Page 9

Max

I wanted him, god I wanted him more than I’d wanted anyone in a while. But I could see he wasn’t sure and while I appreciated his caution, I wanted him to ignore whatever was telling him it might not be a good idea. He swallowed hard once again before speaking and I followed the motion of his throat, unable to take my eyes off him.

“What did you have in mind?” he asked and went back to pressing at my leg.

“Whatever you want,” I murmured, and waited for his response. He looked up at me as his hand slowly glided up my thigh, making my muscles and nerves twitch in anticipation. He stood as he pressed his hand against my straining dick, making me groan.

“What do you want?” he whispered against my neck. My eyes slid closed, and my head tipped back as I focused on every part of my body he was currently touching.

“Everything.” He squeezed my dick before his lips were on mine. My hands wandered all over him while he pulled me against his body.

“This is such a bad idea,” he whispered before biting my ear. “But I can’t resist you.”

“Then don’t,” I said and took his hand.

“Wait, I need to wrap your knee,” he said, and started to pull away but I stopped him.

“After,” I said, and pulled him to my bedroom. I didn’t bother to turn on the light as I led him to my bed. My knee twinged when I sat but I ignored it and wrapped my arms around him. “Are you okay with this?” I asked once I realized I had no pants on and had rushed him into my room.

“I’m okay with it. But I do worry about our working relationship.”

“We can talk about that later, right now I want to taste you.” I leaned across him as he lay down on the bed. We kissed and once again the pulse of attraction and heat came alive. I slid my knee over his legs and immediately a stab of pain stopped me. “Agh!” I grunted.

“What happened?” Ruben asked.

“My knee. Oh my god that hurt almost as bad as when it got hit.” I clutched it and rested my head on his chest while I waited for the intense pain to stop.

“Okay, let me go get you an ice pack. No more hankey pankey for you,” Ruben said before getting up from the bed and walking out of the room. I heard him rustling around in his bag before going to my refrigerator and getting some ice. “Scoot up to the top of the bed.”

“Sorry, it was feeling so much better once you took the binding off.” He set the ice pack on the side of my knee bringing almost instant relief.

“You’re lucky it didn’t do more damage to the ligament. I’m almost positive it’s just bruised, but it will be painful for a while. And just so you know, if there was an alternative for tomorrow’s game, I’d suggest you take the night off. But we both know that’s not going to happen.”

“I have to play,” I whispered knowing how weak it sounded. I’d worked to get to this point for years, and I wasn’t going to let the chance go without a fight. “It’s really not that bad.”

“Max, if you’re not careful it could cause you more pain in the future. It’s your choice to play or not, but if it’s still as painful tomorrow I’d suggest you take a night off.” He stood then and shoved his hands in his pockets as the heat that had simmered between us died. Drawing in a deep breath, he started to speak, but I cut him off.

“Don’t go. Please stay here with me. We don’t have to do anything. But I would appreciate it if you did whatever will make my leg better by tomorrow,” I said and reached for him.

He stood a moment and seemed to consider my words before sitting next to me on the bed. “Well, since I know for a fact you won’t take care of yourself, I guess it is my duty to make sure you’re doing what you need to do. Part of which is to get a good night’s sleep.” He reached across to me and took a pillow from the other side of the bed before pulling the blankets down. “Put this under your knee, it’ll help.”

I snuggled into his side when he sat next to me. “Thank you. Sorry if I came on a little strong earlier.”

He crossed his legs while he stretched out on the bed, before smoothing my hair back. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to, and please don’t think I’m not interested. But I’d feel like shit if I didn’t make sure I did all could to help you recover.”

“Maybe we can put a pin in it and come back to it?” I asked, repeating something my dad used to say.

He smirked at me before leaning in for a soft kiss. “I like that idea.” He slipped off his shoes I hadn’t realized he still had on and relaxed a little more.

“You have to be tired too,” I said.

“A little. Tonight was intense. It’s so different being the one making all the decisions instead of the one carrying them out,” Ruben said.

“It looked like you’d done it before. You seemed very comfortable.”

“Nah, I’m good at faking it. When I told you I’d been an intern for the last team I wasn’t kidding. I was there to learn, and it wasn’t hockey, it was a local soccer team, and nothing like this. Plus, I’m still learning what injuries will be common in hockey.”

“We both had firsts tonight. This was the first time I’ve played in a semi-pro hockey game, and that was only because the other two goalies were out with injuries.” I thought back on the day and how it had all been hectic and intense, but also exciting and new. “It’s also the first time I tried to hit on the team doctor.”

“Well, it’s also the first time I’ve had a hockey player hit on me. Lots of firsts.”

“Lots of firsts,” I repeated and snuggled in even closer to him while being careful not to hurt my leg.