Page 58 of Forbidden Hockey

And that bartender was Dash’s age.

“You get stabby. Right, got it. Ugh. I should have known you’d agree with Hunt.”

I didn’t stab the bartender, for the record, but I felt like it. What I did to Tony was drag him out back and break his damnnose. Guess he could have pressed charges. He didn’t, but I wasn’t thinking about that at the time, nor did I give a fuck.

Never lost a wink of sleep over it either.

Dirk looked up, blinking his pretty eyes. I’m not a lot taller than Dirk, but tall enough to have a few inches on him. “Sorry, but I do.”

“Are we done then?”

“Are you breaking it off with me?”

He didn’t answer right away. He thought about it on the way over, didn’t he? “I decided I was gonna tell Hunter that I have, which means we have to be extra fucking careful, Trav. We haven’t been at all. My friends are in the damn clouds, not to have us figured out by now.”

Dirk’s serious about us. More than, if he’s willing to lie to Hunter. I don’t think he’s ever lied to Hunter. Not about anything that mattered. And now he’s going to look his brother-dad—his hero—in his eyes and say we’re done just to keep this. Keep us.

“You game for that? Lying—better—to Hunter with me?”

Some might say I should tell him no, steer him the fuck away from me, but that act would be a lie. I might be able to lie to Hunter, but never to him.

But I also know—call it my age—that it’s part of growing up. Parents don’t like it, but it’s the natural evolution. Your child comes home and tells you he’s gonna start dating again after the hell he went through because of his mother’s boyfriend. You lose your mind. Throw a fit. Maybe break a bottle of vodka when he’s not looking and insinuate that you didn’t throw it on the ground, it fell.

So, yeah, that was me and Dash, which means I’ve been through it from Hunter’s point of view. But Dash and I worked through it, came out stronger. That’s how I know they will, too.

“I’d do anything for you, pretty boy.” I moved to step away from him because if we were going to be sneakier, holding him in the middle of the bar just wasn’t on.

His fingers clawed my shirt, but then he let go, coming to the same conclusion I had. “It’ll be like the tattoo I got,” he said.

Ah, the tattoo. Dash finally showed me his, not because he was hiding it, but because it’s a non-issue with us and he’d forgotten about it. I started noticing where they all chose to put their Calder Cup tattoo, all of them somewhere with the high likelihood of being seen.

Except Dirk.

“You mean the one you got somewhere Hunter would only ever see if he was sitting in on a medical exam?”

He ran a hand through his hair, not answering that, huffing. “It’s not fair that we can’t just be together. Why couldn’t I have been born sooner?”

“I could have been born later,” I teased.

“Nah. Wouldn’t have been attracted to you,” he said. “I like you all old and worn like you are.”

“I’m not fucking worn.”

“A little. But I love the way your eyes crease when you laugh and all the age-old calluses on your hands.”

“Age-old, I’ll show you age-old, you little brat. Just wait till I have you alone.”

It didn’t scare him. He bit his lip, looking at me like he was seeing everything he wanted in life.

“I hope you do.”

And that’s where we left it. Since, we’ve been way more fucking careful, and Hunter’s got more eyes on Dirk, making him come to his place more often than usual. But it hasn’t stopped us from finding moments together. Like me dragging him into my office so I could kiss him stupid and shoving myhand down his pants to stroke his cock enough to make him miserable.

I’m so entertained. He squirms all day, the problem in his pants aggravating him, making him a grouchy fucker. And I’ve got a taste for what Dirk is like. He’ll wait for me to pleasure him. He won’t go home and rub one out. He’ll want it to be me. Doesn’t mean I don’t whisper evil threats in his ear.

“Don’t you dare touch your cock. It’s mine.”

“If I even think you’ve come without me there, you’ll regret it.”