Page 65 of Bar Down

Eli squeezes my hand and looks at me to say something. Right, I’ve kind of been left speechless. “We are,” I say, pulling his hand up to my lips and pressing a small kiss there.

“Aww, you two are adorable,” Alice coos and I roll my eyes but Eli says, “Damn right we are.”

Eli

The weather isbeautiful for kayaking. As soon as we get on the water, it’s like things were never strained between us. We go back to bantering and we fill each other in on what’s been going on this summer.

Robbie has been living and breathing the non-profit and Olivia has been doing the same during the offseason. Soon she’ll go back to reffing and Robbie will have to hire another marketing strategist to replace her. Not only are they a perfect couple but they also work really well together.

As a middle school teacher, Alice has summers off, but she still works on a few side hustles here and there. She tells us how many books she read (too many) and that she’s actually started writing herself but doesn’t think it will turn into an actual book. She claims it’s a good outlet for her creativity regardless.

I miss Jordan. He should be here too, laughing along and threatening to tip one of us over or trying to race. I wonder how he’s doing in Texas and tell myself that I’ll reach out to him more from now on.

Truth is, as much as I missed Helsinki and being around my family, I missed this just as much. The family you choose to surround yourself with is just as important as the one that made you into who you are.

I expected Robbie to be more mad than he actually was. When I pulled away after everything that went down this summer, I told myself I didn’t need him, but the truth is I’ve missed his advice. Maybe he could have helped Ash and I to reconnect sooner.

When we hugged earlier he said, “Don’t do that ever again. If you need space, that’s fine but don’t push people away.” I agreed and apologized again and then he told me,“Don’t hurt Ash, please. I’d hate to kick your ass if you break his heart.”

Don’t hurt Ash.I’m trying my damned hardest not to, and I hope he can be fine with what I have to offer for now.

We kayak for a couple hours and then head back to the cabin to get ready for training. Olivia, Robbie, and Alice are staying the night, so I move my few belongings to Ash’s room so Robbie and Olivia can take mine, while Alice calls dibs on the loft.

Tomorrow is the red and white game which is why the three of them are spending the night. Besides getting tickets to the game, they also want to show Olivia around town since she hasn’t been able to experience it yet.

“We’re going to go to the beach, drive up the peninsulas, and show her around Main Street,” Alice says, following us out the door as we all head to our cars.

“See you guys later. We can meet up for dinner somewhere if you want. Just let us know where you end up,” Ash says.

The two of us are taking his car to the ice arena while the three of them jump in Robbie’s Jeep. He retracts the top and drives off as we wave at them.

Ash turns to me once they’re gone and I hug him, kissing his temple. “How are you feeling about everything?” he asks.

“I’m fine. Why?” I ask, pulling back to look at him.

“I know that’s not what you had in mind for how to tell people. And I don’t think you were ready to tell them about us either. I’m sorry it was out of your control once again.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault and, honestly, I’m kind of glad it happened like that. Now I don’t have to stress and overthink every single detail. I think out of everybody, they were the easiest people to come out to.”

He nods and kisses me once before dragging me over to the car.

“I do wish we had more time to ourselves though. We go back to Grand Marquee the day after tomorrow and then pre-season starts,” he says as we both get into the sedan.

Ash frowns as he turns it on. “I guess I’m just worried that the season is starting soon and we haven’t really talked about what that means for us.”

I reach out and squeeze his thigh. “Take a breath,rakas,we’ll have time to talk about it all when we get back to Grand Marquee. Neither of us are going anywhere.”

Ash

The next morning,the day of the red and white game, I wake up being spooned by Eli. He’s warm and hard at my back and as much as I love my friends, I kind of wish they weren’t in the same cabin right now so I could have my way with my boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

I really, really like the sound of that. I’ve never really been in a relationship, mostly because I’ve never had the time for one. Hooking up was way easier than letting someone in only to leave them behind when I would inevitably be on the road or get traded to another team. But with Eli? He just makes it easy to love him, to want to be around him every second of every day.

I turn in his arms and wake him up with kisses, running my hand down his naked chest and the hard planes of his stomach. When I reach further down, I slip my hand inside his boxers and stroke him. His eyelids flutter open and those beautiful pale blue eyes look up at me.

“Good morning,sunshine.” I lean in and kiss him and he arches up into me, so I reward him with another stroke of my thumb on the head of his cock.

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