Page 53 of On Thin Ice

“I . . .” But he had been. It was easier to change the subject, to tease Jacob with something sexual, than it was to accept that he was good.

That he deserved the shutout tonight.

That he was, in fact,good enough.

“Sit here, for a minute, and just accept it, okay? I want you to actually say it. Out loud. Finn Reynolds is a good goalie. Finn Reynolds is agreatgoalie.”

Finn nearly made a joke, again, about how Jacob was going to swell more than just his ego, but he bit his tongue at the lastmoment. Because Jacob was right. He didn’t want to just sit here and accept it. To say it.

He wouldn’t say he was more comfortablewith the status quo of believing the bullshit his dad didn’t say, but lingered between the lines of his texts anyway, because none of that had ever beencomfortable.But it was easier, maybe. Something he’d accepted.

“Finn Reynolds is a good goalie.” He said it slowly, cautiously. Not quite believing it.

But Jacob nodded. “Again.”

“Finn Reynolds is a good goalie.” It came easier the second time. “Finn Reynolds is a great goalie.”

“There you go,” Jacob said softly, approval and an undeniable affection glowing in his dark eyes. “I knew you could do it. You’re tough, you’re strong, you’re determined, and you’re willing to put the work in. With all that, plus your natural skill, there’s nothing you can’t do, Finn.”

But there wasone thingFinn couldn’t do. Shouldn’t do.

He leaned over the console, closer to Jacob. Close enough he could nearly smell the scent of the trees on his plaid shirt. The fabric would be warm from his body. He could lean in even closer, flick open a button or two, find the skin underneath.

It would be glorious skin. Finn had already seen it once, when they’d been in the sauna, even as he’d tried not to look.

But this time maybe he could touch.

Jacob didn’t move away. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

The air thickened between them. It felt inevitable that Finn would cross the final distance separating them, and Jacob, too long without any of the release he must need, would let him.

It would be so good. Maybe even the really, really good sex Finn had been teasing him about earlier.

Finn tried to remember his earlier hesitation, when he’d acknowledged to himself that Jacob deserved someone whocould be free and easy with him, the way he wanted to be, now. With Morgan, that wouldn’t be possible. Maybe his dad might accept Jacob making him a better goalie.

Morgan would never accept this.

Their relationship, already strained, would implode.

You’ll never get that approval you’ve always craved. He’ll be silently disapproving, forever.

But even that didn’t stop Finn. He leaned in another inch, and Jacob’s eyelashes fluttered. They were thick and dark, curling on the ends. His chest was rising and falling rapidly with his breath, and Finn knew if he pressed a hand to his heart, he’d feel it racing.

So easy to curl his fingertips in the fabric. Undo those buttons.

Jacob would let him.

Would even welcome it.

The fate of our self-control shouldn’t be in my hands, Finn thought. Not when this charged moment, in the dark, with Jacob’s woodsy scent all around them, felt like the hottest sex he’d ever had, and they hadn’t even touched each other.

How was he supposed to resist when everything about this was electrifying? When it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him?

“Finn,” Jacob murmured, his voice rough around the edges.

“Yeah?”

Finn’s fingers drifted down to his arm, circled it, the hard firmness and its inherent warmth soaking into his palm.

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