Practice had Fletcher feeling pretty beat. Their games against St. Louis were nearly as competitive as their ones against Boston, so the energy on the ice this morning was buzzing with intensity—especially being only a few games away from the championships. They all wanted that cup more than anything.
The team quickly filed into the dressing room, hitting the showers in shifts. Practice rinks typically only had a handful of showers which made showering a little complicated timing-wise. Fletcher took a seat on the bench as he leaned down to unlace his skates. One of his blades had gotten loose during practice, so he retrieved a new one from Katherine. Next to him, Taylor was texting someone on his phone. Taylor let out a disappointed sigh while he scrolled through a message thread.
“Who are you texting?” Fletcher pried, feeling a little bit nosy. Taylor didn’t look up from his phone as heanswered. Fletcher had no idea how to approach the whole situation from the other night. God, what had gotten over him? He hated the sight of that girl rubbing her ass all over Taylor. He was jealous, and it made him furious. But what in his right mind possessed him to go back to the hotel room in hopes Taylor would follow?
His conversation with Maude the other night still haunted him. Clearly, she clocked something, though. He was distracted because of Taylor.
And then Boston happened. Something inside of Fletcher changed. He didn’t want anyone else’s hands on his best friend. Taylor was way too fine with letting it happen, the way he placed his hands on her hips and swayed along to the music with her. And to make matters worse, Taylor’s eyes locked with his own as he danced with her. Fletcher had never felt so possessive over someone the way he did with Taylor. He was never the jealous type. In fact, heliked itwhen Maude would flirt with other guys. Especially when she would flirt with Taylor. Thatreallymade his dick get hard.
Never in a million years did Fletcher think he would willingly find himself on his knees for anyone. He hated giving head to girls. He thought it was too intimate and honestly, pretty gross. Not the taste of it, per se. But more so the act of it. Like he was forced to worship a false God. He hated the way girls he went down on would look at him with such a needy expression on their faces. Truthfully, it gave him secondhand embarrassment. And don’t get him started on the insufferable noises they made. The way girls would moan right into his ear. It was too high-pitched. Like nails to a chalkboard. He hated it almost as much as he hated the way their long nails felt as they would scratch him on his back. Those kinds of girls, the ones who tried to be rough with him, were his least favorite.
They were justtoodelicate. Too… he didn’t know how to describe it. It felt like a power imbalance, and the only time he preferred being in complete control was when he was on the ice. Things were just too easy with girls. Too boring. Not stimulating enough.
Maybe that made him sound like an asshole. He couldn’t deny that he was. He went through girls faster than he went through hockey sticks. He loved the attention he got. The way his friends would idolize him for having an endless roster. It was as easy as hockey for him to find a girl, have his way with her, and leave her in whatever city they were playing in that night.
It was different with Taylor. He wanted nothing more than to be able to taste him again. Fletcher couldn’t lie to himself anymore. He wanted Taylor to be rough with him. He wanted to antagonize him. With Taylor, it was an even playing field. They were equal opponents in every aspect. Even though he most definitely got off on Taylor telling him what to do. But Fletcher definitely encouraged it. HewantedTaylor to boss him around. And somehow Taylor knew exactly what to say to activate whatever sense of blind obedience Fletcher had for him.
No one knew Fletcher the way Taylor did. Like,reallyknew him. Playing together these past couple of months had allowed him to let Taylor peel back every layer of him. The closer he got to the core, the stronger his trust and admiration grew for Taylor. It didn’t matter if they were on the ice or off. Taylor knew Fletcher had left Jacksonville because he was tired of being told how to live his life. He knew how much Fletcher hated the way his dad tried controlling him and his career. And yet, maybe Taylor inadvertently had uncovered a need forFletcher to…obey. As backwards as it sounded.
Fletcher couldn’t tell if he regretted it or not. He was never going to be able to get the taste of Taylor out of his mind. It left him with a burning, insatiable desire to have more. He wanted to become acquainted with every single square inch of Taylor’s body.
But what if Taylor didn’t want that? What if he wanted nothing to do with him after the night they shared in Boston? Fletcher couldn’t stomach the thought of screwing everything up with Taylor just because they couldn’t control themselves. He shouldn’t have lured Taylor back to the room like that. Fletcher knew exactly what he was doing. He couldn’t stop thinking about how big of a mistake he made.
Taylor probably wanted to pretend it didn’t happen. He said it was a mistake, so Fletcher had to respect that. He would never push the boundaries of their friendship. Not again.
Taylor was busy texting on his phone. He knew it was completely irrational to be worried that Taylor was possibly texting Briar. He could tell that Taylor wasn’t into her. But the jealous part of him wondered if she had asked for his number and he had actually given it to her.
“My sister asked me if I wanted to come visit everyone for my birthday weekend.” Taylor answered, bringing Fletcher back to reality. He seemed to be in a better mood since the other day. Acting like it didn’t happen. Whatever.
“That’s only a few days before you’re supposed to come to Florida for the camps and stuff. You don’t think you’ll make it?” Fletcher asked, maybe sounding a little sadder than he should. He didn’t know if he could stand to be in Florida again. The thought of Taylor being there made him feel a little better about going, but he didn’t know how hewould feel if Taylor ended up not going.
Taylor’s face went pale and his body stiffened. “I haven’t been back to Sacramento since I was first signed. I’ve only heard from my brother and sister a handful of times, but we always end up fighting over,” he paused as he grimaced. “It’s kinda hard to explain.”
Taylor turned his phone off and dropped it back into his bag as he continued unlacing his own skates. “I’m still coming to Florida, though. I wouldn’t bail on you like that. I’m sure I might need it after having to deal with Jess and Mandy for an entire weekend.”
* * *
“You can come visit in the summer. The water should be warm enough for you to swim in it by then.”
“For us to swim in,” he corrected.
“Not a chance,” Fletcher chuckled. “I only swim in water clear enough to see my feet.”
“Then we’ll just go to Miami. We can stay with Abuela Sánchez.”
“Should we tell Sánchez to start packing his bags?”
“No. Just us.”
* * *
“We still have a few weeks. Why’s she asking so early?” he asked.
“Dunno. She’s like a tedious planner or whatever, so I’m sure she’s just making sure I won’t be busy then.” Taylorguessed, sounding irritated. “Maybe I’ll drag Sánchez along or something. I know he’d do it if I asked. He lives nearby. Well, he used to.”
“Or I could.” Fletcher offered, trying to hide his disappointment that he wouldn’t be Taylor’s first choice. “If you’d like.” Fletcher immediately regretted the offer. He didn’t want to sound eager or anything.
“Won’t you be at your family’s house?” he asked Fletcher.
