Page 30 of Spiral
They were sticky with salty beef juices. Jamie smiled up at me. I moved through the crowd, sleepiness settling on my shoulders like a warm scarf now that my belly was full. I checked my phone as I waited outside the locked men’s room door. It was now after two in the morning. I hid a wide yawn behind my phone. We’d have to go soon. I had morning skate at nine, and coming into practice dragging ass would get you chewed out. Coach expected his players to maintain good health habits, and one of the most important was proper sleep.
While I waited I sent Claudia a voice note. She’d be getting up in a few hours and would want to know how this meet-and-greet had gone. I’d vented to her earlier in the day about how anxious I was.
Hey C! So, the big brain squad has been super nice, aside from one of them who’s crushing on Jamie, so he doesn’t count. Goes to show not all big brains are big jerks. Give hugs and kisses to Bruno for me. Love ya. Talk later.
The band started playing a Kasami Washington song,Askim,one I had enjoyed a lot during my dark days with my ex. I’d always enjoyed the sound of a smooth saxophone and Kasami was one of the best in my humble opinion. Leon was a jazz enthusiast, a snob of the highest caliber, who made fun of anyone who wasn’t as knowledgeable about the genre as he was.
The beautiful music was completely overshadowed by the remembrance of one terrible night being dragged through the mental mud for citing the incorrect album title at a small dinner party. Leon had latched onto my mistake like a steel trap, unwilling to stop berating my intelligence despite his stuffy friends trying to gently lead him onto another topic. Things gotworse when they left. He picked at me relentlessly, stripping me down to bloody bones before announcing that he wasn’t sure he could even fuck a man as inferior as I was anymore. He’d locked me out of our bedroom—I’d made the mistake of moving in with him—for a week. When he deemed I’d learned my lesson he’d let me back into his bed.
“Fucker,” I snarled softly as the memory picked at me like one does a torn hangnail.
The bathroom door opened. I glanced up from my shaking hand still holding my phone and into hazel eyes I knew far too well.
“Craig, imagine running into you here. Did you track me down here in order to admit your foolish mistake?” Leon asked, his short blond hair damp from where he had wet-combed it into submission.
I gaped at his beauty. He was stunning. Tall, broad-shouldered, lean-waisted, with a classic Germanic beauty. High cheekbones, sunny hair that disliked humidity and curled despite his best attempts to tame it. Seemed the only thing Leon Schmied couldn’t get under his thumb was his hair. Everything and everyone else was firmly in his control. “You look surprised to find me here, yet you know I visit all the clubs.”
His thick accent made me shudder. Was that shiver lust or disgust? It was hard to tell. I hated that I still found him so fucking pretty despite knowing what a horrid bully he was.
“I’m here with someone,” I managed to cough out, the meat juices on my fingers completely forgotten.
“Oh?” He rose to his toes—he was a few inches taller than me—and craned his head this way and that. “And what does this someone mean to you?”
“He’s my boyfriend,” I countered, using my shoulder to move him aside. He may have been taller, but I was a hockey player. I knew how to use a shoulder and an elbow.
“How droll.” He stepped to the side to avoid the incoming check. Pity. It would have knocked him onto his ass. “As if anyone would wish to spend time with a dimwit.”
I spun to face him; my hands fisted so tight I had to force myself to loosen the one gripping my cell phone.
“If I’m such a dimwit why are you begging me to come back to you?”
That got him on his heels but only for a moment. A litigator like Leon was never off-balance for long.
“That was an unfortunate word choice. I am sorry, seeing you here was so unexpected that it shocked me into speaking poorly.”
His brown-green eyes were framed by lush brown lashes. The hair color was not God-given but was mixed by his stylist Olaf.
“You don’t know how to speak any other way. I would like to end this discussion, so if you’d please move so I can use the bathroom?”
“Craig, don’t be so callous. It is serendipitous that we met here. I’ve been yearning to?—”
“Go yearn in your hand.”
“You’re being petulant again. It is not a good look on such a handsome face. You should smile more, Liebling.”
“Seeing you makes me want to vomit not smile. Now move.”
“I don’t think you wish to be rude to me. Just remember whose name is on the pedigree papers.”
“Bruno was a gift. You can’t take back a gift.”
“I wager a judge would think differently about that.” He smiled at me, a demonic grin if ever I’d seen one. “You have no proof of your claims. I have the AKC papers citing me as his purchaser. That is all that I’d need.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” I fired back.
His left eyelid twitched, a sure sign I’d hit a nerve. “Do notthinkto argue legalities with me, Craig. Trust me, you will lose,and it will be a painful loss indeed. I suggest you ponder your choices well and try to make a sensible choice this time. This is why you require me to help you through your life, my pet.”
The threat was subtle, nothing most guys would even pick up, but I heard it.
