Page 2 of Skating to Him

“See you, Coach.” Mackenzie rose and patted my shoulder. “Come on. Time for a little celly, right?”

“Not too much. Behave yourselves.” Coach peeked up from his screen.

“Don’t you worry about us.” I stood and followed Mackenzie out of the room. We stopped in the hallway, painted in the school colors of maroon and gold.

Mackenzie faced me. “Well, Hodge, guess it’s you and me now. Where is this bar you and Cummings were going to tonight?”

With a stuttered chuckle, I brushed my hand over the back of my hair. “Oh, it’s a gay bar down on Mill Avenue. The Club on Mill?” My gaze flicked to his.

He peered at me. “A gay bar? There’s one that close to campus?” He planted his hands on his hips.

No fucking way he’d want to go there. With a smirk, I said, “Yeah, you know I’m?—”

“I know you and Myles are gay.” He twisted his lips. “It’s not like I’ve never been to a place like that.”

I stared at him for a beat. Was he queer? “You’ve been to a gay bar before?”

“Sure. I’m a pretty open guy. I have a friend back home in Boston who’s gay.” He pressed his lips together. “So yeah, I’ve been to them with him.”

Ticking my brows, I said, “Okay, well, if you want to join us, you’re more than welcome.” I lifted the corner of my mouth. “Just know you might get hit on.”

“By a puck boy?” A grin spread over his generous lips. “I can handle that. In fact, I’d find it flattering considering how picky some of you gay men are.”

“Yeah?” He was sort of right. Shit, I’d be at The Club with him? My heart skipped a beat. It’d be fine. There’d be plenty of men to keep my mind off him. “Okay then, let’s meet outside the club in half an hour?”

“Okay, see you there.” He tapped his knuckles on my chest and headed for the locker room.

I parkedmy Tacoma in the driveway at the squad house, set my wrist on the steering wheel, and turned to Myles in the passenger seat. “How weird will it be having a straight dude with us at the gay bar?” I’d told him about Mackenzie joining us on the way home, but he hadn’t said much. He’d probably been mulling it over the whole way here.

“I don’t know. I’ve never taken a straight friend there.” He opened his door and climbed out as I did the same.

Meeting him at the walkway, I followed him to the front door, covered by a small portico. “Are you pissed off at me for letting him come with us?” The Canadian in Myles was too nice to come out and say he didn’t want him there.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside, flicking on the lamps on our side tables next to our well-worn green sectional. “No, I’m not pissed off.” He set his duffel on the floor by the kitchen island.

This year, we’d found a house with an upgraded kitchen, all done up in white shaker cabinets.

“But you’re pretty quiet.” Walking behind him, I set my duffel next to his. We had to get out of these suits and into our club clothes. Shit, what was I going to wear?

He twisted around, his gaze meeting mine. “I think it’ll be weird, but if he knows what he’s in for and is cool with guys hitting on him like he says, then I’m okay with it.”

“I have to get to know him better.” I hung my head, running my fingers along the smooth edge of our dark countertop. “I’m sure Coach will have us rooming together too.” I had to stop worrying about that. Our next away game was a week from now.

“Yeah?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “He’s a damn good-looking guy, Tyler. How are you going to keep your dick in your pants on the road, eh?” He snickered.

“Shut up. I’ll be fine. He’s straight, remember?” I worried my lower lip. Maybe if I got to know Rowan better, his hotness would fade, and I’d start seeing him like any other guy on the team. Fuck me, I was doomed.

After parking my truck,I strolled with Myles down Mill Avenue’s busy sidewalk. It was finally cooling down at night now that it was October. I glanced around us at the light spilling out of the two-story brick buildings housing shops, bars, and restaurants, and then up at “A” Mountain looming in the distance behind glass high-rises. Traffic crawled along the street beside us. The place was bustling as usual. I tapped Myles with the back of my hand as we strolled under a tree poking out of the sidewalk. “Hey, what shot are we getting tonight?” I gave him a quick smile. It was customary to get shots at the start of the night.

“The Fuck U of A, what else?” He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and ticked his head. “There’s Rowan, eh?”

I did a double-take of Rowan standing at the foot of the stairs, his black shirt pulling tight across the muscles of his arms and shoulders. His jeans left nothing to the imagination, including the faint outline of his dick.

My balls tingled. Goddamn, he looked good. I breathed through my racing heartbeat. Settle the fuck down. He was straight. But I would have to fight the guys off him dressed like that. Because at some point, he might get annoyed with the whole thing if I didn’t.

A woman with bouncing blonde curls strutted to him, stopped, and hugged him, kicking a strappy high heel behind her.

“Did he bring a date and not tell us?” Myles furrowed his brows. “I thought it was just us out for the celly?”

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