Page 104 of Scoring Position

Okay, he deserved that. Ryan felt a wash of affection and mingled shame. Of course she wanted him to be happy. “We, uh… we decided not to see each other until after the tournament, in case….”

“Oh my God.” She looked like she wanted to bang her head on the wooden table, but she refrained. “When the internet finds out about this, it is going to explode. I hope you’re ready.”

Ryan fiddled with his knife. The thought of everyone knowing that Nico was his, and maybe even better, that he was Nico’s…. It was terrifying, but awesome. “One step at a time. First I gotta get him to agree to be my boyfriend. Then I’ll worry about the internet.”

“‘I’ll worry about the internet later.’ Famous last words,” Tara said with a laugh.

Ryan kept smiling. Somehow, this time, he didn’t think she was right.

NICO STEPPEDoff the ice, enjoying the subtle burn in his muscles. Yesterday they’d won their game against the Czechs, and tomorrow they would play Canada.

The day after that, one of them would play for gold.

Nico pulled off his helmet and took a long pull from his water bottle. He was one of the last to leave the ice, having wanted to put in a few extra slap shots, and the arena was quiet but for the few coaches and trainers tidying up.

He grabbed his helmet and stick and headed for the locker room. If he showered and changed quickly, he should have time to see some of the city with his parents. He hadn’t been to Prague since he was a kid.

He was halfway down the tunnel when a sharp choked-off noise caught his attention, and he turned.

Ryan stood a few meters away, watching him with wide eyes. They stared at each other in awkward silence for a long moment.

“Ryan—”

“Oh fuck this,” Ryan muttered, and Nico braced himself for his inevitable retreat. But Ryan stalked forward, toward Nico, and grabbed his wrist. “I can’t—” He pulled Nico into a trainer’s room off the hall, complete with exam table and chairs, and shut the door behind him.

And then he pushed Nico up against it and kissed him. With Nico still in skates and Ryan in slides, he had to stand on tiptoe. Nico bent down to meet him, holding Ryan by the elbows, melting into it. Ryan shivered against him, muted through the layers of Nico’s gear but no less delicious. He opened his mouth for Ryan’s tongue, needing more, and curled his fingers a little tighter. He felt light-headed. Suddenly all his blood was rushing south. An animal noise escaped him when Ryan scraped his teeth over his lower lip—

Ryan pulled back, glassy-eyed and disheveled, and gave Nico a blatant once-over.

Nico blinked away the haze of lust. “Uh,” he said. His mouth didn’t want to do anything but kiss Ryan. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Ryan said back, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know I said we shouldn’t, and I still think I’m right about that, but I couldn’t, you know, help myself.”

“Technically I think youdidhelp yourself.” He was trying to be sassy, but the smile persisted.

Ryan laughed. Nico soaked it up. It was better like this, in person, than it had ever been on the phone. Like this, he could feel the warmth of the sound seeping into his skin. “Go on a date with me,” he said. “I want to do this in the right order this time.”

“You probably shouldn’t have kissed me first, then,” Nico teased. “I think that ship has sunk.”

Ryan laughed again.

“What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Are you going to leave me hanging?”

Nico couldn’t do that even if he wanted to. He was sure his answer was written all over his face. “When? Maybe I have plans.”

“After the gold-medal game.”

Nico’s mouth dropped open. “Here? If we go out to a restaurant—”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “Here. In Prague, with the ten percent of hockey media that’s not focused on the Cup right now, with diehard hockey fans from all over the world around every corner.” Off Nico’s probably poleaxed expression, he shrugged. “I didn’t care what the media thought when you were my fake boyfriend. You think I’m not gonna want to show you off now?”

Nico flushed and didn’t bother to pretend it wasn’t from pleasure. “Okay, but after the gold-medal game? If one of us wins that, they’re either getting drunk or getting laid.” He paused. “Probably depending on if the other one’s had time to get overnotwinning it.”

Ryan made that strangled-laugh noise again, but this was too much, apparently; he pulled Nico back down into another fast, furious kiss. “You are a constant trial to my patience,” he said, but Nico was pretty sure he wasn’t complaining. “I told you, I’m trying to do this right.”

“By whose rules? I didn’t get a copy of the pro hockey player gay-dating handbook at rookie orientation.”

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