Page 7 of Skating to Him

“Yeah, he’sbarely-had-a-drinkMyles tonight. He’ll take care of me. Always does.” Tyler dropped his jaw open.

Speedo Guy poured the shot in. “There you go. I hope this Myles takes care of all of you tonight since it doesn’t look like your friend will.” He cupped Tyler’s junk and walked off.

Tyler’s cheeks pinked as he swallowed the shot. “Shit, I’m horny.”

I stared at him, heat pooling in my groin. No, this was not happening. This shit never happened with Teddy. Why now? I had to make light of the situation. He was drunk and didn’t know what he was saying. “Why wouldn’t you be horny with all these hot, almost naked guys walking around?”And grabbing your junk?

“Yeah.” He leaned his elbow on my shoulder, then brushed his lips over the shell of my ear. “Guess it’s doing nothing for you, huh? I bet if we were in a female strip club, you’d be horny.”

A shiver heated my skin and my dick plumped. God-fucking-damnit, this place was getting to me. That’s all it was. “Hell yeah. I’d have a raging boner if we were in a strip club.” I shifted away from him and his arm fell to his side. “Are we dancing here or not?”

“I’d like to see that.” Tyler hiccuped and giggled, then moved his hips and swung his arms.

“Tyler, hey, there you guys are.” Myles came out of nowhere, his hair mussed and his cheeks flushed. He wrapped an arm around Tyler’s waist and steadied him.

Had Myles just had sex somewhere in here? Holy fuck, these guys were not like Teddy. “Hey, Tyler kept insisting on shots from some dude in a Speedo. Just so you know, it wasn’t me.” I threw a grin at Myles.

“Right on.” Shaking his head, he chuckled and said, “I should probably get him home.”

“Yeah, and let’s get him some water.” I wound my arm around Tyler and helped Myles lead him off the dancefloor.

With his head lolling, Tyler said, “I don’t want to go home. I need to get laaaaiiid.” His hooded gaze found mine and his tongue flicked over his lips. “Fuck.”

“Not tonight, man.” Myles choked out a laugh. “Sorry, he’s not usually like this.”

“No problem. It happens to all of us.” I patted Myles on the shoulder. “This’ll definitely be a celly to remember.” And a night I’ll have to process or shove into the deepest recesses of my memory, never to be found again. “You need help getting him out?” I spied a water jug and plastic glasses at the end of the bar. “Come on.” I led Myles and Tyler to the water jug and poured a glass for each of us.

As Myles handed a cup to Tyler, Tyler grabbed it with both hands and drank it all down. “Oh my God, thank you.”

I gulped my water and poured more. With my gaze finding Tyler’s, I said, “Hey, man, it was nice hanging out with you and getting to know you better. I’ll see you at the gym Monday morning.” I squeezed his shoulder.

He pouted. “Yeah, sure.” Turning into Myles, he rested his head on his shoulder. “I love you, man. You know that?”

Myles broke out in a wide grin, brushing his hand over Tyler’s cheek. “Yeah, I know.”

I watched the two of them with a twinge in my chest. Tyler had said they were just friends. But how close were they? It was none of my business. Waving with a smile, I strode out of the bar.

After a greasy breakfast,some ibuprofen, and lots of water, I put on my team sweats and sank into my couch to getsome reading done on fluid mechanics. As I opened my book in my lap and scanned the first paragraph, my mind drifted to last night. Maybe I should text Tyler and see how he was doing? I’d had a headache, but that was about it. Thank God I’d stopped drinking when I did.

I flicked my gaze to the round coffee table at my feet. Myles would have taken care of him, and I’d see him at practice.

My phone lit up and buzzed on the table, scrollingMomacross the top.

As my heart jolted, I said, “Shit.” Throwing my book aside, I lurched forward and stabbed at the buttons. “Hello?”

“Hi, Rowan. Whatcha doin’?” she said, mimicking me, and then released a soft laugh. “Did I wake you?”

She sounded good. No need to panic. “No, I was getting started on some reading. I’ve been up for an hour or so.” I glanced behind me at the clock on the stove. It read ten o’clock, so it would be barely afternoon back home.

“Oh. Did you go out and celebrate your win last night?” she asked.

“I did.” I snuggled into the couch and flung a throw blanket over my lap. “I went out with the new D-man I’m partnering with and his friend.” I huffed a laugh. “We went to a gay bar.” It wouldn’t be the first time I’d told her that. She knew all about the times I’d been to one with Teddy.

“Oh? So the good-looking young man they have you playing with is gay?”

“He is.” She would have watched the game on the team’sYouTubechannel last night. “He’s part of this bunch of guys they call the squad. They’re all out and proud queer men and want to make a change, you know?” If Mom was one thing, it was liberal when it came to shit like this.

“I love it. It sounds like you’ve found a great group to hang out with.” She sighed. “I hope you didn’t get too obnoxious and drunk.”

---