Page 58 of Drop the Gloves
Barczyk
I have never in my life put the words American and Thanksgiving together
But yeah I guess I did promise that
Abernathy
So are you free tonight?
Barczyk
I might be.But believe it or not they never trusted me with a key to the rink so if you wanna practice you’ll have to do it at my apartment building
Evan remembered a distant, naive version of himself who’d thought he could stay out of trouble with Barczyk if he kept things professional.He’d lost any semblance of a professional relationship weeks ago.Semi-public sex and hotel room hook-ups weren’t any better than going to his apartment (though that might be a tad more intimate), so he figured keeping distance was a lost cause.
Abernathy
That’s fine text me the address?I can be there in an hour
Barczyk
25
Evan didn’t goto Barczyk’s apartment building with any expectations, but as soon as he got there, he realized he’d subconsciously created some, and they didn’t match up with the actual experience.When Barczyk opened the doors of the complex for him, Evan was surprised they didn’t head for the elevator.When they ended up in a stairwell and went down instead of up, Evan understood he’d assumed they’d go to Barczyk’s actual apartment.
When they got to the gym area, he shifted on his feet.There were other people there.Half a dozen or so people, all working out.Two teenage kids perked up when they saw Barczyk and waved enthusiastically, but after Barczyk acknowledged them, they respectfully went back to the squat rack and ignored him.
That was nice, except it didn’t magically make them invisible, and Evan would really prefer not to be seen.He hadn’t been able to control his dick when they’d practiced that first time, and that was well before things had...progressed.What was he supposed to do if they weren’t alone?He wasn’t sure he could control his reaction to Barczyk without gear.Look at Barczyk, for fuck’s sake!He had a stupid muscle shirt with the sleeves cut so ridiculously low that you could practically see his whole chest!And he had a bright green headband on that kept his curls at bay.
Barczyk dug out the boxing gloves they’d been using from a plastic crate of equipment, caught Evan’s expression, and raised an eyebrow.
“Problem?”he asked.
Evan cleared his throat and tried (unsuccessfully) not to fidget.“I didn’t know we’d have an audience,” he grumbled as he pulled at the hem of his tee.A real t-shirt, thank-you-very-much.Loose and properly covering his torso.Like a gentleman.
Barczyk walked over and handed Evan a pair of gloves.“They ain’t watching us, Abs,” he said, voice low.
Evan subtly scanned the room and saw that Barczyk was right.No one was paying them any attention as they went through their own workouts.
“Right now,” Evan said.
“You plan on putting on a show?”Barczyk teased.His voice at that wavelength did things to Evan, and his dick stirred in interest.
“I’d really rather not,” he said pointedly.
Barczyk’s gaze flicked down Evan’s body.He didn’t smile, but his lips twitched.“Mr.Abernathy, did you text me for a booty call disguised as a fighting lesson?”
“No!”Evan whipped his head around to make sure no one had overheard; everyone kept working out as if nothing had happened, and Evan breathed a sigh of relief.“I swear, I didn’t?—“
“Abs, relax,” Barczyk said.He stepped back and started putting on his gloves; Evan did the same.“We’re professionals.We can handle working out together.”
It was exactly what he needed to hear.Of course they could.Theywereprofessionals.They were coworkers, technically.They were practicing for their job.There was nothing inappropriate about this unless they made it inappropriate.
Again.
Okay, so they didn’t have a great track record, but they went through practices with the team all the time.This was basically the same.
“You’re right,” Evan said, “So?—“
