’s bed, no questions asked. Even though he was not in love with Guy, never had been, and never would be, it had been comforting knowing that Guy was there. A dependable physical presence. A friend who could meet a variety of his needs.
And now that friendship was changing. Not gone, but changing.
“That’s okay,” Adonis said. He sat up fully. “I should probably head back to campus.”
“Let me pay for your Uber, at least.”
“I won’t say no to that.”
Guy sat up beside him. “Hey,” he said, gently catching Adonis’s wrist. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I promise.”
Guy leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Adonis’s cheek, just beside his lips. Even though only moments ago, they had fucked aggressively on that very bed, and the fact that they were still completely naked, the kiss was chaste. Sexuality can contain multitudes, Adonis thought.
“I love you, you know that, right?” Guy said.
Adonis squeezed Guy’s hand. “I love you, too.”
After he showered, he got into the Uber that Guy had paid for and headed back to campus. The entire ride, all he could think about was what Guy had said:you’ll never know what’ll come your way.
And then, completely out of the blue, another memory. Bash’s words in the locker room when they ran into each other the other day:I hope I see you again.
When the car dropped him off outside his campus apartment, a curious feeling Adonis hadn’t felt before was growing inside him. It still hadn’t left when he fell asleep.
Chapter 7
Bash
Saturday morning practices during the pre-season were non-mandatory. Bash was expected to be there as one of the captains. He and Robbie alternated bringing each other coffee every week. This week was Robbie’s turn. When Bash met him at the Rink, Robbie handed him a paper cup.
“Black coffee with two shots of espresso,” he said.
