Page 23 of Defensive Zone (Chicago Thunder #3)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Carter

“Are you sure about this?” Zach asks, turning to me once he’s put his car into park. We’ve just arrived at the private terminal where the Thunder travel from, ready to board the plane heading to Denver. “Not that I don’t want you to come, because I do, but are you sure you want to do this?”

The whole thing with my teammates has been playing on my mind since we went for dinner with Blaine and Alex the other night, and when I noticed Zach had an away game in Denver tomorrow, I asked if I could come along. I knew I needed to speak to them, and it wasn’t the kind of conversation I wanted to have over the phone, but I also didn’t want to leave Zach. Luckily, he managed to pull some strings with the team, and once I got the OK to travel with him, I sent a text to some of the guys asking if we could meet tonight for a catch-up.

I’m aware it’s most likely a whole big misunderstanding on my part, but if I’m going to be returning to Denver for training camp in the summer—which seems more and more likely considering I haven’t heard anything—I need to know where I stand. Once I have something in my head, it’s like I can’t rest until it’s resolved. I can be a little impatient like that.

Wetting my lips, I give a clipped nod. “Yeah, I’m sure. It’ll give me the chance to see if they’ve heard anything as well.”

Zach smiles, nodding once before getting out of his car and collecting our bags from the trunk. They tend to travel to Denver the day before the game to give them some time to adjust to the altitude. It took me a while to get used to it when I first moved to Denver too, along with being apart from Zach for the first time in my life.

“Well, lookee who we have here!” Elliot chirps as we approach the steps of the plane. With a lopsided grin, he wiggles his finger between us. “Don’t think about joining the Mile High Club while we’re on our way to the Mile High City, broskis. You two won’t fit in the toilet together. It’ll make for some wild turbulence, and I don’t wanna bring up the delicious turkey and Swiss flatbread I had earlier.”

I snort as Zach flips him off and nudges him up the steps. “Get on the plane, Olsen.”

“What? It was a really good sandwich!” Elliot replies before tipping his head back with a laugh when Zach rolls his eyes.

I follow Zach as he makes his way toward the back of the plane, saying hello to everyone as I pass and making sure to thank Coach Harris for letting me tag along. Stowing my bag in the overhead bin, I drop into the aisle seat as Zach settles into the window seat with his Nintendo Switch and noise-canceling headphones. I’ve traveled with him so much, I know his in-flight routine as well as my own, and I don’t want my presence here to interfere with that.

I’m about to tell him to just go about his normal routine as if I’m not here when he asks quietly, “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to them?”

I shake my head. “No, not yet, but I’ve got some time to think about it.”

He laughs quietly under his breath and loads up his Switch. “I think you’re worrying about nothing, but it’s good you’re speaking to them. It would’ve been unhealthy to stew on it until July.”

“I know.” I squeeze his thigh, then lean over to smack a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You do your thing. Pretend I’m not here.”

“Like I’ll ever be able to do that.” He winks then puts on his headphones as I sit back into the seat and think about how I’m going to bring it up to the boys.

A few hours later, I’m walking through the doors to the steakhouse where I’ve arranged to meet Palmer and Walker. They were the reason why I bought a house in this area. We play on the same line together, as they are both defensive tackles and I’m a defensive end, and we naturally gravitated toward each other being around the same age too. But they’re both married with kids, and I’m… well… I’ve been hypothetically married to Zach all this time.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Palmer drawls as I approach the table.

Grinning, I hold my hands out to the side and give a careless shrug. “What can I say? I’ve missed both of you and couldn’t stay away any longer.”

“Fuck off.” Walker scoffs. “You couldn’t get out of here fast enough. It was like your ass was on fire.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw a trail of smoke following you out the door,” Palmer jokes.

I give them both a one-armed bro-hug before sitting down at the table. “You know how it is. I needed to lick my wounds in Chicago, and there’s only one thing that can help me.”

And he goes by the name Zach Reid.

The three of us catch up over amazing food and drinks, and I’m glad they don’t mention anything when I stick to water. I have plans for tonight when I get back to the hotel, and I don’t want to fog my head with alcohol.

