His words pierced the haze of adrenaline that raced through my system.
“Yes, Caden. We do not care that you are going to see your boyfriend,” Kovac offered calmly.
Did he just say boyfriend?
Before I could wrap my mind around that, he continued.
“Do not worry. We know you are dating Coach Landry, yes? We are very happy for you both. Your door at the apartment is rusty. We heard you every time you left.” He smiled with the pride of someone who’d solved a complex game ofClue.
Cade. In the hotel room with Ash. Fucking.Kovac wins! And they’d known the whole time without saying anything.
Hawkins wore a genuine, if less hyperactive golden retriever version of Kovac’s grin.
“Seriously, we’ve got your back. Once you’re ready to tell people, the team will be cool. We promise.”
“What he said. Go get your man.”
“Ew, Tiger. No. That sounded weird. Let’s go.” To me, he said, “Night, Rook. Be safe and see you in the morning.”
They forced their way out of the alcove with the grace of two overly muscled sardines fighting to get away from a shark, disappearing around the corner while I struggled to figure out what the hell had just happened.
A burst of nerves had me considering returning to my room, but hell, I’d gone through whatever the last five minutes had been, so I made my way to the stairs instead.
Much like the last time I found myself in front of Ash’s hotel room door, I was jittery as hell.
The difference between this time and a couple months back was that I’d been nervous about asking Ash for help then.
Now, a million nerve endings were firing off inside me, needing a fix. And my drug of choice was Ash.
A couple of light knocks had Ash appearing at the door, ushering me inside before peering out of the doorway to make sure we were alone.
After locking the door, Ash pulled me to him, and planting a firm kiss on my lips.
“What’s going on, sweetheart? Everything okay?” His eyes searched my face for anything that might be wrong.
I couldn’t help being overly pleased at his concern. His attention and care were a balm to all the ragged edges inside me. I wanted to drown in the feeling of his eyes on me.
“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be here. But I had to come. I couldn’t force myself to stay in my room. I needed to be with you too badly. Plus, I got one of the single rooms, so it’s not like I even had to hide from anyone,” I argued, hoping his happiness at the opportunity to spend the night together would outweigh his reservations about keeping us a secret. “Except I ran into Hawkins and Kovac on my way up here, and they already know about us,” I whispered.
“What? They know?” Ash asked.
My anxiety over telling Ash overrode my ability to decipher his tone.
“I guess they’ve seen me leaving the apartment a lot? But they aren’t going to say anything. They’re happy for us?” I said it like a question because I couldn’t quite believe it had gone down that way.
“Hey. It’s okay. I’m glad they were good with it. We’ll figure this out. No matter what it takes, okay? Did you want to talk about it now?”
“Definitely not,” I exhaled hotly.
Ash slid a hand up to the back of my head, guiding my face until it was pressed into his neck. The salty scent at the junction of his neck and shoulder had me immediately mouthing kisses there interspersed with licks of my tongue, desperate to pull the taste of him inside me.
“Cade baby, that feels so damn good,” he rumbled against my ear. The combination of his words and the vibrations caused by his voice had my dick hardening in record time. “You’re too irresistible to turn away.”
Thank god. I could have wept with relief.
“Unh.” A pleading sound came from my throat, and I pushed my pelvis against his.
Was he as hard as I was already? My arousal surged at the thought of his swollen length now that I knew how amazing it felt rubbing against mine.
