Page 3 of Skating to Him

“I, uh…” Tightness crawled through my chest. Not cool. “I don’t know. Maybe.” Did he have a girlfriend I didn’t know about?

As we approached, Rowan chatted up the woman and looked over her well-endowed chest. She might have the longest legs I’d ever seen on a woman, or was it the cut of her yoga pants?

“Hey.” I stopped at Rowan and the woman. “Who’s this?” I threw a quick, pointed look at her, noting her fake eyelashes. She was too done up. I hadn’t met her, but I already didn’t like her.

“Oh hey, Tyler. This is, ah…” Rowan cocked his head and scratched his neck. “Shit, I’m sorry. What was your name again, honey?”

She giggled, throwing her head back. “Bella.” Her smile faded. “We met at karaoke at Four One Four Pizza a few weekends ago, remember? I was singingFlowersby Miley Cyrus.” She pushed her index finger to her lips. “Hey, you were supposed to call me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Rowan straightened his spine and smirked at me. “Anyway, Bella, this is Tyler.” He motioned at me. “And Myles.” He sucked in a breath. “They’re on the hockey team with me.”

“Oh, so pleased to meet you both.” She gave each of us a quick side hug.

She was a hugger and definitely not a girlfriend. “Nice to meet you.” Was he going to invite her to join us? I snuck a peek at Myles, who was frowning and looking around us. Myles felt the same way I did about the situation.

“Where are you boys off to?” She slid her phone out of a side pocket on her yoga pants and held it to her face. “I can text my friends to meet us if you want?”

With a glance at me, he pushed her phone down. “No, that’sall right. It’s just the boys tonight, right guys?” Rowan raised his brows.

“Yeah, right.” Myles perked up, his attention drawing to Bella. “Sorry, but we’re celebrating a win tonight. It’s a…thing we do.”

“Oh, and no girls are allowed?” She hooked a brow.

“Um…” Rowan clicked his tongue. “No, not tonight.” He leaned close to her, wrapping his arm around her tiny waist. “Hey, I’ll text you later, okay?”

Her face lit up and she nodded. “Yeah, okay.” Her phone buzzed in her hand. “Oh, that’s my friends. They’re waiting for me.”

“Okay, better go then.” Rowan freed her, then pushed on her lower back. “Talk to you later.”

As she scurried off, she waved behind her. “Bye. It was nice meeting you all.”

Tipping his head back, Rowan blew out a long breath. “Shit, sorry about that. I barely remember that girl.”

“Yeah?” Was he a player? I placed a hand on my hip. “So, did you two hook up, or…?” Why did I even ask? I didn’t want to know.

With a shake of his head, Rowan chuckled and said, “She got me off in my car.”

“Dude, right on.” A faint smile curled the edges of Myles’s lips. “Blowjob or jerk off?”

I backhanded Myles’s shoulder. “What’s wrong with you?” I seriously didn’t need to know that. Fuck, this night was messed up already.

“What?” Myles held his palms up.

“Jerk off. I don’t think she swallows, let alone deep throats.” Rowan sniggered, then looked me up and down. “Damn, Tyler, you go all out for this place. Look at those duds.” He fingered the edge of my sheer white crop top. “Where do you find stuff like this? Is there a gay clothing store around here somewhere?”

“No, Amazon.” His touch tickled my stomach, and my ballsprickled with heat. Shit, now was not a good time for a boner, especially with how tight my jeans were. I stepped back, freeing myself from him.

Myles eyed me. “Let’s go. There’s already a line forming.” He pointed to a line of men all done up for a night in the club. It wound halfway down the metal stairs.

“Okay, I’ll follow you.” Rowan placed a hand on my shoulder and turned to walk with me.

I glanced at his profile, lit by the old-timey streetlamps, the sprinkling of freckles across his smaller nose and the pout of his plump lips. His cheeks and chin were freshly shaved, and his hair was in its usual wild state of fluffy waves, his bangs reaching almost to his chin and the hair in the back falling over the collar of his shirt. He was so well put together, an interesting mix of unruly blended with flair.

After showingour IDs and entering the bar, we wound through the crowd of mostly men and bellied up to the bar. A slew of bare-chested bartenders made drinks in front of a chalkboard with the signature shots written in neon.

Rowan stood between Myles and me, scanning around us, the flickering lights shimmering on his blond hair. “So, lots of men here.”

“It’s a gay bar, remember?” I bounced a little to the beat of the house dance music, letting it calm the fluttering of my stomach. The DJ had yet to start. “We usually start off with rounds of the Fuck U of A shots.” I laid my forearms on the bar top and peered across Rowan at Myles. He was quiet tonight.

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