Him (Him #1)(50)

Sheer bliss rolls through me when his release soaks my fingertips. He comes on a strangled cry. And keeps coming. And then comes some more.

I guess nobody can say he didn’t enjoy himself.

When he finally goes still, I collapse on his sticky chest and growl in his ear. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He clings to me, his big palms pressed to my damp back.

We lie that way a long time. I’m just drifting on my own happiness. I lead a big life, and it’s a hell of a ride. But there aren’t many moments like this. I want to bottle it and carry it everywhere I go.

Finally Jamie speaks. “Do you think anyone’s still sick?”

“Wha?” There are only two people who exist to me right now, so I have no idea what he’s asking.

“I was just hoping they got it all out on the way home.”

He’s talking about the drunk teens who took half a f*cking hour to walk home tonight. We had to keep stopping while they upchucked. “They’re fine,” I murmur. I kiss Jamie’s sweaty neck, and he tastes like heaven.

“Should we clean up?” he asks.

I can’t hold on to this moment any longer. It won’t stretch and stay with me no matter how badly I want it to. “Yeah. You want to go first?”

“You go ahead.”

I take my sticky self into the bathroom for a sixty-second shower. When I get back to the room, Jamie departs for his own shower. I stare at my bed, cursing its size. The twin beds are built into the wall, so the only times I’ve pushed them together have been in my imagination.

Sometimes we fall asleep together, but it’s a really tight fit. I have an idea, though. Actually I’ve thought of this before, but I’m too chicken to bring it up. Fuck it, though. The summer is half over.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

My mattress slides off the wooden frame when I give it a tug. I drop it on the floor beside my bed. There’s just enough room left for Jamie to do the same.

Standing there staring down at my mattress, I feel exposed in a way I haven’t ever felt before. Jamie and I fool around, but we don’t talk about it. I don’t ask him for anything except orgasms.

It has to be that way. I’m heading to Toronto in a month, where I’ve vowed to keep my head down and play the best hockey those f*ckers have ever seen. My rookie year is going to be spotless—no scandals, no shenanigans.

It’s shocking, but my dad and I are actually in agreement about something for once in our sorry excuse of a relationship: flashing my sexuality around is not a good idea right now.

Which is why it terrifies me that I’m becoming so attached to Canning.

Says the guy who’s already stupidly, disgustingly in love with him…

I am, and always have been. I love everything about him. His quiet strength, his dry humor, his carefree approach to life that contrasts with his controlled manner on the ice. That sexy-as-sin body…

I’ve made sure to keep my feelings for him under wraps, though. He thinks we’re just messing around. Good-time Wes just having some fun. But I’ve changed the game for myself tonight. And if I let him know how much I want him beside me in bed, that’s changing it for him, too...

Which is why I’m just standing here in my underwear, arguing with myself about whether or not I should have thrown a mattress on the floor.

The door opens behind me, and I’m so busted.

Jamie towels off his hair. He looks down at the mattress. “Never thought of that,” he says. The towel lands on our unused desk chair, and then he yanks his mattress down, too.

My face heats as I go to switch off the light. It’s hard to move around the room with the floor space eaten up with mattresses.

Jamie gets into bed on his side, and I lie down too. I wrap an arm around his waist and stroke his bare belly with my hand. “You okay?” I murmur. As if I’ve changed our sleeping arrangement to comfort him.

As if.

“I’m going to be sore, aren’t I?” he asks.

I hesitate. “Maybe a little. Sorry.”

He picks up my hand and kisses the palm. “Totally worth it.”

Now I’m grinning in the dark. I hold him as close as I dare. Even if my entire life goes to shit before breakfast tomorrow, I’ll always have this night.





24





Jamie





The kids aren’t nearly as hung over as they should be. I’d forgotten how the teenage body can bounce back from anything. All the day’s drills are over already, and nobody even looks green.

Now the teens are scrimmaging on the practice rink, and Killfeather is kicking some serious ass. Every time he makes a save I feel like I did something good. This kid is going to be great someday. He’s scholarship material, and I hope the father Killfeather complains about can appreciate it.

The young forwards Wes has been coaching are finally pulling it together. They’ve taken quite a few shots on goal already. And Wes is reffing the game. Even the lazy backward circles he skates are fluid and powerful. There’s so much talent in this room right now I can hardly believe it. This is why I’ve made the 2,500-mile trek every year. For this.

There’s another attack on the net. Shen makes a tape-to-tape pass to Davies, who doesn’t hesitate. He fires it into the goal before Killfeather can stop him.