Page 62 of Lucky Sucker

“That’s the best cake I’ve ever had,” he said in a groan, throwing his back down into the split of the middle of the bed, almost parting them and falling.

“You gonna watch yourself there, I don’t want you walking out of here in a cast.”

“Obviously not. Because you’ll protect me, right, Daddy?”

“Right, baby,” I said, boxing the leftover cake. “Go clean your face, well, look at it first, you’re adorable, but very messy.”

He giggled. “And then maybe you can give me another hint to what my present is?”

“Well, I don’t know if I can do that,” I told him. “But we’ll see if I can give you something else.”

Wren raced off into the ensuite to clean his face. And while he was there, I looked at his notepad. He was so protective over it. I knew I shouldn’t, but I did. I opened it up where there was a red bookmark placeholding it.

Skimming the text. It wasn’t the report write-up I thought it might’ve been.

‘12 slammed 9’s body to the bed. He pulled him in and then pushed him away again. There was pain in 12’s eyes, almost a deep regret. He shook his head. “We can’t do this,” he said to the protest of 9’s moans. “It’s too much for me, I’ve got to keep my head in the game.” A single tear formed in 12’s eyes, knowing he wasn’t telling 9 the whole truth. He wanted him as well.’

My mouth opened wide as I read it. It was—smut.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Wren grabbed the notepad from me. “I didn’t want you to read any of that. It’s just some—”

“You’re writing a romance?” I asked. “But why numbers?”

“Well, they’re—”

It clicked. “Oh. Twelve is Liam, nine is Dom. Ah. Ok. Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Stuffing the notebook in his pouch, he stared at his feet and sighed. “You shouldn’t have read any of it. It’s just—it’s nothing, really. I started it before I knew any of them.”

“You think they’re a couple?” I asked. “I could see it. I mean, there’s no harm in writing it. You’re not outing anyone, I don’t even think they’re gay, or bisexual.”

He shied his eyes away, glancing at his feet, and far from looking at me in the eye. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Baby.” I took his hand and stoked the back of his with my thumb. “If this is what you like to write, I want to support you.”

“Yeah, but it’s—it’s dirty stuff, sometimes.” He briefly glanced at me and then looked away. “I don’t want you to see that because I don’t want to think I’m pressuring you into that type of stuff. I know you’re not into sex so much.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, pulling at his other hand and hoping he’d try not to pull away. “I enjoyed having sex with you. I enjoyed the way you feel pleasure and I got pleasure from that. Is that why you were anxious the other night?”

He shrugged. That was a yes, in no words at all.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I want to be physical with you, intimate with you, it’s a connection with you that makes those feelings new for me, but I like them,” I tried explaining. “It’s not that I hate sex, it’s more that I’ve never had that type of drive before. But I have it with you, for you, specifically. I just want to deepen that connection, just to see how much further that drive can go.”

That twinkle was back in his eye. “You mean it?”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”

From the gentle tugging on his hands, I pulled him into an embrace. There was no escaping my hug now. We stayed like that for a moment squeezed to each other.

“If you want to share more of your writing with me, I’m right here, ready and waiting,” I told him. “Even if you are writing about one of my best friends. And for what it’s worth, I think him and Dom would make a cute couple.”

Wren’s signature giggle was reassuring. “I thought so as well. Plus, they’re a great team on the ice. Dom is offense, Liam is defense, it’s a love story for the ages. Well, in my mind it is. Now, knowing them a little better, it’s a bit weird, but—but you can read some more.”

“I want to read one of those spicy scenes,” I told him. “I want to know what your brain subconsciously wants. Unless that’s overstepping. And I—I get that looking at your notebook was overstepping, but I thought it was notes from today’s game.”

“That’s in my blue notebook, blue for the Orcas,” he said. “This one is cream.”

“Cream for?”

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