“You haven’t heard anything? At all?” Palmer asks, brows raised in surprise.

I shake my head, sipping on my water. “No, nothing. I know I played like shit last season, but?—”

“Hey, whoa, no. We all played like shit last season, but that was last season. Coach Jefferson knows how much hard work you put into your training and into your game,” Walker protests. “It wasn’t your fault you were unlucky, getting hit with injury after injury.”

I missed a couple of games here and there thanks to things such as torn muscles, bruised ribs, and a fractured finger. I had blocked it out of my mind, because to me, they were minor injuries. It wasn’t anything like what Zach had sustained.

I didn’t see it at the time, but these guys were there for me when Zach couldn’t be. We might not be as close as the Thunder boys, but they were there through the tough times, even if I did shut myself away.

“It’s hard to be on top of your game when you recover from one thing, only to be taken down two weeks later by something else.” Palmer sighs, his thumb idly peeling the label from his bottle of beer. “If it helps, I haven’t heard anything either. I’m kinda taking it as no news is good news.”

“Both your contracts are up after next season, right? Maybe they’re working on offering an extension?” Walker suggests, his tone hopeful.

“Maybe.” I rub my hand over my face and lean back in my chair.

“Anyway, enough about stuff that’s out of our hands. Tell us how your man is doing,” Palmer says, resting his forearms on the table in front of him. “I mean, I can’t say we’re surprised to hear that you and Zach are boyfriends.” He shares an amused look with Walker. “We all thought you were secretly dating, and the girlfriends were just to warm your bed during the season because they didn’t seem to stick around for very long.”

“Would you believe me if I said I had no idea people thought that?” I chuckle, shaking my head softly. “But he’s doing good, thanks. I’ll be honest… I… I didn’t think you cared. I didn’t hear from you when he was in the hospital, and it was only the other day that I realized that I never heard from you at all and it kinda stung.”

Hurt flashes through Walker’s eyes. “Of course we fucking care, dude. I know Melissa sent flowers to your apartment with a note telling you we were here for you if you needed us. Didn’t you get them?”

“Uhh… No?”

“Fuck, let me find out where she sent them.” He types away on his phone, and moments later, he holds it up with an address.

“That’s his old apartment. He hasn’t lived there for a few years.”

“Fuck. Well, whoever lives there now received a nice bouquet of flowers and a box of those fancy chocolates you like.”

“I sent some too, and I didn’t want to text you because I knew you would be busy. I knew you’d reach out when you had a chance,” Palmer adds.

I rub my hand over my chest, trying to ease the ache as guilt claws at me. Fuck, these guys. I can’t believe I let myself believe they didn’t care.

“I’m really sorry for doubting you guys.”

“We’ve always cared about you, Lockwood. We only stopped inviting you to things because you never leave the house. We knew the answer would be no because you always want to speak with Zach and we don’t hold it against you. We never have. It’s not that we don’t care about you, you idiot. We knew Zach was more important to you and we accepted that.” Palmer’s face is full of sympathy. “I’m sorry it felt that way to you, though.”

“Thanks for this. I…” I let out a shuddering breath and chew on the inside of my cheek. I feel like a huge idiot. Not only was I clueless about Zach, but I also completely missed the signs of my teammates trying to include me too. “I really appreciate it, and I’m sorry for doubting you guys.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, brother. We’ll come back better and stronger. It’s gonna be our year,” Walker says, his mouth morphing into a bright grin. “So, how the hell did you not know you were in love with Zach? And also… When’s the wedding?”

A few hours later, I’m swiping the key card to our hotel room, feeling so relieved with how dinner went with the guys. Zach was right—there was no way I would have been able to wait until July to get it off my chest. And knowing Palmer also hasn’t heard anything makes me feel better too. Maybe I am overthinking the whole trade thing.

When I step inside the room, Zach’s already in bed with his Nintendo Switch in his hand. He’s watching me with questioning eyes, trying to gauge my mood.

“How did it go?” he asks after a beat.

“Really good,” I reply, kicking off my shoes. “Turns out, I wasn’t just oblivious about you. I was oblivious about how I behaved with them, too. You might as well call me Carter ‘Oblivious’ Lockwood.”

