Page 71 of Goaltender Interference

“I don’t know that anyone has ever said that about me,” Jesse said with a soft laugh.

“Well, youdo. Chaos follows you wherever you go but I can see you care about people. About your teammates. You’re good with my kids and I—I like you, Jesse.”

Connor swallowed hard because that felt a little more honest than he meant to be.

But Jesse merely grinned. “You’re pretty okay too, Captain Growly. You might think you’re boring but I dunno, I think it might be part of your charm.”

Connor laughed, tipping his head forward so it was pressed against Jesse’s, their noses brushing. “Well, now that we’ve establishedthat, what do you say we do something a little wild?”

He slid his hands lower, letting them rest at the curve of Jesse’s waist, just above the swell of his ass, pulling Jesse more tightly against his body.

“Yeah?” Jesse asked, slipping his knee between Connor’s thighs once again. “Like what?”

Connor leaned in, brushing his nose against the side of Jesse’s jaw, liking the way their bodies fit together. “Like … maybe I could blow you.”

He’d never done it before, but he could learn. He could learn anything he put his mind to.

“Fuck yes.” Jesse shifted back, looking him in the eye. “But nothere.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Connor protested. “Isn’t that half the fun?”

“For me? Definitely. For you? Probably not.”

“No, I don’thaveto be boring,” Connor protested. “I can be fun and exciting and all that.”

“Of course you can,” Jesse said with a little shrug. “But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea now.”

“Why?” Connor protested. “C’mon?—”

But the sound of the door swinging open and Graham Pennington calling out, “Hey, Captain. You in here?” made Connor freeze.

Oh shit, he mouthed and Jesse shot him an ‘I told you so’ look.

Connor cleared his throat. “Yeah. Right here.”

“Just checking to be sure you didn’t fall in,” Pennington said, chuckling. “You’ve been gone a long time.”

“Nope, I’m good,” Connor managed. “Be out in a sec.”

He shot Jesse a wild-eyed look but he merely smoothed Connor’s hair, then flushed the toilet. He turned Connor, facing him toward the door, then gently tapped his ass as if to say, “go”.

Connor went, grateful when the door swung tightly shut behind him.

He found Graham leaning against the wall near the exit, doing something on his phone.

“Hey, thanks for checking on me,” Connor said, making a beeline for the sink. “But really, I’m fine.”

He washed his hands, aware his face was very red. Thankfully, drinking always made him flush, so Graham probably wouldn’t think twice about it.

“Yeah, I saw you go after Webber and I wanted to be sure you didn’t kill him. I thought I might need to come help you dispose of the body.”

Connor laughed. Graham was agreatalternate captain. Young, but very promising.

“Appreciate it,” Connor said, drying his hands. “But you don’t need to help me cover up a crime. We had a few words but it didn’t come to blows.”

“Good. Because I was going to tell you that you shouldn’t be so hard on him.”

“Yeah?” Connor asked, surprised.

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