Page 40

ERIK

Richard stands across the room from me, his arms crossed and a humored smirk stretching across his face. “Getting tech withdrawals, Norberg?” he asks.

I turn away from the laggy office computer for a second to face him. “No, I’m trying to reach my parents. And my partner. They all probably want to know if I’m still alive, given that they haven’t heard from me in over twenty-four hours.”

Richard’s face falls. “Oh, right, yeah. Sorry.”

Shrugging, I turn back to the computer, attempting to log into my phone provider’s website for the fifth time.

It’s impossible not to groan when I get hit with the dreaded “please enter the verification code sent to the phone number on file.”

The second I’m about to shut the aging computer down and admit defeat, Ivy, one of the camp’s admin staff, walks into the office and approaches me.

“Hey, Erik, there’s a delivery waiting for you at the front desk,” she says.

I tilt my head. “Delivery?”

“Yeah, it’s being delivered by someone called Luke…” She furrows her brow. “Shoot, I forgot his last name.”

Wait a second. Could it be… “Tremblay?”

Ivy’s face clicks with recognition. “Yeah, I think that’s it. Anyway, he said that you should check the confirmation email to verify that or something.”

Luke is here?

I suck in a sharp breath through my teeth as I break into a smile.

Luke is here. In Minneapolis. Now. Waiting for me. All because my dumb ass couldn’t charge a phone without blowing it up and freezing it in the space of an hour.

“I have to go,” I blurt out, standing up so quickly that the chair I was sitting in topples over onto the floor.

“Whoa, slow down,” Richard says. “What’s he delivering that’s so important?”

I’m already halfway out of the room, and I don’t turn back. “Himself.”

I don’t elaborate, I run. Out of the room, around the corner, along the hallway, and out into the reception area.

And there he is. Luke, in all his glory, all relaxed and looking good enough to devour. He’s tapping at his phone, but he smiles as soon as he notices me.

My god, that smile! It’s bright enough to give you a sunburn in the depths of a polar night.

“Hey, Erik,” he says, taking a few steps toward me.

My reply is to wrap him in the tightest hug I can manage. I think his back pops, but I could be hearing things wrong. If he wants me to let go, he’s out of luck because I can’t.

“You’re here,” I whisper, kissing him on the forehead. “I can’t believe it.”

“Oof, thank Nils for convincing me,” he grunts, his voice strained.

“Nils?” I ask.

Luke laughs and grins up at me. “Yeah, he convinced me that coming here to you wasn’t a massively disproportionate response to your phone being off.”

“Right, about that,” I start, sheepishly scratching the back of my neck, “I put my phone down and it fell onto the rink. Then it short-circuited and froze.”

“Are you serious?” Luke brings a hand to his face, trying to appear shocked, but I can see right through him.

“Completely,” I say, brushing his hand away from his mouth. He’s biting his lip, still attempting to suppress laughter, so I shake his shoulder. “It’s okay, you can make fun of me.”

Luke snickers before composing himself. “Anyway, one of the reasons why I came here is because I need to give you some amazing news.” He reaches into his backpack, pulling out a folded piece of paper and handing it to me.

I stare at the paper. Even though my French isn’t great, I understand that Lucas Gabriel Tremblay est francais.

What the?—

“Surprise, I’m French!” Luke says. “That means I can move to Sweden whenever I want, I can stay however long I want, and I can transfer my job?—”

He doesn’t get to finish that sentence because I crush my lips against his. The grouchy receptionist is nowhere to be seen, my heart is overflowing, and there’s no holding back.

Luke fixes his eyes on mine as he pulls away. “Yeah, I’m so excited. This has been a long time coming for us.”

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” I say. “This is amazing. You’re amazing, and?—”

The words slip out before I can stop them.

“I love you.”

I freeze up, and Luke gives me another glowing, heart-stopping smile. “I love you too, you goof.”

He hugs me, and my chest swells while my stomach plays jump rope with the rest of my insides.

“That’s nice, but I love you more,” I shoot back, pressing my mouth to Luke’s so he can’t reply.

Luke physically recoils and steps back, scoffing. “No,” he says, sticking his index finger up.

“No?”

“We are not already doing this kind of sappy shit. Not allowed.”

I smirk. “Fine, fine, we’ll get there eventually. After all, we’re going to live together, so buckle up.”

“Too bad. I changed my mind because I just remembered how bad you stink when you’re fresh off the rink,” he says sarcastically, managing a dry laugh.

“Nah, you’re stuck with me and my rink stink,” I reply, dragging him back into me. “You have a rink stink kink.”

He sputters and pushes me away. “Jesus Christ, you’re ridiculous.” We stare each other down before devolving into laughter mere seconds later. Luke never fails to put me in an amazing mood, and I can’t wait to have him with me all the time.

“Everything alright, Erik?” Richard asks, making me and Luke spin around. “Is there a reason why you’re being… very friendly with the delivery driver?”

“What? Delivery driver? This is my boyfriend, Luke.”

“Yeah, I had to stretch the truth a little,” Luke says to me. “Nobody here would let me get through to you.”

Richard narrows his eyes at us. “Yeah, the SHL would have provided us with your emergency contacts, and they’re the only ones who are allowed to contact you through the central switchboard.”

“And those would be your parents, right?” Luke says, and I nod.

Richard steps back. “Anyway, I’m glad you two are reunited, even if Luke here had to break into the camp.” He chuckles, turning around and heading back to the office.

I have the afternoon off, we’re alone, Luke is silent, and there’s something I need to chirp him about—that’s what he gets for loving a hockey player.

“I didn’t know your full name is Lucas Gabriel Tremblay ,” I say, rubbing his shoulders a little too hard.

He shrugs me off, smiling. “Shut up.”

“Why? That’s hot.”

Luke stops walking. “No it’s not. It’s so pretentious.”

I punch him right in the middle of his chest. “Whatever you say, Lucas.”

That earns me a punch in return.

“So, uh, welcome to the Elite Camp,” I say. “Do you want a tour of the marvelous concrete facilities?”

Luke stretches, and of course his shirt rides up, making my predictable mind go somewhere inappropriate.

“Can I put my stuff away first?” he asks. “You’re staying close by, right?”

“Oh yeah, right across the road.” I take his luggage, ignoring his protests that he can do it himself, and he follows me to the dorm room where the camp is putting me up.

I don’t even wait for the door to close before I grab Luke and crush my mouth onto his.

He accepts me readily, coiling his arms around my back and slipping them under my shirt, sending tingles along my spine wherever his fingertips roam.

As usual, my brain works on autopilot, and I push him onto the bed, making my intentions very clear.

Luke smirks up at me, cocky as hell, and strips off every last piece of clothing from his toned body, lying back while I struggle to keep up. Wasting no time at all, I crouch over him, taking his hard cock into my hand and stroke, drawing a deep, needy moan out of his full lips.

Then I shuffle down and wrap my mouth around his thick shaft, making him swear under his breath.

The two of us might have started a silly competition to prove who loves who more, but tonight, I want to win.

Luke is shuddering under me, gritting out my name, and grabbing onto thin air as I show him just how much I care.

Today, and every day going forward, I’m going for gold.