Cooper’s eyes lit up as he brushed the back of his fingers over Nico’s cheek, all while Nico stood there stuck in stone. Feeling stupid because he wasn’t a beggar, he wasn’t an asker, and he wasn’t the kind of guy to say,please.
And he did it anyway.
Because he was a good boy?
Fuck that.
Cooper brushed over Nico’s bottom lip with his thumb. Real gentle, real seductive. But this wasn’t what Cooper forced him to beg for. Nico knocked his coach’s hand away and took the leap, pressing his mouth against Cooper’s.
Cooper stumbled back, his body colliding with the door.
The lips of a man felt different—bigger, dryer, and when Cooper pressed a hand on Nico’s cheek, they tasted hungrier.
Cooper gripped Nico at the hip, spun him around and threw him back against the door. This thing between them, this idea of who’s in control and who isn’t. This back and forth. Nico let Cooper win this battle and for the first time in his life, pondered the idea that maybe he liked losing.
Nico gave into the moment, gave into whatever it was that Cooper craved from him.
The dryness of Cooper’s lips turned into something wetter. Not a sign of tenderness in sight. Nothing to cling to other than the other man’s body as Cooper threatened to devour him whole, stealing every last bit of oxygen.
When Cooper finally broke away, Nico gasped for air and prayed another round would soon follow.
Cooper bowed his head against Nico’s, breath warm and ragged. “Now, you can’t say you’ve never kissed another man.”
“Less talking,” Nico begged, reaching for another kiss but his attempt was rebuffed.
Cooper began to tread backwards, slow and steady but gaze unwavering. “Would you like anotherfirst?”
Nico met each of Cooper’s steps. “Yes, please.”
A half-cocked grin rolled over Cooper’s lips. “There you go.”
Cooper stopped in place, standing against the backdrop of floor-to-ceiling windows with the curtains drawn shut around the entire penthouse.
“There are rules,” Cooper said as he pulled off his jacket. He disposed of it onto the back of a chair parked against a dining table large enough for a party of eight.
Nico tore off his own jacket, waiting to hear these rules he knew he’d most likely break. He had nowhere to place the jacket, so he threw it over his shoulder for now.
“Firstly, knock it off with the public shenanigans.” Cooper untied his bowtie and tossed it onto the table. “The team jet, the bathroom downstairs. It’s a dangerous game and it’s not worth the cost of losing.”
Nico rimmed his lip with a finger, amused. “You have the power to sayno.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Cooper turned and disappeared into the bedroom.
Nico hesitated for a moment, waited for his coach to come back. But when Cooper didn’t come back, Nico made his way into the bedroom where Cooper stood beside a nightstand, fidgeting with the cufflinks on his shirt.
“I don’t have control,” Cooper said, voice raspy. “Not when it comes to this.”
“Comes to what?”
Cooper looked him dead in the eyes. “This part of me I’m forced to hide. Sometimes, it makes you do stupid shit like going over to a rookie’s house on a Sunday afternoon. Stupid shit like not locking the door behind me in a mile-high bathroom.” He dropped the cufflinks onto the nightstand and pointed to the bed. “Have a seat.”
Nico did as told, taking a seat on the edge of the plush bed, the weight of his body sinking into it. He stretched his arms out and steadied himself with his hands.
Cooper tore his belt through the loops and dropped it to the floor. Stepped between Nico’s parted legs and angled himself high above the rookie.
Nico’s eyes lifted up and Jesus Christ, he knew he had fucking puppy dog eyes. It’s the thing he hated the most about himself. He always considered himself more of a tiger or something equally formidable. Deep down, he knew he was a fucking puppy.
And he sensed Cooper understood the same damn thing.
