Page 19 of Second Shot

“Did I say I did?”

“Pfft.” He shakes his head, still giving me the stink eye.

I’m bewildered by his aggressive attitude, but also weirdly turned on because he’s standing so close to me. I struggle to focus on his words,but he’s so fucking pretty up close like this. We’re both drunk, but he’s one of those guys who almost looks even hotter when he’s wasted. His cheeks are pink, which makes his eyes a brighter blue. And his mouth, it’s so fucking plump and close, I feel my dick getting even harder.

But the last thing I want is for him to know my cock is hard for him. Number one, the guy doesn’t like me. And number two, he’s my teammate. So instead of leering at him some more, I try to continue the bizarre conversation. “You said you didn’t have a problem with me, but you lied, didn’t you?”

He sneers. “So what if I do have a problem with you?”

I raise my brows, surprised he’s now admitting he doesn’t like me. “Why? What the hell did I ever do to you?”

Why is everyone mad at me tonight?

He licks his bottom lip, jabbing a finger at me. “You know what you did. Deep down, you know what a piece of shit you are.”

Heat touches my cheeks as I hold his accusing stare. His words hit home, making me flustered. It’s as if he knows that I struggle with self-loathing. How the fuck would he know that? I think I hide it pretty well. I certainly try to. Tam never even knew how much I hated myself.

I rasp, “What is your deal? I’ve been nothing but nice to you, Jacobs.”

His laugh is jagged and mocking. “Fuck you, Caldwell. Fuck you to hell.”

“Yeah?” I lean toward him. “Then fuck you too.”

He narrows his eyes and there’s a weird vibe between us. If he wasn’t looking at me like he’d love to murder me, I’d swear this energy between us is sexual. But that can’t be right. Not on his part. Not when he looks like he absolutely hates me.

We’re so close I can feel his warm, whiskey infused breath on my lips. I’m pissed off, but heat curls in my groin as we continue to stare at each other. My anger has definitely morphed into something different. Something more like lust. I see it on his face too. He’s aware of the shift in the energy, and he’s feeling the same thing.

All at once, I don’t want to punch him. I want to kiss him bad. He’s a complete asshole to me, but I want to feel his hot mouth on mine. I want to taste his tongue. What would he do if I tried to kiss him? Punch me? Kiss me back? I can see there’s still hate in his eyes, but there’s also longing. I’m not imagining that. I know when a guy is attracted to me, and even if Jacobs despises me, he wants me.

Emboldened by the desire I see in his eyes, I reach out and gently take hold of the front of his shirt. Something changes in his face the second I touch him. Raw panic washes through his light blue eyes and he jerks away from me. He stumbles slightly, but catches himself on the wall. Breathing roughly, he bolts for the door like a man afraid for his life.

Then, without a backward glance, he slams out of the bathroom and leaves me wondering what the fuck just happened.

Chapter Five

Gabe

I fucked up big time.

I was trying to show Caldwell I’m not afraid of him, then I ran away like a complete coward the second he tried to touch me. Humiliated, I don’t go back to the table. I can’t face him. It’s too embarrassing.

I find my way outside and take an Uber back to the hotel. I beat myself up the whole ride for following Caldwell into the bathroom. I was drunk and I let my anger get the best of me. It was aggravating watching the guys trying to cheer that asshole up all night, and my resentment took over.

But once I was alone with him, and he tried to grab hold of my shirt, fear jolted through me. I lost my shit. I was suddenly that chubby boy almost pissing his pants in front of Ryan Caldwell. I’m ashamed that I ran away. I’m a grown man, not a little kid. But when he got close, all I could think about was the past. Those green eyes boring into mine had brought back so many horrible memories.

After running away like a pussy, I couldn’t face him at the table. No way. Not in front of theother guys. Between the booze and the memories from school, I didn’t have it in me to keep up the act. So I ran away, back to the hotel. Of course, one gigantic flaw with my brilliant escape plan is that we’re roomies. That means, before long, the asshole will return to the room.

And we’ll be alone together.

With a groan, I collapse onto my bed still fully clothed. I stare at the ceiling while trying to process the tumultuous night. Losing that game against the Raptors was hard to handle. I guess even I bought the hype about the amazing Ryan Caldwell arriving to save the day. But even though we didn’t win, he’d played great hockey tonight. We played better having him there. I wouldn’t tell him that, but it’s true. He was on fire the entire game. It’s not his fault we lost, but I wanted it to be his fault.

I sit up, head aching. I notice it’s 3 a.m. which means Caldwell will probably be back soon. Anxiety roars through me, but I try to talk myself down. He’s not going to do anything to me. He’s not going to hurt me. When he reached for me tonight in the bathroom, I think he was going to kiss me. I recognize that now that I’ve calmed down. In the moment, I couldn’t see it for what it was, but I do now.

My pulse races at the thought he wanted to kiss me. I don’t even know how to process that information, but I know it’s true. There haddefinitely been sexual tension between us tonight. The way he’d looked at me had left little doubt. I know the signs when a guy is attracted.

And I’d felt it too. Angry or not, he smelled good, and his mouth had been tempting. As much as I’d hated Ryan as a kid, I’d always had a thing for him. That made everything twice as confusing—hating my bully but wanting him anyway had seriously messed with my teenage psyche. I can’t even remember how many times I jerked off thinking about him. It just made everything so much worse. Baffling.

What would he do if he found out who I am? Would he lose his mind when he discovered that the great Ryan Caldwell had wanted to kissBlubber Boy? I have to squash the urge to laugh hysterically. He’d be horrified to know who he wanted to lock lips with tonight. Is his attraction to me something I can use against him? Do I have the guts for something like that?

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