Page 13 of Breaking Through the Doubt (Espen Jetties #4)

13

LESLIE

It felt good to be home. More than that, I was going on another date tonight with Corey.

That night on the road… The first time we got off together… It started a trend. We didn’t talk every night, but when we did, one thing led to another, and we were both coming over the phone. We hadn’t upped our game to video calls yet, which I was grateful for. The first time I saw Corey naked, I wanted it to be in person, not over a damn screen where I couldn’t touch him like I wanted to.

Instead of meeting Corey at the restaurant, we’d decided I’d drive to his place, and then he’d take us to the restaurant. I didn’t want to call it a bar because it was more than a place to get drunk. It did have a bar with plenty of options.

I pulled up to his building but there was no place to park, so I circled the block until I found something. Tonight, I left my Corvette at home and decided to drive my truck. It wasn’t nearly as pretty but it was a dark-blue Chevy that got the job done. I parked, then locked it when I got out. It wasn’t a bad neighborhood Corey was in. He was in a nicer part of Espen. No one should fuck with my truck here. If they did, well, at least it was the truck and not my car.

Taking the elevator, I found his door and knocked. It was a second later when the door swung open, and Corey was revealed on the other side.

His dark hair was styled in that perfectly messy way, making my fingers itch to run through it. Matching dark eyes held mine and we both stood there like we didn’t know what the fuck we were doing.

“Get in here.” He chuckled and gripped the front of my shirt to pull me inside. Not many people handled me, but I wanted him to. He could do whatever he wanted to me, and I’d gladly let him.

I stumbled into his apartment so he could close the door, my hands resting on his hips. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he whispered.

This was the first time we were seeing each other in a while and, damn, to have my hands on him again was like a dream come true. “Can I kiss you?” It wasn’t like we hadn’t done it before, but I still had to be sure.

“You don’t have to ask.” He closed the distance between us to press our lips together.

Gasping into the kiss, I opened for him to sweep his tongue in and taste me. My fingers tightened on his hips. Tonight was supposed to be more than this. We were going out, but my body begged me to stay right where I was.

When he leaned back, I couldn’t resist and ran my fingers through his hair, down to his jaw, and then to his ear where he had a thick black earring. God, he was beautiful.

“Keep touching me and we won’t go anywhere,” he said.

“Believe me, I’d love to touch you all night.”

“That can be arranged.”

“Is it wrong that I want to take things slower? Not glacial or anything, but this feels different between us, and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

“Leslie, you’re not going to. I’ll take this at whatever pace you want.”

“Over the phone was amazing, but having you in front of me again, you deserve more than a quick jerk and come. I want to show you I’m more than a hockey player, or someone who wants sex all the time.”

Corey cupped my cheek, his thumb rubbing over my short beard. I kept my hair pulled back tonight so it wouldn’t get in my face. “You’re much more than that. I see you, remember?”

I blew out a breath. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I always want you to talk to me. To be honest with me.”

Nodding, I felt the tension I didn’t realize I was holding bleed out of me. “Ready to go? I’m starving.”

He slid his hand down from my face to my neck then my arm so he could thread his fingers with mine. “There, now we can go.” Grabbing his keys, we went into the hallway so he could lock up. All the while, he kept his hand in mine. It felt more intimate than it should have.

Corey drove us to the restaurant. I’d only been here once before and remembered it being queer friendly. A lot of places were in the city, but there were others I stayed far away from. At least, this version of me did. The Leslie of last year reveled going into them just so I could stir shit up.

The parking lot was packed. It wasn’t until we were inside when I saw the sign for drink specials and all you can eat wings. No wonder. That brought in everyone. The restaurant’s good business meant it was hard to find a table.

Corey and I took a seat in the front to wait for a table to open. A couple of people came up to us, asking for photos with me or my autograph. I kept glancing at Corey, making sure he was okay with it. This was our night, not mine to greet fans.

Luckily, a high-top opened in the bar area that pulled me away from them and had Corey’s hand slipping into mine again. That small touch and I was happy. Sure, signing autographs and meeting fans was great, but they didn’t compare to spending time with Corey.

We took a seat and browsed the menu. A server stopped by to take our drink order. I’d been doing good and stayed sober all season so far. I didn’t want to drink. There was no desire in me. The time in Pittsburgh and with my family helped, as did a hell of a lot of perspective. Drinking didn’t get me anywhere but in trouble. That was the last thing I needed.

