Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2)(51)

But she had been patient and helpful, and he’d completed the task both times. He may have noticed some surprise on her part that it seemed to be such a chore for him—especially the second time. He was sure she wasn’t used to that.

Tonight, Shane was alone with her at a private table in a wine bar in Old Montreal. He had actually been surprised when he’d arrived and found her alone there. He’d been expecting the usual crowd of Rose’s friends and coworkers.

“I thought it would be nice to have some time to...talk,” she’d explained. “Just the two of us.”

“Sure.” Shane had nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. It’s nice.”

They talked for a long time, over wine and charcuterie. At one point Rose laughed at some dumb joke Shane made. “You’re so cute,” she said. “Have I told you how cute you are?”

“No,” Shane said, blushing a little.

“You are. I’ll tell you,” she said, leaning in, “Miles is extremely jealous.”

“Of me?”

She laughed. “No, silly! Of me!”

“Oh.” Shane let that sink in. “Oh!”

Rose’s eyes bugged out a bit. “Wait...did you not notice that Miles is gay?”

“Um... I guess I hadn’t really thought about it,” Shane lied.

“Well, he is. And he’s low-key in love with you.”

“Oh.” Shane knew he was beet red. He hoped the dim lighting hid it.

“Are you...surprised that a young actor is gay, Shane?”

“No—I mean...no.”

She leaned back in her chair. “Are there, like, gay hockey players?” she asked. “I mean, obviously, yes, there are, right? But are there any openly gay hockey players?”

“No,” Shane said. “I mean, yes. There are gay players. Bi players. Whatever. I’m sure there must be, yeah. But no one has ever...come out. Publicly.” Why is she asking me about this?

“Hm,” she said.

“What?”

She gave him a small smile. He wasn’t sure what it meant. “I’m sorry. I’m going about this the wrong way.”

“Going about what?” And suddenly Shane felt like he was staring down a slap shot. He braced himself for impact.

She reached out and put her hand on his. “Shane. I really like you. But... I’m getting the vibe that maybe I’m not...doing it for you.”

“You are! You do! I like you a lot too!”

“You like talking to me.”

“Yeah...”

“Do you like...kissing me?”

“Sure.”

She laughed. “Wow.”

Oh god. Shane was fucking this up. “I mean...yes, of course I do!”

“It’s okay, Shane. I just...get the impression...that maybe you would rather be kissing, just for example... Miles?”

Shane didn’t know what to say. He had never encountered a direct accusation like this before.

Except it wasn’t really an accusation. Rose wasn’t judging him. She was just trying to understand him.

He stared into his wineglass. He knew he had taken too long to reply already. The jig was up.

“It’s okay,” she said again, her voice soft and warm. Her fingers brushed over his hand reassuringly.

“I like you,” Shane said quietly. “I like being with you. I like talking to you. But the sex part... I know it’s...a problem.”

“It’s not a problem,” she said. “A problem is something you can solve. We’re like...a square peg and a round hole.” She scrunched her nose. “Ew. No. Gross. Forget I said that.”

Shane laughed. “I get it.”

“We just...aren’t supposed to fit together. And that’s fine. But we can’t keep trying.”

Shane nodded. “For the record, I’m not sure that I’m...like Miles, exactly.”

When he met her eyes, she smiled. “Well, it’s nothing that you need to figure out today.” She took a sip of her wine, possibly for courage, because the next words out of her mouth were, “Have you ever been with a man?”

For whatever reason, Shane didn’t feel like lying. He’d made it this far.

“Yes.”

“And? Was it different?”

“Of course.”

“I mean...was it better?”

Shane’s memory supplied him with flashes of golden brown curls and sparkling hazel eyes and a playful smile and hard muscles and of strong hands holding him down as he was entered and filled and...

“Yeah,” Shane said softly. “Yeah. It was better.” He cleared his throat. “The thing is... I kind of prefer to be the hole. Than the peg.”

“Ha!” Rose threw her head back in delight. Shane laughed too. He felt lighter, suddenly.

Later, before they left the bar, Rose gave him a mischievous look over the rim of her wineglass and said, “So...should I give Miles your number?”

“No. Thank you, but no. I need to...figure some stuff out.”

“I know. I was just joking. Mostly.”

They waited outside for her driver and she said, “Let’s be friends. And I don’t mean in an ‘I hope we can still be friends’ bullshit way. I mean it. Let’s be friends. Let’s be best friends. Because I really do care about you a lot, Shane. And I feel like you might not have anyone else to talk to about...certain things.”