Page 31 of On Thin Ice

Finn knew he should avert his eyes. It was only polite. And he did, technically, but not before being graced by the glory ofshoulders—chest—abs—dick—thighs—calves.

It wasn’t a sight he’d forget anytime soon. In fact, Finn already knew that much later tonight, in the shower, what he’d be thinking about when he touched himself.

Maybe Jacob had been right and this was playing with fire.

Jacob settled down on the bench next to him, with at least two feet as a buffer between his naked thigh and Finn’s. Finn supposed he should be relieved and not disappointed that he hadn’t taken the bench opposite him.

At least he wouldn’t be missing anything when he closed his eyes and let the crown of his head hit the back wall.

“That better?” Finn asked.

“Yeah,” Jacob said, and Finn could hear the receding tension in his voice. The alleviation of the pain.

“Good,” Finn said.

Jacob didn’t say anything else for a long moment, and Finn decided that sitting in silence, just soaking in the heat, was okay, too. That was the purpose of this, anyway.

He’d just remind himself of how it had felt the second time around. How his confidence had grown. How he’d been able to shake off the one puck he’d let score. That was way better to dwell on than the fact that only a few feet away, Jacob was naked.

And so are you.

But Jacob had other ideas than letting him visualize. “I didn’t want you to see that,” Jacob said.

“It’s fine,” Finn said. “Not like I’ve never been around an injury before.”

“I know, but . . .” Jacob trailed off, but Finn had a pretty damn good idea of what he’d been about to say.

I know, but those guys weren’t attracted to you.

Finn was no longer quite as certain that them being bluntly honest about their mutual attraction had been the right move.

How long would it take before one—or both—of them decided the pleasure would be worth the risk and the mess?

“You didn’t embarrass yourself,” Finn reassured him.

He wanted to reach out and touch him, but that would be even worse now that he was naked than it had been before, through the thick fabric of his sweatpants. Instead, Finn tucked his hand under his own thigh and reminded himself again that he’d be keeping his touch to himself.

“Sure,” Jacob said sarcastically.

Finn considered and then discarded half a dozen ways of convincing him that was true.

Or you could be very stupid and be blunt again.

“Trust me, I’m still gonna be thinking about you, later tonight. Bum hip and all.”

Jacob seemingly choked on air. “I don’t need to know about that.”

Finn took a risk and glanced over at him.Hiseyes were still closed, but his hands were clenched fists resting on the top of his bare thighs.

“Just making sure you know it wasn’t actually a turn-off,” Finn said, forcing his voice to remain light.

“Good to know.” Jacob’s voice was cold. Flat. But Finn couldn’t take it personally, not when he knew exactly why.

“Next time—tell me, okay?”

Jacob grunted, but Finn had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a problem again.

Finn decided if they were being blunt about sex, they could be blunt about hockey, too. “You good getting back on the ice with me? Giving me some pointers?”

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