Conversation flowed easily between us. I was grateful for it. There was a small part of me that wondered if we could talk in person as easily as we did on the phone. I didn’t turn into a bumbling idiot, so I was calling it a win.

“You don’t mind people coming up to me?” I asked.

“Not at all. It’s who you are, and the city loves you.”

“It comes with the territory. Not everyone handles it well though. I’ve been on dates where all they wanted to talk about was my celebrity status. I get it, but that’s not me. I’m not after fame and glory. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it, but I don’t need it.”

Corey reached across the table to take my hand in his again. “It’s fine. If I’m being honest, I got an uptick in clients once our photos were out there. Before you think that’s my angle, it’s not.”

I shook my head. “I know. If it was, we wouldn’t have done things how we did. You’d want to be on my arm all the time, where people could see you. I’ve been with enough guys like that to spot them a mile away.”

The sound of a stool scraping quickly across the floor drew our attention to the bar, where two people were going toe to toe, though it wasn’t much of a match. The guy on the left had enough muscle on him to hurt someone and towered over the smaller guy on the right.

“You touched me,” the big guy said.

The smaller guy’s voice shook when he said, “I was walking past you as you pushed away from the bar. I didn’t deliberately touch you.”

“That’s not how I saw it. You wanted to touch me.” He got closer, causing the smaller guy to shrink back, only there was nowhere for him to go in the crowded bar. There was a stool behind him that was occupied, and no one seemed to be standing up for him.

The smaller guy shook his head. The light caught a bit of sparkle on his high cheekbones. “No.”

“You’re wearing makeup, got a tight shirt on, and your pants, don’t even get me fucking started on them.”

I scanned the bar and saw everyone had pretty much stopped what they were doing to witness this. Looking at Corey, I said, “I’m just going to…” I nodded toward the bar and stood.

“Hey,” I said as I approached. Not in anger, but with a calm, relaxed gait, not wanting to set the bigger guy off more. I was here for a date, not to fight.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t one of Espen’s own,” the big guy said when he looked my way. “Leslie Knoxton, goalie for the gayest team in hockey.”

“I’m not sure if you’re trying to insult me, but if you are, you have to do better than that.” Once I was in his space, I had a couple inches on him in height and more weight, but he could definitely injure me if he wanted to.

“So having a girl’s name doesn’t have anything to do with it?”

Jesus, like I hadn’t heard that a million times. The thing was, no matter how often I did, anger licked my veins. It was a family name. One that was passed down and we each carried proudly. I really wanted to deck the guy for saying it, however, I pulled on the calm I felt and urged myself back from the verge of decking him. “Why don’t you take a seat so the rest of us can enjoy our evening?”

“You’re sticking up for him?” He jutted his chin toward the smaller guy. “Typical.”

“What’s typical is the bullshit coming from your mouth. You think by putting others down you make yourself bigger? It’s the opposite, asshole. All it does is show your true colors.” Okay, so I wasn’t as calm as I thought. At least I hadn’t hit him yet.

He pushed into my space, his chest bumping mine. “What the fuck did you call me?”

“Careful. Keep rubbing up against me and I’ll get ideas.” I waggled my eyebrows.

I saw his fist coming and didn’t flinch. Why? Because he hit me first. Now I could lay his ass out.

My head jerked to the side with the force of the punch, but other than that, I didn’t move. My arm was up next, and I nailed him on the chin. The fact he thought he could hit me, and I wouldn’t retaliate was a stupid move.

He swung at me again, this time aiming for my side. I caught his fist and twisted his arm back until he turned and faced the bar, where I pushed him against it, while holding his arm behind him.

“Try to hit me again, motherfucker, and your world will go dark,” I growled low in his ear.

A hand touching my shoulder had me turning sharply, ready to hit someone else but it was only Corey with his hands up.

“Easy, it’s just me.”

I blew out a breath. “Sorry. I didn’t know if there were more like this asshole.”

“No worries. Why don’t you release him? The cops are on their way.”

That was when I saw all the phones out recording the fight. When I was certain I was going to get my ass handed to me by Kasper, Devon, and the whole organization. I knew better than to get into a fight.

This would look bad for the team, for me, and for Corey.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, emotion building in my throat.

I ruined everything tonight. I couldn’t just go on a date and have a good time. I had to get into a fight instead of letting the bartender or someone else handle it. The guy was a piece of shit, but I didn’t need to fight him like I had. At least I didn’t have a drop of alcohol. That was worth something.

We only stayed as long as it took to give our statements, which I hated every minute of. I just wanted to get out of there and away from the prying eyes around us.