He puts his Switch down on the bedside table and gives me his full attention. “What do you mean?”

As I strip out of my clothes, I tell him everything. By the time I’m down to my boxers, Zach’s eyebrows are raised in surprise.

“Wow. I can kinda understand Ethan’s point about us being codependent.”

“I know, me too.”

“Do you feel better about it now?”

Pressing a knee on the bed by his thigh, I throw my leg over him and straddle his lap. His hands immediately go to my hips, his thumbs tracing the lines of my V as I curve my hands around the back of his neck and thread my fingers into his hair.

“Yeah, I do, and I think if Denver does want to keep me, it’ll help make the upcoming season a little more special because I know it’ll be my last with these guys, and I want to do good for them. I want to be the best for them.”

“That makes sense.”

Leaning forward, I capture his lips in a gentle kiss. He tastes like toothpaste and the lingering taste of his mouthwash. “How was your evening?”

“Good,” he murmurs. “Had dinner with the guys, then came to bed and played Pokémon for a bit. Elliot’s beating me, so I had to catch up.”

I grin against his mouth then nip his bottom lip between my teeth before pushing my tongue into his mouth. I’ll never get over how good kissing Zach is. The feel of his tongue against mine gets me hard in an instant. I roll my hips, rubbing our hard cocks together through our underwear and he moans. His hands snake around and squeeze the swell of my ass.

“I want you to fuck me,” I announce in a whisper.

Zach freezes his movements and opens his eyes. His tongue is still in my mouth, hands mid-squeeze of my ass cheeks.

A second passes, then another, before I pull back an inch. My favorite pair of icy blue eyes are filled with so much emotion as he blinks up at me.

“Really?” he asks, barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, Zach, really.” I nod. “I want you to own me in every way. I want you to take me to a place that no one has ever taken me before.”

He swallows roughly as I lift my hand to his face, tracing the shape of his lips with my thumb.

“Will you do that for me?”

“Y-yeah.” His answering nod is shaky, and I grin down at him before slamming my mouth to his. It’s a duel of eager tongues and hungry kisses as I grind my hips against his. When I sit up, he lets out a groan and chases my mouth.

“I need to…” I wave my hand. “Freshen up.”

“Who told you that?”

“The internet.”

Zach presses his lips together like he’s trying not to laugh, but the sparkle in his eyes gives him away. “You’ve been looking it up on the internet?”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t want to go into it blind. I wanted to know what I needed to do to make it easier for you and good for me.”

An adoring smile tips his lips as he shakes his head softly, curving his hand around the back of my head and bringing me in for another kiss. It’s not as frantic as before, but it’s still filled with need.

“Okay, you go. I’ll be waiting out here,” he says, giving my ass a soft slap.

I climb off him and head into the bathroom, taking a quick shower, making sure to clean thoroughly like I’d read, and when I step back out, the lights are off except the ambient lighting behind the headboard. Zach is lying in the center of the bed with the covers kicked off, languidly stroking his hard erection, and the sight instantly makes my cock throb.

Zach’s heated stare trails over my body as I walk over to the bed and climb onto his lap.

“Damn, you’re so fucking hot,” he says, his voice turning a little husky.

My hands go straight into his hair as our mouths meet. His hands move to grab my ass cheeks, kneading and massaging the solid muscle of my glutes as I thrust my cock along the underside of his.

Dipping my head, I graze my teeth up the side of his neck and suck on the delicate skin just below his jaw.

“Get up on your hands and knees,” Zach growls.

I don’t miss a beat. I’m on all fours in an instant, arching my back in a way that has Zach letting out a low moan.

“You are so fucking perfect, Carter.” He begins by smoothing a hand over my spine to the top of my crease as he shifts on his knees until he’s behind me. “Your body is a work of art. I could spend hours exploring every inch of you. Tasting you.” He presses his lips against the back of my thigh, and a shiver travels up my spine as he runs his tongue up to the curve of my ass cheek. “I want to know what makes your body sing , so I can take you to heaven and make you see stars.”

“I want all of that,” I beg, curling my hands into the bedsheet beneath me.

