Page 84 of Goaltender Interference

“Well, isn’t everyone gonna know why?”

Jesse laughed. “Trust me, no one else is paying attention to my mouth. It’ll be fine. Go! I’ll be down in five. I promise, I’ve got you.”

Connor hesitated, then leaned in, brushing their lips together. “Okay. I trust you.”

He peered out the peephole one more time, then disappeared through the door.

Jesse dicked around on his phone for a few minutes before he stepped out into the hallway too. The hall was empty, though when he turned the corner, he saw Connor disappear into a closing elevator.

Jesse got in the next one, riding it to the first floor. In the lobby, he ducked into the gift shop to buy some candy. Maybe Connor was being paranoid but he supposed it couldn’t hurt to be more careful. Jesse popped a lifesaver in his mouth, then casually strolled toward the cluster of hockey players in one of the seating areas.

Thankfully, not everyone was there yet so he wasn’t the last to arrive. Tanner squinted as he approached. “Dude. Why does it look like you’re wearing lipstick?”

Jesse stuck out his tongue, showing off the candy. “Cherry. You want one?”

Tanner nodded so Jesse pulled the roll out of his pocket and dropped one into Tanner’s hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Connor staring at him with a relieved look on his face.

Okay, so maybe his paranoia wasn’tcompletelycrazy.

The team was noisy and excited as they walked up the gangplank of the small cruise ship. It would take them on a two-and-a-half-hour tour of downtown Portland, traveling along the Willamette River.

There would be supper and live music and, surprisingly for the Pacific Northwest, the weather appeared to be cooperating. It was clear out, with only a handful of puffy clouds in the sky.

Connor was looking forward to the evening. It had been a bitch and a half to organize; trying to get everyone to make their meal and drink selections ahead of time had been like pulling teeth, but he was hopeful it would be an enjoyable outing.

Truthfully, his good mood was partially due to having Jesse’s mouth on him. Connor’s body was still buzzing from the blowjob. He shouldn’t have caved, but it was hard to resist Jesse when he was down on his knees, begging for Connor to let him suck his dick. And, well, Connor wasn’t much good at pretending he was a strong man when it came to Jesse Webber.

Jesse looked fantastic right now in a pink suit and white shirt, unbuttoned at the throat. Connor took another look.Wasit pink? Connor wasn’t sure. Salmon, maybe? Either way, it was beautifully tailored to his body and the color worked for him. Helooked so happy and relaxed too, laughing and joking with the guys while they filed onto the boat.

The top level of the ship held a lounge area partially open to the elements. Below were two levels of dining, with bars and live piano music. Connor checked in with someone with a clipboard, who directed them to the middle level where they had tables reserved.

They were far from the only people on the ship, so Connor—with some help from Graham, herded the guys in the right direction.

It looked like many of the people here were couples out for a romantic evening cruise, but there were a few other groups. There was cluster of younger women who might be celebrating a birthday based off the gift bags and boxes they carried, and another group of older women who looked more intent on getting drunk than hockey players, if the way they beat them to the bar was any clue.

But before Connor could point that out to Graham, a man wearing a captain’s uniform and holding a microphone stepped forward. He gave a little speech introducing himself, then went through safety instructions and explained they’d be cruising upriver toward Milwaukie, then turn around and head back to downtown Portland.

After getting a drink, they were directed to take a seat. There were two long tables set up, with little name cards. Jesse was at one end of the table, and Connor at the other, seated across from Dakota Crane, the new yoga and Pilates instructor for the franchise.

The name and job had made most of the team assume the instructor would be a woman and had been very surprised when they came face-to-face with a thirty-year-old man.

He was lean and lanky, with a mop of dirty blond hair, darker stubble, and olive-toned skin.

“So, did you get in trouble and get demoted from the big boy table or something, Crane?” Graham asked as he took a seat next to Connor. He nodded toward the tables with their GM, coaches, athletic trainers, and other assorted team personnel.

Dakota laughed. “Something like that. There weren’t enough seats there, I guess. Hope you don’t mind me crashing your party. You’d probably rather have me here than Racine or something, right?”

Connor shrugged. “I don’t mind Racine but yeah, you’re definitely welcome here.”

Graham nodded his agreement.

“So, this is really cool,” Dakota said, glancing out the window next to their table. “I’ve never done anything like it.”

“I hope it’ll be fun,” Connor said with a shrug. “But as long as the food and drinks are good, there shouldn’t be a mutiny, even if it winds up being kinda boring.”

Dakota chuckled. “Well, the menu looked good. I was glad to see there were vegetarian options.”

“Oh, you’re vegetarian?” Graham asked.

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