August straightened his shoulders, as if he could somehow take control of the situation by sheer determination. “I think we both know the answer to that.”
If Quinn didn’t only come up to August’s shoulders and he could reach his mouth without having to go on his tippy toes, he would have kissed him, but he didn’t want to give August the satisfaction of watching him struggle.
Quinn kissed his throat instead, pressing his lips to the outline of August’s Adam’s apple, chuckling when there was a sharp intake of breath from above him.
“Quinn, you’re killing me.”
Another kiss, and then Quinn swept his tongue over the bump before biting down.
“Are you trying to distract me with sex? I feel like you’re doing this on purpose so that I’ll drag you back into my room and skip the date.”
August was less spacy than Quinn had given him credit for. Sighing, he stepped away and peered up, taking note of his blushing face and the indent of teeth on his throat.
“Fine,” he said, fighting not to frown. “Let’s explore the frigid city of Toronto together so we can be more appreciative of our mild Vancouver temperatures when we go home.”
August raked his hands through his white hair, his posture relaxing now that the attack had been called off. “Right—that’s a great positive outlook.”
It was obvious that they werebothfighting the urge to go into August’s room, but they held strong and walked toward the elevator instead, and Quinn prepared himself for the task of making small talk.
“How often do you need to dye your hair?” Quinn asked once they were on the elevators with the door shut. “It seems like it would be a pain in the ass to maintain the look.”
August shrugged. “You know how pale my natural hair colour is. I just do it myself whenever my roots start to show, and I’ve done it so many times that it doesn’t take me long.”
Quinn was continually impressed by August’s ability to care for himself. The majority of his past boyfriends didn’t put much into their appearance other than showering and shaving, which was fine, but one look at August showed that he went the extra mile.
“Skin care routines, hair treatments, and you even manscape,” Quinn said teasingly. “Seems like a lot of work for a guy who’s as busy as you are.”
August rolled his eyes, letting a flicker of his past arrogance shine through. “You know I barely grow any hair after seeing me naked. And who doesn’t want to look their best when you have to walk around tarps off all the time?”
Quinn crinkled his nose. “Tarp—what?”
“Uh…” August rubbed the back of his neck. “It just means that I walk around with my jersey and gear off a lot during games. I forgot that you don’t know hockey lingo.”
And Quinn never would because there was too much of it for him to remember.
“I can barely see the puck during the game,” said Quinn. “How you can find it in that chaos astounds me, but that’s why you make the big bucks.”
The elevator arrived at the first floor, and the doors opened with a soft chime, revealing a lobby filled with people having quiet conversations. August exited first, smiling at Quinn as he gestured for him to follow.
“Start a list—write this down—”
“Nope,” Quinn said, raising his hands. “I blatantly refuse.”
“A chirp is our word for trash talk, but you probably knew that one because it’s a basic example.”
“August—”
“A pylon is someone who moves so slow that everyone can get around them, and a hoser is basically our version of a loser.”
Everyone was looking at them, and Quinn didn’t know if it was because August was so tall or if it was because they recognized him, but he was suddenly feeling too hot in his winter coat.
“And a dangler is a person who’s good at maneuvering the puck, so guys like Niko.”
August was listing the nonsensical hockey words to fuck with Quinn; that much was evident by the smirk on his face. They made it outside while August continued his ramble, and Quinn took a deep breath of cold air to cool himself down.
He didn’t know how far they were going, but once August gave up on his verbal torture and focused on leading Quinn to their destination, the walk became more pleasant.
The air wasbiting, and everyone was still staring at them, but Quinn found he didn’t mind the weather or the attention because August’s smiles and chuckles were growing on him.
