“Yikes,” Perry whispered. “Why do I feel like you’re getting your ass pounded tonight?”
“One way or the other,” I muttered.
“I’m there for either way.”
“Thanks for that.”
He just smirked. “Fucking or spanking, I’m sure you earned it either way.”
I sighed. “Probably.”
“Boys,” Alan muttered. “Focus, please.”
“Yes, daddy,” Perry teased, which earned him a heartfelt growl.
We were both laughing as we made our way back to our posts to wait for our next turn to broom.
We did beat the Finns by a handy margin. I was both calmed by the fact the game went the way I thought it should, and hyper nervy because that meant our next game determined if we won a gold medal or not.
There was no way not to be over-excited by the prospect, much as we had always known this was the end goal.
We got back to our rooms in the Olympic Village positively giddy with it. Even Alan was more animated than usual, and though he still didn’t say much, Mikko was grinning ear to ear.
CHAPTER 35
PERRY
We all atesupper together that night, crowded around a table in the common dining area, and often interrupted by other athletes stopping to congratulate us on our progress.
I confess, I was a bit starstruck by some of the skiers and hockey players who stopped to talk to us. People I’d been watching for years perform at the top of their games were suddenly treating me like their equal, and I found myself so in awe I could barely eat.
More than anything else, that meal made it all real. Up to then, I’d kept my nerves at bay by telling myself it was just another practice, just another game, just another venue. Sure, we had fancy clothes and so much press, so many cameras they couldn’t be ignored, but at the end of the thought process, I looked down the ice and willed the invisible lines into existence.
I knew Evan worried at my singular focus. We were all more intent on the game than each other for those months leading up, and especially the week of Olympic play. And as long as I kept my focus narrow, I was okay.
That all unravelled at that table, talking to hockey stars and skiing champions and figure skating icons in the course of onemeal. I lost my words, only able to nod and smile at people I was in awe of. My appetite vanished completely.
“Perry,” Alan said at one point, tapping his fork against my plate. “You’ve barely touched your food.”
“Sorry, yeah. I know.” I shoved my fork into the pile of mashed potatoes and gravy on my plate but didn’t pick it up.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” But I stared at the food, the huge salad overflowing the bowl that a few minutes ago I’d been stoked to eat, and realized everything had been tasting like sawdust and nerves.
Alan pushed his own plate away. “Come along.” He took my hand. “We are going back to our room.”
Our “room” was a tiny mobile trailer the three of us shared, with a bed we’d had to fork out a small fortune to get, that would accommodate all three of us. I could still feel the Olympic officials’ sideways looks as they’d filled that request, but fuck ’em. It wasn’t like they hadn’t known we were coming.
The nice thing, since every trailer was split into two rooms, was that the other four guys shared the trailer beside ours, and we had an entire empty room we’d furnished with camp chairs and tables so we could all hang out together and still have some privacy from the rest of the athletes when we wanted.
Now, however, as we entered our trailer with Evan hot on our heels, Alan locked the door behind us, shutting out the rest of the world, including our teammates. I think it might have been the first time the three of us were alone together since we’d arrived, other than when we were falling into bed exhausted at night.
“Come here.” Without warning, he grabbed the front of my jacket and hauled me close, kissing me hard enough my toes curled and I groaned into his mouth.
Behind me, Evan chuckled, and I heard the rustle of his jacket andthunkof his boots as he took off his outerwear. Hestarted on mine next, reaching around me to unzip my jacket without getting in the way of Alan’s kiss. When he pulled it off my shoulders, I slipped my arms out then wrapped both around Alan’s neck, deepening our kiss and pressing my entire body against him.
After only a few seconds of that, though, Alan gently pushed me off him and towards the tiny bathroom. “Shower,” he instructed. “Thoroughly.”
