Page 6 of Skating to Him

“Sure.” I flagged down the waiter, ordered more drinks, and nodded my head to the beat of the music. “They play some good tunes in here.”

“Of course. Best dance music you’ll find.” He gave me a warm smile and his gaze fell to my lips.

He’d been checking me out all fucking night. My stomach wavered. Teddy never did that, but then Teddy liked those bear guys. All fucking big and hairy. That wasn’t me. Did Tyler have a thing for me? It was flattering, a guy so perfect thinking I was worth his time. Dammit. I shouldn’t get stuck on that. It was weird, and I liked women.

The waiter dropped off a new round of drinks, and Tyler paid. He held up his glass. “Another toast?” He gave me a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, sure. How about to warm winters?” I bumped my glass against his and drank. These drinks were fucking him up. It would be fun to mess with him a little bit.

“So you like to work on cars, huh?” He eyed his drink and sipped more of it.

“Yeah, I do. I got an older Mustang I put mods on. Gave her an extra forty horsepower.” My gaze roamed over his thick biceps, peeking from under the arms on his shirt. I’d have to get him to show me some secrets at the gym, maybe.

“Yeah? How many speeding tickets have you got?” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“None…here.” I freed a soft chuckle. “In Boston? I don’t know, a few.” Yeah, I was built for speed. Maybe that was why I picked hockey over football.

Tyler shifted his chair closer to mine and leaned in. “Whatyear Mustang? Are we talking like the seventies?” He fixated on my mouth, blinked, then shook his head and sat back.

“No, it’s a two thousand six. You know, when Ford decided to make them look cool again?” I shifted in my chair as my stomach fluttered. Apparently, part of me liked the attention from him. Why? Because he was sort of a D-line college hockey god? That had to be it. I downed my drink. I needed to move my body. I wasn’t much for sitting too long. “Drink up, and let’s hit the dancefloor.”

He gaped. “You…you want to dance? With me?”

“Yeah, why not. You dance, don’t you?” If I was out there with him, maybe the other dudes would leave me alone. “I used to dance with Teddy sometimes. It’s no big deal, right?”

“Uh, sure.” He picked up his drink and slammed it. “Let’s go.” Standing from the table, he snatched my hand, stopped, and looked at our joined hands. “This okay? Don’t want you getting lost.”

I tightened my fingers around his while the fluttering in my stomach grew. “No worries, man. I’m not homophobic in any way.”

With a hard swallow, he focused on my mouth. “Yeah, good.” He pulled me along, winding around men chatting and some making out.

We passed a larger man devouring a smaller one, all tongues, smashing lips, and groping hands.

My breath caught as a spark tingled up my spine. I’d seen this shit before with Teddy, but it hadn’t seemed as intense. I needed to focus. I liked women.I adored women. But when two people were making out right in front of you, it might be a turn-on no matter their sex, right? It was normal to feel like this?

As we made our way to the dancefloor, a new guy in a Speedo showed up with a tray of shots. He stopped at Tyler. “Hello, handsome. These are on the house. Want one?” Biting his lower lip, he raked his gaze over Tyler and held out the shot.

“Oh, hell yes.” With a coy grin, Tyler opened his mouth and tipped his head back.

What the fuck was he doing? I clenched my jaw and stepped beside him, his body heat tingling up my side.

Speedo guy poured the shot into Tyler’s mouth and giggled. As his gaze caught mine, his smile fell. “You his boyfriend? Do you want one too?”

“No, just a friend, and no, I don’t want one.” Wrapping an arm around Tyler’s waist, I pushed on him. “Come on, we should see if we can find Myles out there.” Tyler was going to be shitfaced. I should find Myles and get Tyler some water.

Tyler stumbled, fell into my chest, and then laughed, holding the back of his hand over his mouth. “Oops, sorry.” He started for the dancefloor and stopped again, facing me. “Myles is hooking up with someone by now.”

“Hooking up? In the club, or do you think he left?” I scanned the dancefloor, observing all the men. Some danced with their arms raised, others pressed against other men. This was starting to look like a fucking orgy.

“In the club. There’s a hallway by the restrooms some guys use, or they do it in the restroom.” He pulled me along to the dancefloor, stopped, and spun around, almost losing his balance again. With a laugh, he threw his arms up and swayed his hips to the beat. “Come on, I love this song.”

I had no idea what song this was. I liked rock. I liked the shit they played at the rink during games. Maybe I was old school, but so what. “Yeah?” I bounced and swayed to the music. I wasn’t a half-bad dancer. At least, that’s what girls always told me.

After a few minutes, Speedo Guy found us, smirked at me, and focused on Tyler. “Hey, handsome. Want another?”

As a crooked smile played over his lips, Tyler said, “Yes, please.”

I grabbed Speedo Guy’s arm and pulled. “No, I think he’s had enough.” I snuck a peek at Tyler, who was frowning at me.Hell, was it my place to tell him how much to drink? We had a day off tomorrow. Fuck it. “Do what you want, Hodge. Myles can drive you home, right?”

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