Page 40 of Powder
“He’s my partner,” I said, a little defiant in case that was an issue, because it wasn’t a fucking issue, and if Abel had a problem with?—
“I know that,” he said. “I deep-dived when I saw you all moon-eyed over him in Italy, and he has a short time left in his contract—like a year. Do you think he’ll stay? Or decide to leave early and move to Colorado.”
“He’ll stay; I know Jack.”
“Agreed, he’s one tough son of a bitch.” He paused for a moment, and I didn’t rush him. “Okay. You could use the facilities at Blue Mountain. It’s not Mammoth, but it’s workable. You’d need to split your travel time and maintain your conditioning with me virtually. Fly out for major comps, come back to Harrisburg to train in between. It’s possible if you stay disciplined.”
Possible. The word felt like oxygen. For the first time since leaving Italy, I let myself believe it might work.
“Can you do that?” he asked.
I snapped back to what he said, my head still racing ahead with the image of Jack waiting at the end of every training day.
“Stay disciplined? You know I can.” Hell, it was the only thing that had gotten me this far. And if it meant falling into Jack’s arms at night, then I’d work twice as hard.
“Some of the sponsors might balk at this.”
My stomach tightened, but I forced the words out, sharp with conviction. “Then we’ll get my agent to find sponsors whowon’tget pissy at me moving to be closer to the man I love. Simple. I’d rather lose a logo on my board than lose him.”
He laughed then, low and knowing, and I felt the first flicker of hope settle deep in my chest.
“You want to do this?” he asked.
“Hell yes.”
And as if Jack already knew my plans, he pulled off an ugly-beautiful, standing-on-his-head pass out of the corner, twisting under pressure from two Philly forwards and somehow threading the puck across the slot to Noah Gunnarsson. Gunnarsson snapped it home top-shelf, the crowd exploding, Jack pumping a fist as if the play had been nothing at all.
That wasmyJack.
NINETEEN
Jack
Wakingup with Tian in my arms reminded me of that old Belinda Carlisle song about Heaven on Earth.
It had taken us some time to get things settled between us. Not the us relationship. That was stronger than ever. The us trying to figure out what we were doing. That had taken some juggling, mostly on his part, which I felt awful about. It seemed as if he had given up a lot for us and I’d not sacrificed a thing. His whole training regime had been upended while I’d done nothing other than buy more towels.
“I can hear you overthinking things,” he mumbled sleepily into his pillow. Oh yeah. I had bought a pillow for him too.Wow, big forfeiture there Jackie Boy.
“Sorry, I was just lying here admiring the way your back rises and falls when you sleep.” I ran a hand over said back, his skin warm and smooth under my palm. He made a sleepy, yummy sound so I continued to rub his back. “I think I haven’t done enough giving in our relationship.”
“Jack, no.” He flopped to his side to stare at me, the dim morning light tinting the frosty window pink. February into March had been damn cold. Snowy, icy, all the things I usuallybitched about, including long nights. Now I enjoyed the long nights. Tian was here now, living out of a hotel for the time being, but here in Harrisburg. “See this is where your ex messed with your head. Sometimes one person gives a lot and the other doesn’t. But, no, don’t say anything.” He placed a toasty finger over my lips. “And then next week or month the other person gives and the other person doesn’t. It’s not always down to one person to give and the other take. Sometimes you have to carry more of the load, then it’s your partner’s turn.”
I puckered to kiss his fingertip resting on my lips. “Okay, I know that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes, I do. I understand. I’m sorry to make it so… mpfhmpfhhfup.” He pressed my lips down flat.
“No, no more sorry. I’m happy to make a few changes to make us work. Who knows, maybe when I’m done we’ll be looking at moving to Colorado?”
I nodded. Yes, I would gladly do that when I retired. I had one more year with the Railers and that was going to be it for me. My body couldn’t take much more. My shoulder was sore from a game against Boston, my knees ached, my back was stiff. My time on the ice was coming to a close, but I still had time to get my team to the Cup finals. I wanted that so badly I could taste it.
“Yeah,” I murmured then nipped at his finger. He jerked it back before tossing a muscular leg over my thigh, his flaccid cock nestling into my leg.
“Cool. So now I just need to find a place to live.” He sighed as he began to rub the sole of his foot up and down my hairy shin, his hand falling from my lips to lay on my chest. “I mean hotel life is nice, but you know… it’s a hotel.”
“Why don’t you move in with me?” I said, aware of what an enormous bomb I had just dropped on us. His head rose frommy pec with such speed he could have whiplashed himself. Dark eyes were round as silver dollars.
