nico
For a long timeafter the call ended, I stared at the screen. My place was quiet except for the hum of the fridge and faint whir of the ceiling fans. The louder sounds Pack and I had just made still echoed in my mind, and the lingering image of him working his cock had me at half-mast again.
I closed the computer, set it on the bed beside me, and put my hands behind my head. I was grinning like an idiot, relieved as hell that he’d answered my call. He’d gone silent as soon as we left Quebec City. It had only been a day, but my mind was already spiraling, wondering if he’d come to his senses and decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. Why would he wreck his straight life for a fling with a guy he’d hated for years?
But as soon as his face filled the screen, I relaxed. He’d wanted it as much as I had, the sexandthe connection. He must have been confused, yet he still needed me.
Back in college, I liked Pack more than I could get my mind around. Those feelings were part of how I finally realized I was gay, not bi. The fight over Kayla hadn’t really been about her; it was about wanting someone I couldn’t have, and seeing him choose the only other person I was close to. It made mefeel disposable, like he was saying “fuck you” because I wanted anyone at all.
Things seemed different now, but were they really? Pack and I were close again. The old feelings hadn’t simply returned; they’d been waiting. Deep down, I kept wondering if I was setting myself up for the same heartbreak. Was I only scratching a naughty itch for him? Would he leave as soon as something easier came along? It would hurt all over again, feeling like I didn’t matter.
Fuck me for wanting something real.
I wasn’t sure what we were doing. Hooking up? Could he actually be interested in me, or had we slipped back into the same codependency we had in college? Maybe it only felt different because we were older, more experienced, and less inhibited, yet still caught in the same need to use each other to prove something.
Toward the end of the call, we’d teased each other about tomorrow’s game in Buffalo: who should pick the fight, who should go down, and how we’d share the same penalty box. I wondered how much he was joking. Would we really fight? Was there a chance we’d spend the night together after the game?
On the call, we’d jerked off, and then we talked. What we didn’t do was have a genuine conversation to clarify our situation.
I should call him back.
As I reached for my phone, the doorbell buzzed. Twice. I froze, hoping whoever it was would go away, but they didn’t. Instead, someone started knocking so hard it sounded like they were breaking in. I headed for the foyer.
I jerked the door open, ready to unleash hell. But instead of a stranger, four of my teammates were standing there. Noah Parker’s fist was mid-swing and nearly connected with my face. They all burst out laughing when I ducked.
“The fuck are you doing, Noah?” I barked. “Trying to break the door down?”
He showed me his famous lazy grin. “We rang, but you ignored us.”
“You didn’t give me time to answer. What do you want?”
“Just dropping by.” He had all the sincerity of a plastic Ficus.
Kai Mercer, our resident chaos agent, bounced on his toes. “Let us in, Rosco. I’ve gotta piss.”
There was only one possible reason they were there, and I stepped aside because fighting them wouldn’t have looked good. These dumbasses were my friends.
Kai shot down the hall.
“Make yourself at home,” I called after him.
“Bathroom,” he yelled back.
Noah wandered in next, followed by Theo Grant and Jace Castillo. Jace went straight to the floor-to-ceiling window and whistled. “Goddamn, what a view. Feels like I can see the entire skyline.”
“Close,” Theo said, joining him. “Work your ass off, rookie, and maybe you can afford Midtown someday.”
I sat in my favorite chair and let them snoop. Noah sprawled on one end of the sofa opposite me, wearing an expression that saidI know things.
Kai came back but detoured into the kitchen. “Got anything to eat, Rosco?”
Before I could answer, the refrigerator opened, then thumped shut a few seconds later. Kai joined us, munching on an apple. He plopped down beside Noah, looked me in the eye, and said, “Spill, Nico.”
“Spill what?” I asked. Just because they’d come over didn’t mean I had to make it easy for them.
Jace and Theo, sensing blood in the water, dropped onto a nearby loveseat.
Theo pinned me with his steely gray eyes. “Are you and Paquette fucking?”
