But somehow, out here, where anyone could see us, it seems more meaningful. Like we’ve crossed a bridge in our relationship. One of those shaky rope numbers. You know, the ones where you hold your breath and pray until you reach the other side. And when you get there, you can look back at the journey with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
“What did your teammates say?” Kolby asks, yanking me off my imaginary rope bridge.
“They’re cool with everything.”
I’m getting a little choked up thinking about it. Lex gathered most of the team together so I could tell them all at once. My choice. I figured it was better than having to repeat it over and over. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. Do it once, and do it quick.
The guys were great. I figured—hoped—most of them would be okay with me being bisexual. But I’m not ashamed to admit I teared up a little hearing them say they were proud of me for coming out and that they were glad—honored, even—that I chose to tell them.
“Really?” Kolby’s brows lift slightly and the corners of his mouth rise into a sarcastic smile. “All of your teammates are cool with you bringing your boyfriend around? Even the fart nozzle who accused me of jacking off while picturing you naked?”
“Fart nozzle? Another one of your substitute swears?”
“Nice try, but you’re not ducking my question that easily.”
“Slags wasn’t there. And he lives in the jock dorm, not at the hockey house, so you don’t have to worry about running into him today. But Lex promised to deal with him.”
“Slags?” Kolby rolls his eyes. “Even his name screams fart nozzle.”
I can’t disagree with that, so I change the subject. “It would be okay if you did, you know.”
He scrunches up his face and rubs a hand across his clean-shaven jaw. “Did what?”
I inch my hand closer to his crotch. “Pictured me naked while you jerk off. I do. Picture you, I mean. Not me. That would be weird as fuck.”
He barks out a laugh. “I wouldn’t put it past you, Puck Boy. You’re pretty full of yourself.”
“I’d rather be full of something else.”
He pushes me away, but there’s no real force behind it, and the cheeky grin is back. “Seriously, dude. You have a one-track mind.”
“You got a problem with that?”
“Heck, no.”
I pull him to his feet and kiss him again. Christ, it’s such a rush to do that in the middle of campus. But I want do a whole hell of a lot more than kiss, and that’s not happening here. I may be completely out of the closet, but I’m no exhibitionist.
I grab my backpack and sling it over my shoulder. “Come on, let’s get moving. It’s freezing out here, and I’ve got plans for you that involve my bed, your ass, and a bottle of lube.”
“You had me at ‘my bed.’” He holds out his hand, and I take the invitation and thread my fingers with his. “Lead on, MacDuff.”
“Who’s MacDuff?”
“It’s a theater reference. A misquote, actually. From the-play-that-shall-not-be-named. I’ll explain on the way.”
When we get to the hockey house, a bunch of the guys, including Lex and Tate, are playing air hockey on our new table, which occupies most of the dining room. I get pulled in to play the winner. While I systematically dismantle Tate, the rest of the group good-naturedly interrogates Kolby, with a few choice jabs at me thrown in too.
“Don’t you work at the registrar’s office?” someone asks.
“And that bookstore on Church Street with all the rainbows in the window?” I think that comes from Cal.
“Is it true you guys met in an acting class?” asks Cooper.
“Does Adam perform better on stage than he does on the ice?”
The last one’s from Lex, and I answer by tossing a sock at him. Don’t ask me why there was a sock draped over the light fixture hanging from the ceiling. I’m pretty sure that’s the textbook definition of a fire hazard. And I don’t want to think too hard about whether it was clean or dirty.
Kolby handles the rest of the gang’s questions with an easy smile and a quick laugh. I don’t know if it’s part of his genetic makeup or if it’s all his acting training, but he’s the kind of guy who manages to fit in anywhere with anyone and somehow stand out at the same time, and the hockey house is no exception. Watching him interact with my teammates makes me wonder why I ever doubted him. Or them. Or us.
