Same goes for my dad. If I were a betting man, I’d lay odds the only reason they had kids is because it’s the good Mormon thing to do. Creating physical bodies for spirits to come to earth in order to fulfill God’s plan. Four of whom—two boys, two girls—are still stuck with them in Utah.
I worry about my brothers and sisters, but Hannah assures me they’re okay. She’s trying to set up a line of communication with Grace—at seventeen, she’s the oldest and most responsible of the kids left at home—that won’t get Grace in a world of trouble with our parents. Kind of like I did with Hannah when I left.
But there will be time enough to figure all that out later. Right now there’s only one thing I want to focus on. One person. And if I don’t get him somewhere more private and soon, I’m going to rip off his clothes and have my wicked way with him right here in this alley, no matter how cold it is or how many people might see us.
Okay, so maybe I’m not going to do that. But it won’t be because I don’t really, really want to. It’ll be because I don’t want either of us to freeze our junk off. We’re gonna need it for what I’ve got in mind.
I move to climb off him so we can head home—his or mine, it doesn’t really matter—and I can turn my fantasy into a reality. His arms tighten around me, and he makes this adorable little mewling sound in protest, like a newborn kitten.
I kiss the sensitive skin behind his ear, laughing. “Not such a tough guy now, are you, Puck Boy?”
He nuzzles the base of my neck, and it’s somehow both affectionate and erotic at the same time. That, right there, sums up what I love about our relationship more than anything. The heady combination of friendship and lust.
You know that Jason Mraz song about being lucky to fall in love with your best friend? I didn’t really get what he was singing about when I first heard it, but I do now. And I feel like the luckiest darned guy on the planet to have Adam, my best friend, as my partner.
“Don’t want to be tough,” he mumbles into my neck. “Want you.”
I manage to extricate myself from his embrace, then grab his hands and pull him to his feet. “And I want you, too. Preferably naked and screaming my name when you come. And we can’t do that out here.”
“Since you put it that way—” He moves backward, tugging me toward the door. It reminds me of our skating lessons, our hands clasped tight, Adam dragging me across the ice with him. “Let’s go. If we’re lucky, Professor Frost is gone by now and we can escape without too many people stopping us.”
Fudge nuggets. I totally forgot about Frosty for a minute there. And the showcase. And all our friends who are probably still inside celebrating our final performance and the end of the semester. Basically, everything except the guy standing in front of me, looking like a snack.
“How mad was Frosty at me for ruining the show?” I ask, more than a little afraid for the answer. And my grade.
Adam spins me around and uses that hard-earned hockey body to trap me against the door. For a split second, I worry someone might try to open it. Then the only thing I can concentrate on is the thigh he’s wedged between my legs, pressing into my groin.
“Are you kidding me? You didn’t ruin anything.”
“So he’s not going to flunk me?”
“Hell no. He lives for drama. Said it was the highlight of the evening. And the audience ate it up, too. I’d be surprised if we didn’t both get As.” Adam rests his forehead on mine, our noses touching and our breath mingling. “You stopped the show, babe. In the best possible way.”
“I did?” I can’t help the feeling of pride that swells my chest. And the other feeling that’s swelling more southerly, in the below-the-belt parts of my anatomy.
“Pretty much. There didn’t seem to be much point in continuing after you took off. I mean, how was anyone supposed to top that dramatic exit?”
I rub against him shamelessly. “Told you I was a showstopper.”
“More like warned me.” His low chuckle rumbles through me, making me feel all warm and cozy and loved.
“I can be a real drama queen sometimes,” I admit, half serious, half teasing. I may not be as extra as Ian, but I have my moments. It’s a lot for some people. “Are you sure you’re up to the challenge?”
He grinds into my hip so I can feel every thick, rigid, unmistakably erect inch of him. “I’m up to it, all right. Any more up to it and I’d burst through the zipper of these jeans I bought just for tonight.”
“Then we’d better get out of here before you have an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.” I glance down at his fly, the outline of his erection clearly visible against the dark denim. “And you might want to untuck your shirt.”
I do the same—my hard-on isn’t quite as obvious as his, but it’s big enough that I feel the need to hide it—and we head back inside. It takes longer than I’d like for us to make it out of V and V. Our luck holds and Professor Frost is long gone. But there’s still my sister to deal with, and the guys from the hockey team. There’s lots of back slapping and offers to buy us drinks when they find out we’ve patched things up. Even Slags offers to pick up a round without Lex having to elbow him in the ribs. Score another point for that diversity training.
We accept the congratulations and politely decline the drinks, claiming exhaustion, but I seriously doubt we’re fooling anyone. They know exactly why we’re in such a hurry to get out of the bar and into bed. Spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with sleeping.
We head for the hockey house because one, it’s closer than the dorms and two, we’ll have plenty of privacy since all of Adam’s roommates are back at V and V. The door to his room has barely swung shut behind us when we lunge for each other. We’re like two starving men who’ve been given their first meal in weeks, tearing off each other’s clothes, desperate to get at what’s beneath them.
I’m not sure how we get there, but we wind up in his bed, blissfully naked and entwined. Adam is on top of me, his firm body pressing me into the mattress as he lowers his head and his lips latch over mine. I could stay like this forever, in a lip and body lock with the man I love, but after a few minutes he rolls over, taking me with him so now I’m the one on top.
“What was that for?” I ask. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about hurting me again. I told you, I like being smothered by all those hard, hot hockey muscles.”
He gazes up at me, his velvety eyes warm with appreciation and dark with desire. “I want you to do something for me.”
