Gabe shot him a look. “Dude, all you have to do is step out of the way when the music starts.”
“Right, but am I going left or right?”
“Whichever,” Hannah said. We were filming today in a large field a couple of dozen miles away from the arena. It felt secluded, surrounded by a thick wall of maple trees. At least this was better than the musty and cramped studio my previous team would film their content in. Social media days definitely weren’t my favorite—I didn’t like looking at or hearing myself—but for some reason, the Bobcats team had practically zero social media days written into the contract. It was refreshing not having the higher-ups stressed because they weren’t getting views on their dumb videos, which they thought would translate into low ticket sales and an even lower profit margin. There was always an inherent pressure to be the best and to be recognized for it, but it made me want to roll my eyes when a social media manager started suggesting short videos of us stretching. I understood that sex sold and that there were plenty of thirst-trap opportunities skating around on that ice, but I preferred to keep the focus on the game.
“And remember,” Hannah said, finger in the air. “Gabe, take off your jersey right as you get into the frame. Be sexy butfun. The copy is going to be something about sinking the puck on our upcoming Date Night. Tickets are two-for-one, so match that vibe.”
Oh… great.
Hannah gave us a five-second countdown before she hit Record on her camera and let us at it. The skit wassupposed to be a silly dance to a trending song. We wore our Bobcat jerseys and caps with matching black athletic shorts. I hit my marks pretty well and shimmied off screen, watching Gabe step in after me. He effortlessly tugged off his jersey and tossed it to the side.
Directly onto my face.
I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but it did get a giggle out of Dylan and an eye roll out of me.
Even though I got a whiff of him on his shirt that may have actually been the contributing factor for that eye roll.
He smiled at the camera and flexed one bicep and then another, matching the beat of the song and lip-synching his lines perfectly. He then put his hands behind his head, gave a smooth swirl of his hips, then hands in front of him as if he were holding something—my head—while thrusting forward with his hips.
“Oh yeah,” Dylan commented. “This one’s gonna go viral.”
I had to agree with him. I knew if I were randomly scrolling and saw Gabe’s shirtless body gyrating on my screen, I would need to play it on a damn fucking loop.
That video would go triple platinum in my household before the day was over.
“Alright, awesome, that was great! Let’s do a couple more takes just for safety, but after that, I think we can wrap on this month’s content.”
Easy. Done. I had expected a longer day with more interaction between Gabe and me, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case. I planned on saying my goodbyes, getting in my car, and getting the hell home. I was working on making a cool hangout spot in a spare room and had some projects for it that could keep me busy andnotthinking about the handsome and shirtless andeffortlessly cool man currently walking in my direction and—shit.
“Hey,” Gabe said.
“’Sup.”
It was icy, and it was a conscious choice. Did seeing him half-naked, with the only sign that it was in the low forties being that his nipples were hard, make me feel some kind of way?
Abso-fucking-lutely. It made me want to drop to my knees and start barking like a damn dog, but I wasn’t about to do that. I had to play it cool, and I had to try my damnedest to erect some kind of dick—fuck—some kind of barrier between us.
“Can we talk?” Gabe asked me. He seemed to be avoiding my gaze.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. I wasn’t the kind of guy who would give someone a cold shoulder when all they wanted to do was chat. Besides, I wasn’t upset at Gabe for disappearing in the middle of the night. He likely had a good reason to do it. I was more so upset at myself for falling so fucking fast for this guy.
…Then again, what if he left because he didn’t want to wake up to me latched onto him like a fucking sea urchin? He was probably not into it and just wanted to make things simple.
Maybe that’s what this conversation was meant to do? Just sever things completely between us.
He couldn’t have done this before I had his dick in my mouth?
We separated from the main group and walked toward the trees. I felt a prickle of irrational nerves as I looked into the woods. There was just no possible way I’d be confronted byanotherwolf, and yet my palms got clammy and sweaty,looking into the woods. Again, it was a stupid fear. There was a huge group of people gathered here and the start of a popular trail that snaked into the woods, the dirt packed in from how often people walked down the path. I wasn’t in danger.
“I wanted to apologize again for how I left the other night,” he started. His shirt was tucked into the waistband of his jeans. The afternoon sunlight was softened by a thin layer of clouds, giving him a golden haze. I tried not to get distracted, but damn was that hard.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t need a big apology or anything.”
Frankly, I didn’t need any of this. All I needed were his big arms caging me against a tree as he kissed me like he had the other night.
I had to play it cool. Needed to push him off before I was pulled harder into his orbit. “It was nothing. We—” I looked around to make sure no one was in earshot. “—did what we did, and that’s it. Won’t happen again. No strings attached. Just one fun, random”—perfect—“sexy night. Simple as that.”
And yet more complex than a damn Rubik’s cube.