He hums, and I’m so turned on it’s like I can feel the vibrations from deep in his throat rippling across my skin. A small whimper escapes me as his hot breath fans across my exposed hole before he licks a hot, wet stripe over the furled skin.

“Holy fuck,” I hiss.

I feel so exposed like this, like I’m on display for him to take what he wants. Knowing Zach has probably thought about this moment so many times over the years makes heat coil at the base of my spine.

I moan into the bedsheet as he eats me out, teasing me with flicks of his tongue and deep, satisfied rumbles. I’m a whimpering mess when he moves to lick over my taint and suck on my heavy balls. His hand moves between my legs to take hold of my cock that’s dripping with precome, angling it back so he can take me into his mouth.

“Ngh, fuck, Zach. More .”

It’s like my body is coiled tight, ready to let go at any second.

He sucks me down as deep as he can in this angle before moving back up to my ass.

The sound of the lube cap being clicked open breaks through the thumping in my ears from the blood rushing through my head. Moments later, the feel of cool liquid being spread around my hole causes my toes to curl.

Zach circles his finger around my hole a few times before pushing inside.

I’m unaware I’m holding my breath until he whispers, “Breathe, Carter,” and the breath I was holding whooshes out of me, allowing him to ease all the way inside. He whispers reassuring words and presses kisses to my skin as he works me open, and by the time he’s got a third finger inside me, I’m rocking back on his hand, seeking more.

“Now,” I demand, peering over my shoulder. “I want you inside me, now.”

He moves up on his knees behind me, and there’s a feral glint in his eyes when our gazes lock. His chest rises and falls with each heavy breath he takes.

“I need you to relax,” he whispers, gripping my hip with one hand as the other guides his cock to my hole.

I do, and he slowly slips inside. It’s nothing like the times I’ve been pegged. Zach is big, girthy, and long. It’s incredible. It’s the kind of pleasure I’ve never experienced, and I know I’ll never get enough of it. Of him.

The hair on his legs tickles the back of my thighs and the arousal coursing through me like a rapid wave only heightening my senses. He doesn’t move for a moment. I can hear his fast, heavy breathing, like it’s taking every ounce of willpower not to lose the steady grip on his control.

But I want him to lose it. I want him to let go. I want him to give me everything he’s ever wanted, so I can give it to him right back.

“I think this is the stage where you move,” I tease, squeezing my muscles around his cock, causing him to groan.

“I want to be gentle for your first time,” he admits with gritted teeth.

Both hands grip my hips, fingers digging into my flesh, no doubt leaving bruises.

“What if I don’t want you to be gentle, Zach? What if I want you to fuck me like you’re desperate for me? Starved for me, and the only way to make it right is to fuck me so good.”

He growls, and the sound that leaves his throat makes my cock throb.

After what feels like a lifetime, he moves. His hips snap, and my toes curl as my body lights up with arousal. The bed creaks under our weight, the sound of our skin slapping and his balls hitting my taint fills the room along with our joined moans.

I drop to the bed, my arms unable to hold me up any longer. Snaking a hand beneath my chest, I wrap my fist around my cock and thrust into my hand in time with the thrust of his hips.

“Carter,” he breathes. “I’m gonna come.”

“Come for me, Zach. Fill me up.”

He blankets my back with his chest, holding his weight up with his elbows. I angle my head, feeling his hot breath against my cheek as the steady rhythm of his hips begins to falter just before he shudders. His cock pulses inside me as the heat of his release filling me triggers my own orgasm, and hot spurts of come land on the sheet.

We don’t move. I can feel his pounding heart against my back as we both work to try and catch our breath. I don’t know how much time has passed when he slowly slips his softening cock out and flops down on the bed beside me. I collapse onto the bed, not giving a shit about the pool of come I’m now lying in, and I turn my head to face him.

The look in his eyes is something I’ll never forget.

Pure, devoted love shines in his light blue eyes, and it’s directed at me.

“I love you,” I confess, sliding my hand across the bed to his and linking our pinkies together.

His eyes turn glassy, and my heart skyrockets when he says, “I love you too.”

I’ve loved Zach Reid since we were six years old, and it might have taken me twenty-three years to catch up, but I’m so glad I get to love him now.