Page 45 of Scoring Position

Nico’s arms wanted to give out. He slumped forward for a moment to rest, and their heaving chests pressed together. He should probably throw away this shirt.

Hopefully he wouldn’t have to throw away the couch.

When he’d caught his breath, he realized Ryan was absently carding his hands through his hair.

But he also realized he was probably squishing him. He sat back as carefully as he could. Beneath him, Ryan sprawled out bonelessly. There was a bright red thumbprint on his cheekbone from the Tiger Balm, and his chest and stomach and cock and shorts were filthy with come.Oops.

Oh well. Nico wasn’t going to feel bad about it. He was about to tuck himself back into his shorts when he smelled the Tiger Balm and remembered why he probably shouldn’t touch his dick.

Ryan saw him pull his hand away at the last second and snickered, head tilted back so he faced the ceiling. “Probably should’ve done the talking part first,” he said. “Less awkward when you’re not covered in jizz with your cock hanging out.”

Nico agreed. But what was that saying about hindsight? “I’m gonna go wash my hands.”

PART OFRyan definitely felt like he should be freaking out when he followed Nico to the master bathroom to avoid dripping come all through the house. Ryan’s bedroom and bathroom were at the opposite end.

But the majority of his brain was flooded with good endorphins. He might not exactly have seen this coming, but he wasn’t going to look a gift orgasm in the dick.

The shorts were a lost cause. They went right into the washing machine. Nico threw his in as well and started the load while Ryan went back to his room for pants. No talking could happen until clothes had been applied, unless it was of the “So, round two?” variety.

Not that he was opposed, but first things first.

When he came out of his bedroom, Nico was making the weird jam tea again, so Ryan guessed that whatever was going on in his head had him a little stressed. Sleeping with his teammate and roommate was not, objectively, the smartest thing either of them could have done, so Ryan didn’t blame him. He sat at the counter, stomach knotting.

Ah. Here was his own freakout at last. What timing.

Nico passed a mug across the counter. “I don’t regret it,” he blurted, almost defiantly.

Some of the tension in Ryan’s back unwound. “Me neither.” He probablywould, at some point; he was self-aware enough to know that, but it probably wouldn’t stop him from doing it again.

Nico shot him a small smile. “The tea’s because of my dad, not because we had sex.”

The stress loosened a little further, and then Ryan grimaced. “Let me guess. He’s unhappy about the Bert-and-Ernie thing.”

Nico took the seat next to him at the breakfast bar. “Good guess.”

“I should apologize.” He’d intended to do that when he walked in to ask Nico to Tiger Balm him, but obviously he’d gotten distracted.

Nico sighed. “For what? You literally told me this would happen when we moved in together, and I said I didn’t care.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t tell you I’d compare us to Muppet life partners in an interview. So, you know. Sorry about that.”

Nico rolled the edge of his mug against the counter. “Fine. I forgive you.” He shot Ryan a sideways look, that sly smile hiding at the corner of his mouth. “But I donothave a unibrow.”

Ryan laughed sharply. “Duly noted.” Some of his doubt crept back in, though, and he let his gaze drift to his tea. They were talking about why Nico was upset, but theyweren’ttalking about where they stood as… whatever they were. Roommates who’d just fucked. “Still, I mean, I did get us into this. I can get us out. If you want me to move out, or, I don’t know, have Felicia write up a statement, I’ll do it.”

He felt Nico’s eyes on him and turned toward him. “What’re you going to say? ‘Hi, I’m Ryan Wright. Recently I made a comment that made it sound like I’m banging my teammate. I just want to be perfectly clear that even though we’re two gay guys who live together, we’re not having sex’?”

Ryan buried his face—and another reluctant laugh—in his hands. “All right, point made.” Not only would no one believe him (rightly), it would only call attention to the situation.

When he came up again, Nico was smiling, his cheeks slightly flushed. “Besides, I… I like you. I’d rather keep doing it and say nothing.”

This was definitely all going to blow up in Ryan’s face one day, but fuck it. He’d burn that bridge when he got there. “Okay,” he said, hoping he sounded smoother and more confident than he felt. “I’m in.”

Second Period

UNFORTUNATELY, NICOand Ryan didn’t have a lot of time to spend figuring out how their relationship was going to work. The day after the Couch Incident, the Fuel hit the road for a Quebec-and-north-Atlantic-Division-teams road trip, which meant no privacy from their teammates and separate hotel rooms. They touched down in Quebec City the night before their midday game and Nico went right to bed.

A good night’s sleep wasn’t enough. Nico kept it together on the ice, but he could barely get a shot off. Neither could Ryan keep the team from sliding into making mistakes born of frustration. Yorkie managed a goal and a reasonable pep talk, but the Fuel’s foundering defense and barely competent coach proved their undoing. By the end of the game, when Dekes captain Dante Baltierra netted his hat trick, Vorhees turned purple.

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