“Love you, babe.” Tucker clapped his hands. “Goalies, go…stretch and eat and nap or whatever you do. Everyone else, five more minutes.”
There was a collective groan, but I appreciated that he didn’t single me out specifically. Even if I was the only goalie tonightbecause our backup had a pulled hamstring and the guy from farm couldn’t come up for the night.
I made my way to the wall, then felt along with my stick until I reached the exit. My ankles felt shakier than usual, and I related to everyone who moaned about how good it felt to take a bra off at the end of the day the moment I undid the first set of laces.
By the second skate, I was half-hard.
Yeah…I definitely needed to get laid. It had been a while, and while it wouldn’t solve my problems, it would make shouldering them a little easier.
Leaning back on the bench, I shoved my skates into my stall, then felt around for my cane until my fingers snagged the loop. I had about three minutes before everyone headed into the locker room, and I was in no mood for conversation at the moment. I was still dealing with the emotional fallout with my mom, and I still hadn’t heard from my dad. I figured that meant I really had called her bluff and she wasn’t going gallivanting around Europe or whatever the fuck her idea was.
But the fact that she’d tried it at all was under my skin. Half of it was my fault. I set this precedent with her. I was the one who always caved, so of course she thought she’d be able to get away with it this time.
God, I wasn’t the kind of guy who ever wanted kids, but the idea of what kind of grandma she’d be scared my balls up into my body.
My future wife would kill her. Or me. Or both of us.
Standing up, I unfolded my cane, then grabbed my phone out of the top shelf of the stall and made my way out of the locker room. I could go home and snag a nap if I really wanted, but a better option was a massage.
We had a therapist who was around for game days, and I had several knots that could use strong hands. His name was Yuri,and he was kind. And, if some of the guys with usable vision on the team were right, he was also superhot. He did have a nice voice—like chocolate and cinnamon—a rich rumble I’d always appreciated.
Not that I was ever into guys, but…
Well.
Okay, not that I’d ever beenactivelyinto guys. The moment Micah came out, I let myself think about whether or not I could be with a man, and the truth was: I could see myself falling for a dude. I’d never been hung up on the idea of gender. I’d always just seemed to be with women whenever relationships happened to me.
I didn’t have a crush on Yuri, but I could see myself having a crush on someone like him if the opportunity ever arose.
Not that I was in a place to think about that either. I needed to have a good orgasm or two at the hands of someone else. I didn’t want to be worrying about dating or any of that other shit.
Right now, everything felt off-kilter and unsettled, and I didn’t want to complicate things any more than they already were.
I navigated the corridor with my cane until I came to the PT room and tried the handle, but it was locked. With a heavy sigh, I knocked a few times, but I couldn’t hear footsteps or anyone calling from the other side.
Either Yuri was jerking off, or he was out.
Which left the napping option, and I was absolutely fine with that.
In fact, I?—
BZZT BZZT BZZT!
“Unknown number.”
BZZT BZZT BZZT!
“Unknown number.”
Heaving a sigh, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and answered, hoping it was a cold-caller bot so I could take some of my rage out on something that had no human feelings.
“This call had better be someone offering me a shitload of money or to tell me that my archnemesis is dead.”
There was a heavy pause, and then someone cleared their throat. “Do you really have an archnemesis?”
The person—a man, I wanted to assume—had one of those gorgeous, heavy-spiced voices and the hint of an accent that told me he was born somewhere else but probably moved to America when he was young.
“I have several,” I told him. “Who is this, and how did you get this number?”
