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“I know what I want to do, but it’s probably not what you’re looking for.”

Aaron sighed, closed his eyes, and dropped his head, his chin resting on his chest. He was sure Caleb was talking about a kiss or maybe more. It was the wrong answer, but just the thought of it made Aaron tingle inside.

“I want it,” Aaron whispered, his heart betraying him. “But there’s so much to sort out before we get deeper into it.”

“Isn’t that part of it, though? The more we fall for each other, the harder it will be to break us apart.”

“It’s got to be more than sex, though.” Aaron moved to put some distance between him and Caleb so he wouldn’t just throw himself on him.

“Isn’t it already? We’ve got years of history. It’s not like we’re strangers.”

Caleb slipped out of his jacket and hung it on one of the hooks by the door. He swiftly stepped behind Aaron and removed his to hang it up. “I don’t want to make this more complicated.” Caleb gestured toward the living room, his gentlemanly nature coming through again. “And I know it is. I’ve heard what you said—what you need. I don’t know how to make that happen, at least not right now. But I’m stubborn and want to figure it out.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Aaron said as he entered the living room. “We’ve got very different lives, live in different places, and you know I’ve got a ton of baggage.”

Caleb went on to the kitchen, adding to the feeling that he lived there already, and returned quickly with two bottles of water. Before he delivered a bottle to Aaron, he stopped short. “Wow,” he said softly. “You kept it.”

Aaron didn’t have to guess what he was talking about. “I told you I always remembered it.”

Caleb put the water down on top of the short bookshelf that was behind the couch and then picked up the “World’s Best Tutor” trophy and examined it. “I had no idea that you’d kept it all this time.”

Aaron met Caleb’s gaze. “It was important. It came from you.”

“See?” Caleb said, setting the trophy carefully back in place. “You’ve waited years for this, and so have I. Let’s see what we can make of it.”

“That’s not fair. It’s different—a schoolboy crush and an adult relationship.”

Caleb sighed while Aaron pushed his hands through his hair.

“What’s not fair is that you’re not even thinking about ways we can be together. You’re just shutting it down. I’m willing to fight for us. Aren’t you?”

Everything Caleb said was reasonable, but Aaron couldn’t help but remember what it was like with Tyson as they settled into their routine. Come September, he’d hardly see Caleb and might not even hear from him regularly.

Caleb came up behind Aaron, who stood at the window that looked out on the building’s small yard and parking lot. “Will you at least think seriously about this and we can talk while I’m away?”

“All I do is think about us.” Aaron fixed his gaze across the street, trying to not focus on the reflection of him and Caleb in the glass.

Caleb began peppering Aaron’s neck with kisses.

“That doesn’t help,” Aaron said, even though he didn’t move to stop him.

“I’ll do anything to make the case that we should try for this, including seduction.” Caleb spun Aaron around so he could kiss him on the mouth. It didn’t take long for Aaron to surrender despite the voices in his head telling him to stop.

There were no more protests. They spent the night wrapped around each other with no talk about the future. There was sex and some dinner cobbled together out of what was in Aaron’s kitchen. Aaron didn’t know if Caleb felt the same somberness he did, but like the future, it was something he didn’t mention. He simply made sure to ignore his common sense and enjoy time with Caleb for one more night.

Chapter Twenty

IT wasn’t surprising that the team doctor and physical therapist put Caleb through his paces. If his foot hadn’t healed right, he could be in a lot of pain once it was under the stress of game play or, even worse, prone to breaking again. Wednesday morning was filled with x-rays, scans, and tests.

Ultimately the doc said it looked great and his range of motion was even better than expected. Caleb got the approval to return to the team immediately.

He couldn’t remember a time he dreaded getting back on the ice more.

When he’d broken his arm in fifth grade, it scared him to go back on the ice because he thought it’d happen again. By the time he was in middle school, that kind of fear didn’t get to him. He always wanted right back in the game.

This time it was like a punishment, taking care of the administrative stuff and meeting with Coach, because his heart was in Foster Grove. There was no going back, though. He’d skate with the team Thursday and Friday morning so he’d be ready for game one of the playoffs on Friday night. At least with the game on Friday, he could invite Aaron to come down to watch and, if he was lucky, stay the weekend.

Caleb’s next stop was to see Dimitri. He’d hoped Dimitri would be content hanging out at his place, but he wanted to go out and Caleb wanted to talk—so out it was. They met up at one of Dimitri’s favorite bars in Hell’s Kitchen, where at least it was quiet this early in the evening.