My Apple Watch buzzes. Isaiah is inviting Noah and me to his wedding on the North Shore at the fucking PeregrineEstate. I’ve been in society long enough to know what a nice place that is.
My lips swerve up. Guess I’m going to see Noah in a tux.
But a new feeling fills me: guilt.
Noah and I married in private. I didn’t give him a nice wedding. I didn’t even let his family watch. And I served him minibar drinks and neither of us can remember what happened. I’m not Mr. Super Husband, and the thought that Noah doesn’t expect me to be doesn’t make me feel better.
NOAH
Finn and I tumble into bed at the hotel. Our arms wrap around each other, just how we always sleep. Finn crawls down my body. He sucks warm, wet kisses on my torso. It’s possible I’ll have hickeys tomorrow, but I don’t tell him to stop. I can take any teasing, and his mouth feels amazing.
Then he’s sucking my cock. He doesn’t tease me. He’s straight there, and it’s amazing. Finn swallows it like a desperate man, like me orgasming means the same as someone defusing a bomb at a stadium.
Soon I’m coming, surging on a wave of pleasure. My back arches, my hands tremble, and I’m not sure my heart will ever be the same.
I press my lips together, so I don’t accidentally spill how much he means. Those three little words are everywhere. A whole aisle is devoted to them at CVS, and the married guys on the team, the married guys except us, say it effortlessly to their spouses on their phones.
I want to say it.
The words appear in my mind every time I see him, like bubbles floating over him in a comic strip.
I love him. I love him so much.
I probably loved him before we met, when he would stare into the camera, hair mussed, eyes sleepy or alert, and reveal all his thoughts about living his best life so his viewers could do the same.
But I can’t say them. He’s already given me so much. He put his life on hold for one year for me. I won’t make him feel that I’m trapping him for forever.
So I swallow back the words, and kiss him so nothing can get out accidentally, even when my mind blares withI love yousandyou are my everything.
I reach down and take his cock in my hand. It’s slick with precum, and it only takes a few strokes before his body tenses, then shakes, and for him to lie asleep with me clutched in his sturdy arms.
My heart continues to beat, uncertainty moving through me. I’m not going to be able to let him go.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Noah
I sprint toward the puck. I’m practically flying over the ice. The arena’s lights seem to brighten, and I’m only vaguely aware of the crowd of blue-and-white jerseys on the other side of the glass.
I move my stick, intercepting the Chicago player’s pass, and whack it toward one of my teammates. I hurry forward, ready for any passes.
Then the puck glides toward me. Luke is open, and I can send it to him. Yes, that’s what I’ll do.
Except something else catches my eye.
The goal.
I don’t have the best position. They also don’t expect me to aim for it.
And so I do.
I adjust my grip on my stick, then strike the puck.
The light flashes.
God.
I did it.
